“I’m so charged and it’s great to have all this energy around,” says Neil Jacobs the new CEO of Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, the development and management company. The ‘energy’ he’s referring to has come from an internal spa meeting of area directors from Europe, Asia and the Middle East, plus department heads who’ve all convened at the headquarters in Bangkok to hear about the group’s strategic spa plans. “Our goals are really exciting,” he adds.

Jacobs came on board this February following Six Senses’ buyout by US-based equity firm Pegasus Capital Advisors in April 2012. It was purchased from founders Sonu and Eva Shivdasani and a number of shareholders for an undisclosed sum and the sale included 10 resorts and spas under the Six Senses and Evason brands and 18 standalone Six Senses Spas in other hotels/resorts worldwide.

Six Senses was, says Jacobs, “one of the first companies to do more than just a couple of treatment rooms attached to a gym. It goes beyond spa in a conventional sense and has always been about wellbeing with a significant focus on sustainability.” But, by his own admission, while the group once was a leader, others are now catching up and it’s time to propel it forward once more.

It’s a welcome challenge for Jacobs who feels back at home in the spa world and being in Asia. For the past four years he’s been the president of global hotel operations for the Starwood Capital Group and was instrumental in launching its Baccarat and 1 Hotels concepts. But prior to that he was senior vice president for Four Seasons in Asia (see SB05/2 p18) and headed up the group’s spa task force.

He says: “The attraction was spending a little more time in Asia as I have family and a home there. It was also hugely important to me to be involved in the in spa industry again. It became a part of my DNA at Four Seasons and I’ve missed it.”

Long-term investment
The opportunity to join Six Senses came via a “dear friend”– Wolf Hengst who was president at Four Seasons at the same time as Jacobs worked there and is now the executive chairman at Six Senses. Pegasus, which already had a minority share in Six Senses, has a sustainable thread running through its US$3bn (€2.3bn, £2bn) worth of investments – from an LED lighting firm to a recycling group in South America – and was keen to get even more involved in hospitality. Eight months before the deal, Hengst sounded out Jacobs who, he knew, had a good knowledge of Six Senses from his days in Asia. “I helped by looking at the numbers, underwriting and value projections,” he says. “And then Wolf asked if I knew anyone who might be interested in joining the team.” Aside from the Asia and spa factors, Jacobs liked the way Pegasus did business. “They hold their investments much longer – anything from five to 10 years – which is a good length of time to consolidate, create value and develop people. They’re hugely supportive and now we have a company that doesn’t owe money and that has the capital to go forward.”

As CEO Jacobs will be taking responsibility for finance, HR, spa/hotel operations and technical design and architecture. Meanwhile, Bernhard Bohnenberger, who was managing director before the buyout, will serve as president and oversee marketing, development and sustainability. Between them, they’ll have eight to nine direct reports with the majority of those being fresh appointments.

“I’m really excited about Anna coming on board,” says Jacobs in reference to the company’s new vice president of spa and wellness Anna Bjurstam (see p36). A well-known industry figure, Bjurstam has been running her own successful spa consultancy, Raison d’Etre (see SB06/3 p66), for a number of years and actually opened and operated the group’s very first spa – Six Senses Soneva Fushi – in the Maldives in 1995. “I knew she’d worked on quite a lot of the [Six Senses] spas,” says Jacobs, who persuaded Bjurstam to fully commit to the role. “I told her I didn’t want a consultant, so she’s put someone in place to run Raison d’Etre and has effectively come in-house dedicating 80 per cent of her time to us.”

Brand maintenance
One of the first decisions Jacobs made was to discontinue the group’s Latitude and Hideaway brands – both evolutions of the Evason concept. These properties have now been absorbed into the existing Six Senses and Evason umbrella and, for the time being, the plan is to keep the full portfolio of properties.

And while he knows it’s important to maintain brand integrity, there will be some distinct modifications. He explains: “One of the lovely things about Six Senses is that it’s a little off beat/quirky and that kind of suits me. One night of the week, for example, there was no electricity at the properties and everything was done by candlelight while another rule was that no meat was served on Fridays. These are differentiators. But with the amount of money we charge if someone wants a hamburger we can’t tell them no, neither can you switch the lights out a 6pm when they’re having a shower!

