The new Six Senses opening in the iconic Whiteley, London, fitted with 109 rooms and suites, along with 14 Six Senses Residences, spa, and fitness centre

As VP of the luxury portfolio of Six Senses owner IHG, Tom Rowntree is at the cutting edge of modern luxury hospitality. He speaks to LUX about how to keep the future both luxurious and Zen

LUX: Tell us more about the Six Senses in London and the members’ club?

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Tom Rowntree: The Whiteley is an iconic building, and we are delighted to be opening a Six Senses here. It will be landmark moment for both Six Senses and IHG. There will be a signature 109 rooms and suites, along with 14 Six Senses Residences, a signature Six Senses Spa, and over 325 square meter fitness centre, complete with a 20-meter indoor pool.

Tom Rowntree at the Regent Taste Studio premiere, which fuses fine art and culinary craft

Six Senses Place is a part of this and will be our first private members club. It is designed around ‘a new rhythm for the city’. A place where members and hotel guests can join a community to heal, gather, learn, and feel a sense of belonging.

LUX: How do you integrate art and food into your experiences?

TR: Regent Taste Studio is the perfect example of this. It is a series of pop-up culinary experiences inspired by art, design and culture. These are immersive experience where the chefs from our properties around the world collaborate with artists, designers and musicians to curate one of a kind extraordinary dining moments that engage our guests on a multi-sensory level that goes far beyond the realms of art or food individually.

A dining moment at IHG’s Regent Hong Kong

LUX: You are now catering to multigenerational travel. Tell us more.

TR: With the birth this year of Gen B, for the first time ever we are seeing 7 generations travelling. A key element of that is multi-gen travel and skip-gen, such as grandparents travelling with grandchildren.

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From a product perspective, we are looking at room, suite and villa configurations – a great example is Regent Phu Quoc that has four- and seven-bedroom villas and also the flexibility to connect villas, ensuring families have space but can come together.

The Six Senses opening this year at the Whiteley comes with a signature Six Senses Spa, and over 325 square meter fitness centre, complete with a 20-meter indoor pool

Additionally, we’re seeing growth in a younger, more experience-focused consumer. Millennials aged 30 to 44 years now comprise the highest penetration of luxury seekers, followed by Gen Z. Combined, Millennials and Gen Z now make up ~45% of luxury spend.

What this means is that when we design our brands and their guest experience, we’re designing for the guest of yesterday, today and tomorrow all at the same time. This makes things more inclusive and diverse than ever, a big challenge, but also an immense opportunity. It’s exciting.

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LUX: You have a one week all expenses paid holiday in one IHG property with your partner. Which one do you choose and why?

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What a great question. It has to be Six Senses Vana, a dedicated wellness retreat in the Indian Himalayas. Day to day, Flavien and I are both so busy, operating on autopilot. We seem to live our lives in 30-minute diary appointments. I think we’d both benefit from the time to just be present with one another and within one of the world’s quieter corners. I’ve also always been curious about the principles of ayurveda, something Vana does especially well.

The Six Senses Kyoto, where the design is inspired by the Tale of Genji and ancient folklore

LUX: Six Senses is a powerful modern luxury brand. How do you ensure it retains that power under corporate ownership?

TR: It really is and we are working hard and focussed on ensuring we retain all that is special, whilst evolving for the future. Each of our brands is designed around a clear purpose and a unifying and unique set of hallmarks.

With Six Senses, we are considered and always intentional. It is a brand that has always been slightly maverick and quirky. That personality hasn’t changed, nor has its ethos and philosophy. Being part of the IHG family has enabled Six Senses to achieve even greater performance. The relationship is symbiotic, and it occupies a unique and special place in our luxury and lifestyle portfolio.

sixsenses.com

The remote alpine village of Andermatt, Switzerland. Image by Laureen Missaire

Deep within the Swiss Alps, tucked between Zermatt and St. Moritz, lies what is perhaps the most ambitious little town in Switzerland: Andermatt. With just 1,200 residents and limited access during the depths of winter, Andermatt appears to be at a disadvantage up against flashier ski resorts and yet, it’s home to one of the world’s most alluring alpine hotels, The Chedi Andermatt. Nathalie Breitschwerdt ventures into the valley to discover Andermatt’s hidden luxury.

We travel to Andermatt by train. The tracks run alongside Lake Lucerne, winding up through the stunning Alpine foothills, bringing us down into the fairytale like village of snowy Andermatt and almost straight to the door of The Chedi.

Visioned by the ‘starchitect’ Jean-Michel Gathy, The Chedi sits in the heart of the village at the base of the Gemsstock mountain. Although it stands tall with 123 spacious rooms and suites, the hotel’s dark-wooden facade blends in harmoniously with Andermatt’s traditional chalets, balancing grandeur with a cosy kind of warmth that’s especially inviting after a day on the slopes.

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The Chedi Andermatt, designed by Jean-Michel Gathy

Throughout the winter season, the hotel offers a private Ski Butler service to assist guests with mapping the best routes. We select a route of hidden trails, trying to cover as much as possible of the Andermatt-Gemsstock-Nätschen ski area (approximately 120km), and for much of the day, we’re skiing on deserted slopes, which makes a welcome change to the stilted swerving that the more crowded resorts like Verbier and St. Moritz require.

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We arrive back at the hotel with flushed faces to be handed cups of creamy hot chocolate, before making our way to the spa. Spread over two floors, the spa is a sensual, fragrant space with two large swimming pools (one that sits in the snow outside and is – thankfully – heated) surrounded by plush loungers. Waiters circulate, at intervals, with complimentary smoothies, candied fruits, and flavoured waters. There’s a hydrotherapy section too, designed to resemble a kind of Asian temple, with various heated baths, steam rooms and saunas.

The indoor pool is encased in glass with views of the snowy courtyard

Everything about the hotel from the lobby to the restaurants to the rooms is spacious and indulgent, blending Swiss Alpine chic with Asian Zen. Our room is romantic, sumptuous and warm with dark woods, brown leather, furs, soft lighting and artfully placed Acqua Di Parma candles – and of course, there’s the view: startling white snow covered mountains that seem to have been rendered to postcard perfection.

The height of luxury: the Furka Suite features three bedrooms and it’s own private spa

That night, we dine in the main restaurant on the ground floor that features four open plan kitchens, where you can watch the expert chefs prepare Swiss, European and Asian delights, and a striking five-metre high cheese cellar at the room’s centre, stocked with Switzerland’s finest. It’s a vibrant, interactive dining experience with all the frills and flourishes you’d expect, whilst still paying attention to the quality and taste (the melt-in-the-mouth dumplings were our highlight). For a slightly more casual affair, there’s also a little Swiss chalet set-up in the courtyard of the Chedi during the ski season, which re-creates the authentic alpine restaurant atmosphere complete with red and white checkered curtains and hearts carved into the wooden shutters. Inside, it’s compact, seating only five small groups and the speciality is cheese fondue, which comes a variety of ways – we choose a heady mix of champagne and truffle.

Open fires in the hotel lobby, where guests can curl up in an armchair in the evenings to listen to live piano music

Historically, Andermatt’s residents have always had to face the challenge of survival with its harsh winters and steep valleys. However, it continues to blossom despite the elements, maintaining a unique kind of other-worldly charm and the allure of remote escape. Make plans to go sooner rather than later – it won’t be long before the rest of the luxury world catches on.

thechediandermatt.com, myswitzerland.com