Aman resorts is a chain of luxury resorts, primarily found in Southeast Asia. The word "Aman" is Sanskrit for "peace."
History
While in Phuket looking for a site upon which to build a holiday home, Adrian Zecha was walking along Pansea Beach when he came across a coconut plantation which occupied a prime location. Plans to build a home on the site soon developed into an idea to build a small boutique resort in partnership with Anil Thadani and two other friends. They spent mainly their own money as no banks would lend for the project due to the small number of planned rooms, instead of the 500-room hotel they thought would be more practical.
From the positive response to this project, known as Amanpuri, Zecha was encouraged to develop more resorts employing the same concept. While initially the resorts were concentrated in Asia, the chain has expanded to France, the United States and Morocco.
With the opening of Amanwana in 1993, Amanresorts was a pioneer in the development of luxury tented accommodation.
Business
The chain is owned by a holding company called Silverlink. In 1992, needing additional money to fund expansion, Zecha sold his controlling interest in Silverlink to Clement Vaturi, an old friend whose family owned the Hoteliere Immobliere chain of French hotels. Zecha was left with only 45% of the share holdings.
The arrangement was satisfactory to both parties until, in a convoluted series of financial events, Vaturi’s controlling interest effectively came under the control of Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a real estate investment fund. A lawsuit between Vaturi and Colony Capital promised to drag on, putting on hold indefinitely Zecha's own plans to expand the number of Amanresorts. Dispirited and by how owning only 45% of Silverlink’s shares, he resigned from his position at Amanresorts in 1998.
By 2000 Colony Capital and Vaturi had settled their lawsuit which led to Vaturi reobtaining his Silverlink shares
