Aman Resort Summer Palace

One of Beijing's most historic sites, the Summer Palace, now has an inimitable resort attached to it. From the brilliant masterminds at Singapore-based luxury hotel chain Aman Resorts, this is truly more than a resort hotel, it's an icon.

It's situated just a few meters from the garden of harmonious interests, or Xiequyuan, at the northern tip of a park, while the club features multiple dining and special function venues, a performance pavillion, a boutique hotel and an underground spa.

Rich in period furniture and fabrics that evoke the Chinese Imperial aesthetic, the hotel has a total of 43 rooms and suites, some of which are in original buildings adjacent to the wall of Summer Palace.

Rooms and suites are arranged around interior courtyard gardens reached by the coverted wooden passageways that also echo the design of summer palace itself. Hundreds of artisans have worked not merely on the interiors and gardens but also on the entrance paintings of the hotel's ubiquitous roofs, exterior ceilings and friezes. This is the definition of a blissful retreat set amongst historical grandeur.