Aman Summer Palace

Beijing, China

A refuge for Chinese imperials escaping the heat of Beijing’s Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, built in 1750, is an unlikely setting for Aman’s ultra-pared-down aesthetic. Founder Adrian Zecha turned a collection of dwellings originally used to shelter visitors awaiting an audience with Empress Dowager Cixi into 51 guest rooms surrounding nine intimate courtyards. Latticework doors slide open to reveal polished clay tiles, exposed wood-beam ceilings and silk-covered opium beds. Modern facilities include a cigar lounge, a Kinesis-equipped gym and a 25-metre indoor pool. Guests get to skip the ticket queues to enter the public areas of the Unesco-listed Summer Palace, with its 3,000 palaces, pavilions and gazebos. Instead, they use a private-access door near the East Gate, which opens up to a view of elderly locals flying kites from the bridges over Kunming Lake and practising tai chi among the weeping willows.