The newest addition to Delhi’s stylish hotel crop is Aman’s city center hotel resort located next to – and enhanced by the leafy green of – Delhi Golf Course. A new build, the two stone towers are remarkably graceful and light. The interiors, of wood, glass and stone, are the work of Kerry Hill, preferred designer of a large number of AmanResort’s properties. The hotel block of 8 stories carries 4 rooms and 1 suite per floor, each with its own very large, square plunge pool. The residential block next door has 28 rooms with the same look and similar floor plan.
With an excellent restaurant on the ground floor, the best spa in Delhi with male and female treatment rooms, hammam and resting areas, with a cigar bar, a wine bar, library and gallery, staying at Aman New Delhi feels more like settling in to a luxury residence with service – superb, friendly service that is – than being in a traditional hotel. No check in desk (check in takes place in your room) and all the staff appear to be equally able to attend to your daily plans. GM, Robyn Bickford, even gifted me a guide for shopping with her favorite shops checked off. That is pure Aman thoughtfulness, the reason one chooses never to go anywhere else unless forced to.
Rooms are delightfully spacious (the largest rooms in Delhi) and quiet; the beds divine after a long day’s sightseeing; the pool indulgent by moonlight. These are also classic Aman reflections: No matter where you travel, staying at an Aman property reminds you of the pleasures of peace and quiet, of the deliciousness of pervasive floral fragrance, of the rarity of service that seems at once effortlessly warm and efficient. To stay at an Aman is always, for me, like coming back home.
John Derian is a treasure. It's not that there aren't many with talent and vision because there are, the world over. But Derian has other attributes that make him so beloved. His eye is unerring, his sense of scale is perfect, he layers cultures and eras seamlessly in a room. And he is accessible in brick and mortar. His two shops on East Second Street have been haunts for years. One carries the decoupage he designs and constructs locally (and that make the best gifts ever) along with the coveted ceramics of Astier de Villatte. The second Dry Goods store next door showcases quirky antiques, an assortment of vintage furniture, stacks of heavy french linen, Moroccan rugs and soft cotton Indian clothing. Both are small, but intriguing and interesting enough to seduce you on a journey of the senses.
And now, Derian has opened on Christopher Street in a double-windowed storefront of a two-story 18th century house. It's like walking in to another world. Traditional Astier, and the later Derian/Astier collaborative pieces, line the walls from roof to floor of the front room. The back room, wallpapered in his new cabbage rose design and lit by beautiful Balthus-designed standing lamps with parchment shades, offers a living room in which to settle in, thumb through books and albums, and rest the soul.
So, go to shop, or simply go to travel in spirit to another place and time.
https://www.johnderian.com/pages/our-locations"
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