“I’ve been systematically working through the many rules and regulations and testing everything. I’m sure we’ll keep a ton of them, because there are some great things, but a few will quietly disappear!”

Sustainability, which has always been at the heart of Six Senses’ philosophy, will remain key. It’s just appointed Amber Marie Beard, a specialist eco-friendly architect, as vice president of sustainability and a high profile advisory board will be put in place for all environmental matters. Jacobs says: “The company should be applauded for its stand on sustainability in luxury hospitality – putting drinking water plants in all the hotels was fantastic. We want to continue doing the right thing, but we’ll only talk about the things we can execute.”

In a slight difference, corporate social responsibility funds will now go towards local charities and initiatives specific to properties rather than a central pot. ­­­

Spa evolution
Spa is intrinsic to Six Senses says Jacobs: “It’s a crucial differentiator and a profitable business in its own right, but it’s also about what it can do to your hotel… you’re getting 10 to 15 per cent more on your rates, it extends an average stay by a night or two and it can help during off peak seasons.”

Having said that, Jacobs knows he’s got much to do and one area for evolution will be interior design. He says “We’ll still keep the naturalness and won’t put in marble floors or crystal chandeliers, but we will lose a bit of the Robinson Crusoe feel and add some modernity. It could be that a wooden table is given a more refined finish or that we give guests a choice of indoor bathrooms to go with those we already have outside.”

When it comes to treatments, he’s looking to streamline services. “Our offers are huge and with that comes the risk of doing a lot things not so well. So we’ll consolidate some of our body treatments and facials, but at the same time we want to add some signature elements and have something that’s contextual. I don’t mean giving it a ‘sense of place’ – I hate that term! I mean catering to the mix at the property – a local in the Middle East wants a French beauty treatment, while visiting guests will want to try something more authentic.

“I think that spas have become too serious and while we will focus on delivering results we want to add fun, socialising aspects. We’re looking to devise half-day packages for groups to spend time together and I kind of want to mash the customer journey up – rather than dimming the lights and taking the energy down when you enter, you could take it up. I’d like to add a social hub where you can eat, drink, have a glass of champagne, shop and hang out: even if you’re not having a treatment.

“One of our key goals is to be pioneers in wellness and that goes way beyond spa and we’ve got to put the fun back in. Take fitness for example – the conventional hotel gym is terminally boring and Thailand is famous for it’s boxing, so why not introduce a boxing ring in our properties there, or use the outside areas in other places as some of our properties are set in stunning locations.”

Development strategy
Moving forwards, we can expect some significant development – 40 new projects in the next five years – from Six Senses says Jacobs. The focus will be on management contract deals, although Pegasus will be raising up to US$250m to invest predominately in Six Senses branded real estate should the right partner and location present itself. “I’m not sure we want to own hotels 100 per cent, particularly if we’re going to far flung places as it’s always good to have a local partner in that circumstance,” he says. “But this will allow us to be in the game a little more significantly.”

He also hints at a possible acquisition of a “like minded group that’s perhaps geographically different to us”.

One strategy is to expand in urban locations such as New York, London, Hong Kong and Shanghai. “We don’t want to be perceived as just being a resort brand and I think we could easily have an urban version. We already have one in Paris which is a tiny space but has that quirky, unusual Six Senses feel with a vertical garden and hand-crafted oak treatment cocoons [see p32].”

Residential units will also be considered at selective properties, he adds.

Geographically, Central and South America is a key focus. “It’s a new area for us and, importantly, it’s under supplied,” says Jacobs, pinpointing Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia as particular countries of interest.

Elsewhere, it has managed to secure a deal of five boutique spa lodges in Bhutan – a country famously strict on development and tourism (see SB11/4 p58). The lodges, which will have 90 bedrooms between them, will each feature two to six treatment rooms with therapies inspired by the country’s unique standard of living indicator: the gross national happiness index. “The idea is that by the time you’ve visited the five hotels around Bhutan, you’ve had this extraordinary wellness experience.”

While the concept, which has been created by Bjurstam, won’t open until 2016, it’s nonetheless a highlight for Jacobs – “It’s so cool and I’m really excited about it,” he says.

He concludes: “Overall I’m just excited about the potential of creating off-beat, quirky spas that are great fun, while offering wellness programmes that have real benefits and can help people. I’d love to talk to you six months, a year down the line to see how far we’ve come!”