Some links to products and partners on this website will earn an affiliate commission.

Not content with scooping up Kimpton and Regent in recent years, IHG has now announced the purchase of Six Senses Hotels, Resorts & Spas for a cool $300 million.

As the press release explains,

“Six Senses currently manages 16 hotels and resorts, with 18 management contracts signed into its pipeline, and more than 50 further deals under active discussion. With properties in locations such as the Maldives, the Seychelles, Yao Noi in Thailand, Zighy Bay in Oman, and Portugal’s Douro Valley, the addition of Six Senses’ award-winning estate and high-quality development pipeline will further round out IHG’s position in the luxury segment.

At Six Senses’ core is a commitment to guest rejuvenation and reconnection, with an expert focus on wellness and sustainability. The acquisition extends IHG’s reach to a community of affluent travellers and new owners and provides instant entry to some of the world’s most sought-after locations.

Six Senses will sit at the top of IHG’s luxury portfolio, complementing the world’s largest luxury hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts; the recently acquired and repositioned Regent Hotels & Resorts; and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, for which IHG has secured a presence in 14 countries, since its acquisition of the brand in 2015. Today’s acquisition of Six Senses takes IHG’s portfolio of open and pipeline luxury hotels to 400 hotels (108,000 rooms) globally.

By combining IHG’s scale, systems and operational excellence with Six Senses’ luxury, resort and spa expertise, IHG sees the potential to grow the Six Senses estate to more than 60 properties globally over the next 10 years. This includes bringing Six Senses to important urban markets, with a property already under construction in West Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City.”

Keith Barr, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, commented:

“Six Senses is an outstanding brand in the top-tier of luxury and one we’ve admired for some time. You only have to look at its iconic hotels and resorts to see how this acquisition will further round out our luxury offer. With a focus on wellness and sustainability, Six Senses has been voted the world’s top hotel brand for the past two years, which is testament to its impressive management team who bring deep experience to IHG’s luxury operations.

“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.”

Should I care?

Maybe.

First of all, there is no question that Six Senses hotels look really, really good and have an excellent reputation – as they should do, given the often eye-watering prices (4 figures… per night). IHG has acquired a genuine luxury brand with hotels in some of the world’s most desirable destinations.

Theoretically then, the chance to potentially use IHG Points to stay at these hotels is very exciting. There are a couple of big questions though:

1) Will these properties actually be integrated into IHG Rewards Club? I would assume yes – eventually anyway.

2) How many points will these hotels charge per night? I don’t know, but I would bet heavily that it will be more than the current top level of 70,000. Possibly a lot more.

Bottom line

As a customer, I’m a big fan of IHG’s current strategy – being able to redeem IHG Points at Kimpton and Regent hotels at decent(ish) rates is a fantastic option to have. I would love to see that made possible at Six Senses hotels too, but I’m concerned about new award categories being introduced (and the inevitable creep upwards in points required for other desirable properties that it would open the path to).

What do you think?