In 1995 a couple opened a resort in the Maldives and asked guests to leave their shoes at the door. The thinking behind Six Senses grew from that island: wellness that fills the whole stay, sustainability you can take part in, and buildings that belong to their place. Now the brand has an address on Palm Jumeirah.
No news, no shoes
Six Senses traces its ethos to 1995 and its first resort, Soneva Fushi, on the island of Kunfunadhoo in the Maldives, opened by Sonu and Eva Shivdasani. Guests were encouraged to put technology away, take off their shoes and feel the sand underfoot. Soneva sums the idea up as “no news, no shoes”.
The question behind it was simple. What if people could be taken beyond destinations, given the space and rhythm to wake their senses up, and disconnect so that they could reconnect with themselves, with others and with the world around them? The founders later kept the Soneva name for their own resorts, and Six Senses went on as a separate brand.
Six dots
The logo comes from the blessing marks that Buddhist monks in Thailand make with their fingers on auspicious occasions. Sight, sound and touch sit at the base of the pyramid. Taste and smell in harmony form the second tier. At the apex is the sixth sense, intuition. It is an unusual thing to put on a hotel’s emblem, and it tells you what the brand wants from a stay.
Wellness for the whole stay
Six Senses began adding a spa to every resort in 2002, but the larger idea was to take wellness out of the spa. Sleep With Six Senses, conceived in 2014, made handmade mattresses, organic bedding and sleep-promoting amenities standard in every room. Eat With Six Senses followed in 2015, with menus that taste as good as they should and are simply healthier. In 2017 Grow With Six Senses gave children natural play, yoga, local culture and lessons in sustainability.
Today the brand speaks of integrated wellness: longevity programmes, biohacking tools and multi-day retreats. Whether you want that from a holiday is a personal question. As a way to think about a home it is useful, because sleep, food and movement are what a house can actually be designed around.
Sustainability you can touch
Drinking water has been bottled on site in glass since 2003. In 2016 the group took an inventory of every plastic item in its operations, and its Journey to Plastic Freedom Playbook now offers 82 tested alternatives across housekeeping, back of house, food and beverage, and the spa.
Since 2017 every property has an Earth Lab, where guests see the measurable impact of the place and take part in it. Gardens supply the kitchens, and at the Alchemy Bar guests blend natural products themselves. Each property sets aside a Regenerative Impact Fund of 0.5 per cent of total revenue for local projects. Since December 2024 the brand’s hotels that were operating before 2024 have been GSTC certified through third-party audits.
A different building each time
The brand does not repeat a design. Samui in Thailand and Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam opened in 2004, and Yao Noi in 2007. Zighy Bay in Oman followed in 2008, where a guest can make the grandest entrance by paragliding down to the bay. Laamu in the Maldives opened in 2011.
The Douro Valley in 2015 was the first venture in Europe, in a 19th-century wine estate. Then came five lodges across the valleys of Bhutan in 2019, a restored palazzo in the centre of Rome in 2023 and Kyoto in 2024. On 1 March 2026 Six Senses London opened inside the historic Whiteley building in Bayswater, once London’s first department store: the brand’s debut in the United Kingdom and the home of the first Six Senses Place, a private members’ club.
Homes under the same name
Six Senses Residences give owners the facilities of the hotel and the privacy of a home. The collection runs from ski-in, ski-out apartments in Courchevel and Crans-Montana to 12 villas on the Aegean coast at Porto Heli, 25 oceanfront residences at Xala in Mexico and 14 apartments in London.
Six Senses where we work
Dubai. Six Senses The Palm, Dubai stands on the quieter West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah: a beachfront resort of 61 suites with 172 privately owned branded residences. They are penthouses, royal penthouses, duplex sky villas and nine five-bedroom beachfront villas. SAOTA of Cape Town designed the architecture and interiors. The developer, Select Group, has announced the completion of the residences and says handovers to owners are under way.
The wellness is part of the address. Owners can use the resort’s facilities: a longevity clinic, hydrotherapy areas, an Alchemy Bar and four places to dine, shaped by Eat With Six Senses and its seasonal, regional produce. The developer also lists an indoor lap pool, Finnish and infrared saunas, tennis and padel courts and direct beach access, and describes Six Senses Place, a wellness and lifestyle centre, as part of the complex. Here the brand’s philosophy is applied to a home: sleep, food and movement shape how the place is designed and run.
The hotel is due to receive its first guests before the end of 2026. A second residential tower, Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina, is under development, and the brand’s pages give 2028.
Thailand. Samui and Yao Noi, the latter in Phang Nga Bay, 45 minutes from Phuket according to the brand. Six Senses Residences The Forestias, near Bangkok, is in development.
Bali. Six Senses Uluwatu, a clifftop resort, joined the brand in 2018.
Two kinds of quiet
Aman, whose story we told in our previous article, speaks of seclusion, serenity and privacy. Six Senses describes itself as “a passion for wellness, community, sustainable design and smiles”. One withdraws from the world, and the other asks the guest to carry something of the place home. Both start from the same thought: a stay is measured by how it feels, and how it looks matters less.
What comes next
Six Senses is part of IHG Hotels & Resorts. In March 2026 the brand counted 27 hotels and resorts in 20 countries, with 39 more properties signed, residences included. On its own list of openings for the next two years: Quexigal Palace near Madrid, Milan, Tel Aviv and Wadi Safar in Saudi Arabia in 2027, and Xala in Mexico and Porto Heli in Greece in 2028.
Six Senses residences available through us
A selection of residences at Six Senses Residences The Palm that we offer. There are more, and your advisor will gladly introduce them.
Two-Bedroom Sea-View Residence
Three-Bedroom Corner Penthouse
Five-Bedroom Beachfront VillaRealtimo Luxury is an independent platform and is not affiliated with Six Senses. This is an editorial article based on information published by Six Senses and, where stated, independent sources. It is not an offer. Dates and statuses are as published on sixsenses.com on 31 October 2026 and may change.