Six Senses talks new openings and staying perfect

Hotelier caught up with Six Senses Zighy Bay GM John Philipson to hear the luxury resort brand’s news about opening and to hear how a brand with 100% occupancy for their entire season maintains perfection.

Located in the mountainous, quiet inlet of Zighy Bay, Musandam, Oman, Six Senses might be the only resort game in town, but what a game it is. With 82 villas and two speciality villas with separate plots, Zighy Bay is an oasis inside an oasis.

Hotelier chatted to Philipson to find out why Six Senses in Musandam is so successful.

Discussing the strong customer base, Philipson said: “The hospitality industry you can be obsessed with what’s new. But sometimes it’s not about constantly reinventing yourself – it’s about continuing to do what you already do well.

Once you get to the point where you’ve achieved what you want to achieve in terms of occupancy and ADR, it’s just a question of maintaining perfection.”

The one thing the resort will be tweaking is to reconfigure their 12 spa suites – suites with their own spa rooms attached.

Philipson said: “We’ve listened to our client feedback and our GCC clients are telling us that they want more space per villa and that they actually prefer to go to the spa itself rather than have spa services in their villa.”

Despite having nine resorts and 26 spas around the world, Six Senses designs each property is a bespoke design and build, with each resort’s ambience matching its locale.

Philipson revealed to Hotelier that Six Senses has 40 hotels in the pipeline – this year will see the opening of a resort in Chengdu, the birthplace of Taoism; one in Douro Valley in Portugal; and another in Seychelles in December.