Serenity in Midtown, Starting at $3,200 a Night? Aman Is Betting on It.
Vladislav Doronin, the chief executive of Aman Resorts, aims to bring the brand’s understated exclusivity and serenity — qualities that were forged in remote locations — to Manhattan. Will it work?
Over the last decade, a gilded collection of elite hotels near Central Park have vied for the distinction of being the most expensive in New York. Several, including the St. Regis, Carlyle and the Plaza, opened more than 80 years ago. Most, including the Baccarat, a relative newcomer, greet guests with sparkly chandeliers.
This month, a new, relatively understated, crystal-chandelier-rejecting player arrived to challenge them: the Aman New York, in the Crown Building across from Trump Tower. At $3,200 a night — and often far more — for the cheapest available room, the cost of entry is nearly triple that of the rest.
For that price, guests get at least 745 square feet of space in muted colors, with gas fireplaces, retractable flat-screen TVs and Instagram-worthy bathrooms larger than many New York bedrooms. Oak floors and glowing Japanese-inspired screens complete the look. If they have the funds, guests can take it up a notch and spend $36,000 a night to reserve two adjoining suites and a half day in a private spa featuring its own hammam and plunge pool.
All Aman guests get access to a jazz club, an expansive greenery-filled terrace, indoor pool, sauna and a cryotherapy chamber where they can drown out the heat and chaos of Midtown before returning to their rooms. There, noise levels hover on podcast-studio levels of quiet, according to a staff member, who admitted that most podcasters cannot afford to stay at the hotel.
All of this is part of the billionaire chief executive’s attempt to prove that the Aman brand’s version of serenity and exclusivity, originally forged in remote locations in Asia, can also succeed in Midtown Manhattan. Other urban outposts in the United States, including in Miami Beach, Fla., and Beverly Hills, Calif., are slated to open, as well.
“Since purchasing the brand in 2014, my strategy has been to bring the Aman experience to urban destinations, as well as continuing to grow our remote locations,” Vladislav Doronin, 59, the owner and chief executive, wrote in an email, adding that he aims to take the “Aman resort experience from the horizontal to the vertical.”
