We stayed at Aman after visiting the Great Wall as the last stop on our trip, rather than returning to Beijing. I would tell everyone not to bother making this extra overnight stop. The location is at the Summer Palace and it is true that there is a private entrance to the Palace for hotel guests. A wing of the hotel was once part of the Palace. The architecture is totally evocative of the Summer Palace and beautiful on the outside. However, our suite, which was large, was dark and the living room furniture--in the Asian theme--was so uncomfortable there was no good place to sit--either on the chairs or sofa. The only way into the bed was to climb over the bench at the bottom of the bed as it was enclosed on 3 sides.

The indoor swimming pool with surrounding lounge chairs is beautiful but it is on the basement level with no windows so we found that unappealing. There are 2 restaurants for dinner and the French-Thai restaurant only had a tasting menu. The food was delicious but outrageously expensive. The Chinese restaurant was more moderately priced but the food was nothing special. Also, the decor throughout the public rooms is the same--Asian, very simple and not too comfortable.

The one outstanding plus is that the staff and service were terrific.

A friend chose this location for a short 2-night trip to Beijing. This trip was over Thanksgiving, when Beijing is fairly cold. The word "resort" has a slightly different meaning under these circumstances, since people usually think of a warm sunny beach, etc. when they see that word.
The Aman at Summer Palace is hard to describe. It's low - not a multi-story building like a typical hotel. It's in a quiet area. It seemed very old-style Chinese, though I don't claim to know anything about that - it was just the feeling I got. The room we had was well-heated, nice bathroom with shower and tub, two sinks and mirrors, and about 3 armoires for storing our clothes. Everything just seemed homey and comfortable.
The staff was very friendly and helpful. We were in a section that was a bit of a walk from the front where the pool and restaurant are. Everyone looked up to say hello as we walked by.
One problem we had was figuring out where the restaurant was located. Although the staff pointed it all out the evening when we arrived, when we went looking in the morning we did not see any obvious signs. In a way, this added to the old-China feel, but it also was a bit confusing until we got oriented.
The food in the restaurant was good and they were flexible about special requests (my friends are vegetarian). Good variety of dishes. We did not take advantage of the other options available. It looked like there were some very nice venues, though.
I didn't think the secret door to the Summer Palace was a big deal when I read about it, but it really was kind of nice to walk less than 100 feet from our room and be in the Summer Palace park.
The fitness area and pool were nice. I jumped in the pool for a few minutes just to check it out. The pool area is large, with lots of places to lie down and relax, along with plenty of thick towels.
Overall I liked the Aman. If you're there for business, this might not be "efficient" since it's not right in the middle of the commercial areas. For a vacation though, it's fairly nice, though expensive (OK, I'm cheap, which is why I didn't rank the "Value" measure high).
By the way, I do not speak Mandarin and that was not a problem here. This did become a little scary when I got a regular cab to the airport early in the morning. The staff took care of it for me though and the trip was about 40 minutes.

Went to Aman Summer Palace end of August, early September for 4 days, 3 nights with my mom.. Always wanted to see the Great Wall of China..

An Aman representative picked us up from the airport and assisted us with our luggages and directed us to our transportation. Airport is around 45 minutes (?) from the Aman Summer Palace.. I wasnt sure who met us when we arrived at the Summer Palace if it was the General Manager or Assistant Manager, it wasnt as memorable as other Aman Resorts for some reason... We were directed to our room which was large and beautiful and unique (as in each Aman resort)... Right before we got settled, one of the front desk people asked me for initial deposit to the 4 day stay which took me aback because none of the other Aman resorts ive stayed at (Amansara, Amanpulo, Amanpuri, Amantaka) have asked me for deposit or to settle or take care of bill issues not even half an hour of settling into our room... apparently this was the policy in china... Fine... Then I went online through the free wifi and did not realize Facebook was banned in China amongst other websites... so these two experiences put a little damp on my overall wonderful trip to Beijing...

The restaurant inside the resort was excellent... I wanted to try the French restaurant adjacent and right next to the other restaurant but I dont think my mom appreciated French cuisine so we frequently dined on the other restaurant which was fine...

We got a private tour guide to take us around Summer Palace in which the resort has a back door entrance which was pretty cool... Summer Palace was breathtaking and the story behind it is magnificent.. The following day, we went to visit the Tianamen Square and Forbidden city and the Temple of heaven.. both were great places to visit although there was a lot of walking which did not suit my mom... We had lunch at M restaurant somewhere in Beijing which was decent... Our tour guide brought us to a local department store where my mom bought jade for herself and her sister/friends... We later went to watch an Acrobatic show which was most excellent! Highly recommend to watch this show... These performers were outstanding! Heading home, I didnt realize traffic in Beijing could be horrendous... It reminded me of LA...

The following day, we went to the Great Wall of china and we had a different tour guide.. This trip was memorable and just walking and being there at the Great Wall was a surreal experience...

The gym inside the resort is phenomenal and marvelous! I went there as often as I could to work out coz the gym was inviting and pleasing to be in!

Overall, it was a great experience and I loved the trip to Beijing and to the Aman Summer Palace.. Besides the two things I mentioned above, my ratings would have been a 5 STAR!!

The Aman at the Summer Palace in Beijing is up to the usual Aman standard. The Peking Duck in the Chinese Restaurant was superb. We ate it on four of the five nights we stayed in the Hotel.
The guest relations Manage Chie Shimizu and the Director of Food and bevaerage, Apple Wang both deserve a "mention in despatches" Well done to you and the Aman team.

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