I stayed for four nights at Aman-Summer Palace in September 2012, and felt the positives significantly outweighed the negatives:
- The service, particularly by the F&B staff, was on par with the best I have ever experienced at Aman or Four Seasons or elsewhere. Our names were used (and there were 4 different last names to keep track of in our party), our preferences were remembered, and the staff were warm and caring. Only Amantaka and Amanfayun have achieved similarly stratospheric service standards in my experience of Aman resorts.
- The facilities are so impressive -- the experience of the screening room, the pool, the spa facilities, the large and light-filled gym. It's all really wonderful. The public areas are also very atmospheric and beautifully decorated, although I do wish that the lighting in the evenings at the bar terrace overlooking the lily pond was more sensitive and atmospheric, instead of the harsh, glaring, yellow lights they turn on.
I'd never seen photos of this gorgeous underground area adjacent to the screening room and near the spa. It was always entirely empty, and since the spa's glaring faulty is its absence of a relaxation area for tea, reading, and napping after a treatment, I'd recommend they use this area for that purpose:
- I agree that the guest accommodations are a step down from 5-star standards, and the bathrooms in particular are in need of a refurbishment. We stayed in a Courtyard Suite, the top accommodation apart from their presidential, and it was starting to show its age, with damaged/stained wooden furniture, chipped/broken hardware in the bathroom.