Six Senses Hotel Group is brought by Intercontinental Hotels giving the group extra impact on Oman's tourism business

Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) has purchased the award-winning Six Senses brand from private equity fund Pegasus Capital Advisors for USD 300 million. The sale includes the management of Six Senses  16 hotels and resorts, along with Spas and subsidiary groups Evason and Raison d’Etre. Following the acquisition, Six Senses is now expected to grow to 60 hotels within the next 10 years.

Zighy Bay Hotel Musandam Oman
Zighy Bay Hotel Musandam Oman

Six Senses currently manages 16 hotels and resorts, with 68 other properties either soon to open or being discussed.  Zighy Bay in Oman was one of the chain’s first hotels and remains one of Oman’s most prestigious properties. Other current locations include Fiji, the Maldives, Seychelles, Yao Noi in Thailand, and Portugal’s Douro Valley.

Six Senses will become a key part of the IHG luxury portfolio, complementing the world’s largest luxury hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.

Keith Barr, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, commented: “Six Senses’ attractive development pipeline provides us with a platform for high quality growth. With the power of the IHG enterprise, we believe we can expand Six Senses to more than 60 properties globally over the next decade. This acquisition continues the progress we’ve made against the strategic initiatives we outlined a year ago, which included a commitment to adding new brands in the fast-growing $60 billion luxury segment.”

Included in the Spa offering is the 3,000sq metre spa in Al Bustan Palace Hotel, part of the Ritz Carlton Group. This was one of the very first operations using the Six Senses brand and was created when IHG ran Al Bustan.

My rewrite of the Bradt Guide to Oman in eBook here and paperback through Amazon worldwide here covers Zighy Bay, Musandam and Oman.

Oman Guide Book by Tony Walsh
Bradt Guide to Oman

IHG, a British group, operates, along with the InterContinental Hotel, the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn  Hotels; all three are well established in Oman. Other brands include Candlewood Suites, Even Hotels, Hotel Indigo, Hualuxe, InterContinental, Kimpton Hotels and Resorts, Staybridge Suites and Voco. Its first hotel was open in 1969 as a Crest Hotel, part of the original Bass Brewing Group. They then gradually brought other hotel chains including InterContinental. Today’s acquisition of Six Senses takes IHG’s portfolio to 5,518 Hotels globally, 825,746 Rooms globally and 1,828
Hotels in their pipeline adding 267,235 rooms. Currently IHG receives USD1.78billion group revenue.

Despite its strong brand Six Senses does not own the properties under its flag, like many hotel groups it manages them on behalf of the property’s owner.

Author: Tony Walsh

Book author including the current Bradt guide to Oman