For the Six Senses Kaplankaya resort and spa, which spans 50 acres on the Aegean Sea across the bay from Bodrum in southwestern Turkey, Neil Jacobs, CEO of the wellness-focused brand, tasked New York-based designer Clodagh with creating a vibrant but distinctive design. “We wanted to bring Turkish detailing into the hotel [a former Canyon Ranch], which was sadly lacking, and introduce Six Senses touchpoints into a more traditional and very contemporary hotel structure,” he says.
To bring it up to Six Senses’ understated model of luxury, the biggest challenge was “weaving the spirit of place and context to a previously very dry, clinical installation,” says Clodagh, adding that the structure had good bones, but a “complete absence of a sense of place.” With just a year to deliver, the design team found inspiration in the area’s ancient towering rock formations and the fragrance of sage and thyme. Four-hundred-year-old olive trees from the site were transferred to become a welcoming installation at the entrance (the hotel is accessed by boat, helipad, or a drive through the hills), planted in a reflecting pool. Living walls soften the faces of the stone walls, and a stone “rug” functions as a welcome mat for guests entering the skylit lobby through substantial wooden doors. Inside, the four-story space offers heady views of the sea, while a “caravanserai” of ancient kilim- and leather-clad ottomans, a stone check-in desk, and olive wood tables further enforce a refined sense of place.
Having worked with Six Senses since 2012, Clodagh is no stranger to the company’s wellness-first ethos. “We both feel strongly about sustainability and wellness that we drive each other to make things better,” she says, noting that her firm’s core values align with those of the health-focused resort. The approach means making use of durable, low-maintenance, and long-lasting local materials and vegetation, “so our work doesn’t go into a landfill.” Every detail, including living walls that conceal the functional back-of-house, are thoughtful solutions.
But no Six Senses is complete without a spa. Guests access the area via a dramatic entry walk, and to further create a sense of wellbeing, “the richly planted landscape is studded with unpredictable surprises,” she says. That includes intimate wood pavilions strewn with cushions, a sculpture walk, platforms for private dining, bleachers stepping down close enough to the water to get splashed by a wave, a moon garden dotted with pillow-like grass mounds to lounge on, and a 30-foot-diameter labyrinth, a former helipad that now functions as a meditation walk. “We wanted to take something utilitarian and make it beautiful,” she explains. “Everywhere you walk, you should see something beautiful. That is our mantra.”
The surroundings also served as a muse for the 141 rooms, including six suites and 66 villas (plus 154 multiroom residences). While some Ridge rooms feature plunge pools, all have beautiful terraces, circadian rhythm-regulating lighting, and a macramé art wall that hangs behind the bed. In some suites, beds are accented with antique Turkish doors and woven leather details. Residential villas are “carved into the side of the rocky cliff like an eagle’s nest,” she says, and take in views of the sea from wooden decks with infinity pools or a lounging pavilion, while a stone path leads to a firepit.
The resort’s diverse F&B outlets are inspired by the coastal location as well. The all-day eatery Sage & Sea’s retractable glass wall reveals an outdoor dining area with a 30-foot-tall terracotta fireplace presiding over its comfortable lounge. Wild Thyme overlooks the pool and is surrounded by stone walls, while Mezze by the Sea offers a one-of-a-kind outdoor dining experience. For drinks, guests can imbibe at the laidback Beach Bar, seductive Library Bar, or the Alchemy Bar, which is punctuated with a fragrant living wall and a chef’s table that comfortably seats 14. “It is a magical little pocket within the resort,” Clodagh says, “to take in the display and aroma of the local ingredients while still enjoying a glimpse of the ocean.”
