Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas is bursting with news: it has become part of the IHG family of brands. (IHG®) (InterContinental Hotels Group) is one of the world’s leading global hotel companies with a growing number of luxury brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Regent Hotels & Resorts and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.
IHG purchased the award-winning hospitality and wellness company from private equity fund Pegasus Capital Advisors for USD 300 million. The sale includes the management of 16 hotels and resorts, 37 spas and sister companies Evason and Raison d’Etre. Following the acquisition Six Senses is now expected to grow to 60 hotels within the next 10 years.
“This is an exciting new era for Six Senses,” said Chief Executive Officer Neil Jacobs. “IHG believes in our purpose to merge the two platforms of wellness and sustainability to promote personal health, and the health of the planet. Joining forces with IHG means we can use a wealth of systems and operational excellence to grow our brand and reach new markets without losing our quirky personality and playful touch. It’s been a great pleasure to work with Pegasus over the last six years and we would never have reached this milestone without their vision and deep involvement.”
Over the next 12 months, Six Senses will open properties in surprising locations. From the private island of Krabey in Cambodia, a circuit of five lodges in Bhutan, to a 14th-century-old restored fort in Rajasthan. The dream list also includes a desert hideaway in Israel’s Negev Desert, the transformation of a series of 19th-century mansions in Istanbul and the group’s first project in North America, a contemporary duo of twisting towers designed by Bjarke Ingles located in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood and along the High Line. Additional projects are currently under way in Austria, Brazil, Mainland China, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand.
Although Six Senses took its first (barefoot) steps on remote beaches and tropical hideaways, the people behind the brand have shown that purposeful travel and emotional hospitality is not formulaic. It can be successfully replicated across a diverse property portfolio, which includes a 19th century quinta (wine estate) in the UNESCO heritage-listed Douro Valley in Portugal and two sister hotels in Singapore’s Chinatown. The model can be adapted and still retain all the sustainable commitments for which Six Senses has become the industry inspiration.
IHG’s Chief Executive Keith Barr said, “IHG’s growing portfolio of luxury brands is a collection of the very best in the travel industry. Each one offers something unique to our guests, and together they offer an unparalleled choice of locations and experiences. We’re incredibly proud to welcome Six Senses in to our family of brands and look forward to opening more stunning hotels, resorts and spas – each one staying true to Six Senses’ world-renowned reputation for wellness and an unwavering commitment to purposeful travel.”
The beating heart of every Six Senses property is a Six Senses Spa, working in harmony with each hotel and resort to create a depth of personalized wellness support. Each spa offers a menu of Six Senses signature treatments and therapies plus locally-inspired specialties, yogic programs and a range of feel-good pamperings. Skilled therapists are drawn from all over and Six Senses’ Visiting Practitioners bring an extra depth of knowledge to each spa guest.
Unique to the hospitality sector, Six Senses has taken wellness out of the spa and integrated it into the entire stay for guests: from the food they eat to the way they sleep. Sleep With Six Senses, Eat With Six Senses and the latest Grow With Six Senses childrens’ initiative have all been highly successful in helping people (young and young at heart) to learn something new and reconnect with themselves, others and the world around them.