Six Senses launches first city hotels
Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has given two Singaporean heritage buildings a complete restoration as part of a conservation project in the city-state’s central district. Split across two buildings – Six Senses Duxton and Six Senses Maxwell – the project marks the brand’s first city hotel.
Celebrating local culture and history while adding a touch of playfulness, both structures feature a mix of Chinese, Malay and European elements including neo-classical lion head motifs, Chinese porcelain-chip friezes, Malay timber fretwork, French windows, Portuguese shutters and Corinthian pilasters. Six Senses Duxton is due to open in April 2018, followed by Six Senses Maxwell three months later.
“Such unique properties do not come to market often and we are delighted to be working with Satinder Garcha and Harpreet Bedi of Garcha Hotels on this project,” comments Six Senses CEO Neil Jacobs. “The buildings will be the last heritage hotels of this quality to be developed in Singapore. Each building has its own distinct personality, but what makes Six Senses Singapore so special is that guests can enjoy all the offerings of both locations plus the neighbourhood when staying with us. It’s all about community and being part of the rich, local culture of Singapore.”
Sustainably restored by designer Anoushka Hempel, Six Senses Duxton comprises 49 guestrooms and suites, and incorporates eccentric surprises including large golden fans and hues of black, gold and yellow layered with Oriental screens and calligraphy wallpaper from Hempel’s personal collection. Gold takes centre stage in the restaurant, which offers a fine dining menu of classic and innovative Chinese cuisine, whilst adjacent is an antiquarian library themed lobby bar serving up the hotel’s signature house cocktails.
Six Senses Maxwell, meanwhile, features 138 guestrooms and suites alongside a Six Senses Spa, outdoor lap pool, Champagne bar and lounge, whiskey bar, boardroom and club lounge. A veranda lined with tropical foliage follows the length of the building, whilst French architect and designer Jacques Garcia has overseen interiors. The scheme reflects the authentic decor and furnishings of the era in which it was built, but with a contemporary twist. Jacques has sought to infuse a Western sensibility, as he has with La Mamounia in Marrakesh, Hotel Costes in Paris and NoMad in New York.
Attention to detail is showcased throughout its 50 unique room types, from the brass, lacquer and marble mini bars to the handmade Lefroy Brooks bathroom fixtures. All guestrooms feature handmade mattresses by Naturalmat and organic bed linens to support Sleep With Six Senses, a pillar of the group’s Integrated Wellness initiative. Elsewhere, special looms were constructed to hand weave 13 x 20-foot silk rugs for the public areas of the hotel.
Colonial meets modern Europe in Maxwell’s restaurant, where menus represent the brand’s Eat With Six Senses approach to fresh, local seasonal food and drink. The Six Senses Spa, meanwhile, will offer specialty treatments and external lap pool to complement Singapore’s tropical weather.
In addition to the environmental considerations implemented in the redevelopment of both properties, the hotel will also participate in a program that will make the buildings carbon-free. This focus on sustainable practices will continue across the seven new resorts and two spas opening under the Six Senses brand from now until early 2019.
