SIX SENSES KAPLANKAYA, THE NEW WELLNESS HOT SPOT ON TURKISH RIVIERA
The latest Six Senses resort—Six Senses Kaplankaya—is opening on the Turkish Riviera near Bodrum, Turkey, on May 1, 2018, taking over Canyon Ranch Kaplankaya, which closed in 2017 after being open for less than a year. It was Canyon Ranch’s first foray into the international market.
Fortunately, Six Senses has plenty of global spa resort experience, with resorts in 11 countries and spas in 10 more. For the company’s first hotel in Turkey, the brand hired the New York–based firm Clodagh Design to redesign the property to fit with the rest of their portfolio: warm, eco-conscious, and as luxurious as ever. (The firm also designed their Duoro Valley property in Portugal.)
Carved into massive rock formations overlooking the sparkling Aegean Sea, Six Senses Kaplankaya will feature 141 guestrooms, six suites, and 66 secluded Ridge Villas. The sky-lit lobby, which overlooks the azure water, is dotted with leather-clad ottomans and handcrafted olive wood tables resting on layered Turkish rugs.
In the newly designed rooms, artistic details are a nice touch—the wall behind the bed is covered with woven leather and a desk niche displays an original painting by a Turkish artist. There’s a generous walk-in closet and a spacious marble bathroom with a decadent soaking tub, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows that open to a private balcony with sweeping views. Set on a hill discreetly tucked away from the main building, the Ridge Villas are private retreats with stunning sea views and infinity-edge pools.
Since this is a Six Senses (and a former Canyon Ranch), it’s no surprise that wellness is a focus. The expansive 107,640-square-foot spa features a 23-foot-long meditation walk, indoor swimming pool, Watsu pool (for aquatic therapies that combine muscle stretching, Shiatsu, yoga and meditation), hammams, state-of-the-art fitness studios, and a hydrothermal area that includes everything from a Finnish sauna to an igloo. The signature Turkish hammam treatment (you are in Turkey, after all) involves a scalp ritual and a rejuvenating hair mask, exfoliation using a black soap and loofah, steam, and foaming body and hair wash.
Food offerings at the three dining venues highlight healthy, Mediterranean options that emphasize the location—think freshly caught local fish, produce from the resort’s organic garden, and olive oil from the region’s ancient groves. The spa’s new Alchemy Bar offers raw food cooking classes. Respite from the hardcore wellness focus, meanwhile, can be found either at the Library Bar (one of the resort’s few areas to serve alcohol) or on chef-led market tours in Bodrum, where travelers can sample local dates, cheese, and delicacies like lokmasi (a deep-fried dough doused in syrup you’ll most certainly not see on the menu at the Six Senses).
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