Sybaritic Single Sings Shanghai
It’s 2 A.M. in Shanghai and the Sybaritic Single is so appalled by the lack of thoughtful service at Amanyungun that he texts The Peninsula Shanghai requesting their Rolls-Royce and a bottle of champagne to be ready at 8 A.M. to take him to the airport.
On the way, he wonders how so many things could go wrong at, supposedly, a perfect hotel? Intrigued by the Aman brand, he cancels his usual Monaco winter sojourn and books a long weekend at Amanpuri instead, where it all started in 1988 by Adrian Zecha.
While in Phuket looking for a site upon which to build a holiday home, Zecha was walking along Pansea Beach when he came across a coconut plantation which occupied a prime location. Plans to build a home on a site soon developed into an idea to build a small boutique resort, which cost only $4 million.
Three decades later, the Sybaritic Single takes residence in one of the finer pavilions with a splendid view of the Andaman Sea down below.
He enjoys sunset aboard the floating platform with Comte de Montaigne “champagne with heart” and Kaviari osciètre, and everyone around seems to understand what he really appreciates without too many questions or hassle. How refreshing after the Aman in Shanghai!
Surprisingly, while the landscaping must have been game-changing in the ’90s, it also shows that privacy wasn’t a huge concern back then. Some of the pavilions are overlooked by pathways or adjoining terraces and offer little seclusion.
The original spirit of Aman reigns and the Sybaritic Single decides to keep his existing reservations at Aman in Tokyo and Kyoto next month, as he slowly regains trust in the brand despite its quite particular following. Nothing screams “I’m better than you” arriviste more than one casually dropping: “Oh, we’ve stayed at the Aman!”
