• The philosophy behind the Six Senses Samui is to send their guests home glowing – guests alternate between long, languorous meals, treatments at the spa and swimming in the private pools of their hillside villa.
• Six Senses Samui is following a well-established trend in Thailand of resorts moving further and further away from town in order to offer guests their own slice of beach Nirvana.
The Whole Story
When you arrive at the Six Senses Samui complex on the Thai island of Koh Samui, the view is at once exhilarating and strangely familiar. The sweeping vista of palm-clustered islands and shimmering seas brings to mind all the fantasies we have of the Orient's beaches.
The resort is made up of a stunning collection of bamboo-clad villas, most with their own infinity-edge swimming pool looking out over the Gulf of Thailand. The place is almost universal in its appeal, an ideal version of what we would hope to find in the steamy tropics. This is about as far away from backpacking in Thailand as you can get. The Six Senses Samui gives you a lot, including a comprehensive spa that offers every conceivable treatment in Asia...with a brilliant view to boot.
The Six Senses brand is the creation of husband-and-wife team Sonu and Eva Shivdasani. They launched their vision of what a resort should be with Soneva Fushi in the Maldives just over a decade ago and haven't looked back since. In a world where hotel and resort companies are scrambling to be noticed, they have made their name by not second-guessing the consumer. By their own candid admission, they create places completely according to their own ideas of luxury and excellence. Eva, who was a model and fashion entrepreneur in Paris before meeting Sonu at the Monaco Grand Prix (where else?), describes their approach as analogous to a dinner table in a Louis XVI chateau: the linen and silver are replaced by coconut wood plates and hand-beaten bronze knives and forks, and the priceless Aubusson rug is substituted by even more precious barefoot toes in the sand. She has a point – a noble savage is more difficult to conjure than a cosmopolitan dandy.
Six Senses is the embodiment of a new kind of hotel. The focus is on space, privacy and personal indulgence. At Six Senses there are no rooms as such, only villas. Each guest gets their own house most with a private swimming pool, a modern interpretation of a traditional Thai residence, with open-plan, polished wooden floors, louvres to filter light, subtly different levels that don't vary by more than a few steps and open-air spaces combined with a loft-like arrangement for the interior, i.e. no doors between the bedroom and bathroom. The restaurant and bar are open pavilions without air-conditioning or any form of glazing, deriving their aesthetic from the communal longhouses of traditional river communities. The view, the architecture, the decor, the style and even the temperature intentionally immerse the guest in the location.
The other distinguishing feature of this new style of hotel is the lifestyle. Today's savvy travellers no longer spend their days nursing a cocktail in a tacky half-submerged pool bar but split their time between exploring and being pampered. Hence, the Shivdasanis' philosophy behind their Six Senses resort is to endeavour to send their guests home glowing. The idea is fuelled by an emerging trend in tourism known as 'captive pampering': guests are cocooned in their secluded setting with neither the means (i.e. transport) nor the motivation to leave. That's not to say you can't go out at night, but it's not that convenient because the resort is about 10 mins away from the nearest town or bar. And no one here is complaining. The aim of couples who arrive at this resort is to chill out and regenerate. They alternate between long, languorous meals, treatments at the spa and swimming in the private pools of their hillside villas. The only thing they're missing is the hustle and bustle of Chaweng Beach – but there, for many visitors to Koh Samui, once is often enough.
In many ways, the Six Senses Samui is following a well-established trend in Phuket of resorts moving further and further away from town in order to offer guests their own slice of beach Nirvana. Indeed, the resort is so well hidden on Samui that you would never stumble across it unless someone gave you specific directions. This is back to nature – without even a hint of roughing it
The Rooms
Just 66 villas create an atmosphere of space and light whilst maintaining views from almost every location in the villa. 52 of the villas have private infinity-edged swimming pools which help to give a feeling of seclusion, even though all of the resort’s facilities are close at hand and augmented by personal butlers.
All villas include a minibar and personal electronic safe, tea & coffee making facilities, CD Player with speakers in bedroom and bathroom, TV and DVD player, writing desk and Wi-Fi internet is available.
Samui Villas
There are 14 Hideaway Villas which are 130 sq.m. with 55 sq.m. living space. All have outdoor shower, plunge bathtub with panoramic views, double vanity bathroom basins, fridge, large daybed, outdoor dining table.
Pool Villas
There are 41 Pool Villas which are 160 sq.m. with 55 sq.m. living space. All have a pool (size 2.5 by 5 m), outdoor shower, plunge bathtub with panoramic views, double vanity basins, daybed, sun bathing deck with private sun loungers, 2 outdoor daybeds, outdoor dining table with 2 seats, private pool (some also with salas).
Other villa types
There are also 10 Pool Villa Suites which are 300m sq and a Presidential Villa which is 645m sq available. Please contact us for further details.