“We never set out to build a company or a brand — all we wanted to do was build a small one-off resort that would give pleasure to our friends,” Zecha said. “Simplicity is the essence of elegance and you don’t achieve elegance by ‘gussying up’ things,” Zecha said. “When I walk into a building that looks rich and expensive, I feel uncomfortable and a bit intimidated — as if I should hold my breath and be careful not to touch anything. I don’t want our guests at Aman to feel like that. I want their first impression to be a warm unpretentious welcome, with simple, clean lines and soft colours that put them at ease.”

Amankila’s staff carry themselves with a soft sense of entitlement; 40 per cent of them, I learn, have been working here since it opened in 1992 and have even inducted their grown children into the Aman family