(From Top) Khareda stone jaalis cast patterns and shadows that alter in the changing light of day; A fleet of silver Ambassadors is Aman's idea of Limo service The Aman Rooms and Aman Suites in the nine-storey Aman Wing offer private plunge pools, a unique feature in a multi-storey city resort; The 50-metre Lap Pool is overlooked by a colonnade that runs along it; The Lodhi Restaurant spreads over two floors and the upper level boasts of jaali windows and an open kitchen

You can’t help being surprised as you step onto the terrace of a room on the eighth floor of the Aman New Delhi. You find yourself staring at a 15sq m private plunge pool and an inviting daybed set by its edge (romantic, exclusive-as-exclusive-can-be). Some might call this redefining luxury — eight floors up. But according to Antony Treston, the Aman New Delhi’s ponytailed general manager, it’s “just the Aman Way”.

Here’s a new fix for Aman junkies — that band of globetrotters hooked to the Aman way of life. These devotees, for whom price is no object and an overt show of luxury no concern, seek the resorts in offbeat, natural locations (actually the resort ‘is’ the destination).

Handsomely appointed, without ‘seeming’ lavish, the resorts spell understated less-is-more luxury. Each individually distinguishable resort boasts of just a small number of rooms that ensure exclusivity and cutting-edge service.

Amanresorts’ newest outpost in Delhi is the chain’s first City Resort (the 21st in the group’s kitty). Quintessentially Aman, it’s a rhapsody in minimalistic, discreet luxury.

And come September when the entire hotel is operational, it’ll offer just 36 suites and 31 rooms across two wings on a generous six-acre plot. All except 14 suites will have their own private plunge pools. Some 440 staffers will keep the flag flying for personalised service and Aman will probably keep to its global staff-room ratio of six personnel per room.

As you step out at the porch, the mandatory lobby seems conspicuous by its absence. But a kurta-pajama clad attendant materialises and a ‘pranaam’ later, leads you to it through an unembellished stone corridor (skirting many lotus-shaped marble water bodies in between).

In the lobby too there’s no in-your-face glamour, nor the buzz of a busy luxury hotel. Dark timber panels are offset by muted — almost dim — lighting, complemented by handmade rugs and upholstery in tones of olive green and dull gold.

The resort comes with a few other firsts apart from being Aman’s first city hotel. It’s the first to offer WiFi connectivity, and to fit flat panel TVs in each room, a strict no-no in other Aman properties worldwide.

And a first for Delhi? Catalonian cuisine created in an open kitchen and wood-fired oven; a Tapas Lounge and even a Naoki counter where you can savour French Kaiseki cuisine (that marries French technique to Japanese artistry).

Oh, yes: anyone heading to the Aman had better have a recession-proof wallet. A night here starts from Rs 27,000 and can rise to Rs 70,000 — and that isn’t counting the extras.