Staying at the Six Senses - Kaplankaya, Turkey

Welcome to the Six Senses, Kaplankaya: a luxury retreat on the coast of the Turkish Riviera with a unique approach to wellbeing. This five-star resort is a celebrity favourite that spans five-million square metres yet maintains a boutique glow centred around privacy, relaxation and wellness. The seaside resort offers an in-depth menu of health programs, spacious rooms, attentive staff and rotating menus across its seven dining experiences.

The lavish property has been known to host a foray of celebrities over the years: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom were snapped here in 2021, the rich and famous fly in the Black-Eyed Peas for private wedding performances, and (I’m told) two (English) Royal Family members own villas on the property.

Six Senses Kaplankaya is a one-hour drive from Bodrum Airport, direct flights are offered from Dublin with Ryanair during the summer months or guests can choose to connect in Heathrow or Istanbul. The hotel demonstrates its commitment to privacy and safety immediately – with a security checkpoint a ten-minute drive up a winding road before you arrive at the hotel.

The property offers a total of 141 guest hotel rooms and suites (75 in the main building) plus 66 Ridge Terrace Rooms, designed to complement the landscape, using natural materials for elegant simplicity. Each has personal balcony views and suites, and Ridge Terrace Rooms have an optional private pool and terrace. In addition, three-bedroom, four-bedroom, and five-bedroom residences offer kitchens, gardens, and pools. The resort prides itself on sustainability – with a banquet of amenities made from ecological sources. In my suite, the two-sink bathroom that featured a gorgeous bath overlooking the Aegean Sea – a selection of desserts ready and waiting inside the room on arrival and the comfiest bed I’ve ever slept in made me never want to leave. There’s a full minibar packed full of red, white and rose wine, beers and soft drinks and chocolate. There’s 24-hour room service and a Marshall amp that links to your Bluetooth so you can listen to your own soundtrack as you sink into your luxury alongside the most comfortable futon you’ll ever laze in, angled right across the sliding door balcony.

Outside of the rooms – that all face westerly on the sea’s horizon – the tiered design of the hotel starts with the lobby on the top floor. Here, you can jump into a buggy where a driver will bring you down the coursing path through the private villas to the beachside. Alternatively, taking the lift down to the bottom floor of the hotel, you can walk past yoga classes and greenery to get to the beach.

It’s not just the rich and famous that come to this resort just an hour from Bodrum, it’s for the couples seeking a romantic retreat, families seeking relaxation and privacy, and the burnout millennials that all come to take advantage of the extensive wellness program on the resort.

At this Six Senses, they’ve thought of everything when it comes to your personal wellbeing and fitness. They use smart technology to measure your inner health, movement and sleep patterns to ensure that their wellness experts can properly personalize treatments, activities and nutritional advice based on each guests’ specific needs. The resort offers a range of programs for those looking for unique and targeted approaches to their wellness. To achieve this, the Six Senses’ spa area encompasses 10,000 square-metres that includes individual massage areas, an indoor-heated pool, hydrothermal areas, hammams, state-of-the-art fitness equipment, and classes including spinning, yoga, and Pilates – with relaxation areas with heated seats for recovery post-treatment.

The programs at Six Senses take full advantage of this incredible luxury escape with a plethora of options for guests to choose from, they all begin with a wellness check-up so that every experience is designed to suit each individual:

·        The Fitness Program - designed for those ready to get in shape, improve stamina or address specific issues. This program includes a range of assessments before introducing you to the onsite yoga and Pilates offerings, Thai Massages, Movement Restorations, Traditional Turkish Hammam, their onsite high-technology Cellgym (wellness and biohacking system to simulate the physiological benefits of high-altitude training), Normatec Recovery Boots, and a Compex Corebelt.

·        The Detox Program is designed for guests to rid themselves of built up toxins and shake off fatigue. The program is shown to improve digestion and boost the immune system and covers fitness training, Pilates or yoga, meditation, a detox massage, a Turkish Hammam, a Yogic Intestinal Cleanse, Watsu (aquatic bodywork and hydrotherapy), detoxifying algae treatment and two Cellgyms.

·        The Sleep program that offers a complimentary two-night sleep tracker and analysis, then sets guests up for a package that includes Pilates, Meditation or Pranayama, Nourishing Cocoon Floatation and Massage, Traditional Turkish Hammam, Watsu, Dream Catcher Massage and two x Cellgym, 30 minutes.

But there’s more! There’s the Boost Your Immunity and the Weight Management program, the Longevity program and the Love Your Heart experience for a day of reflection to let go of your old baggage, set new purposes and new goals.  

Included in all programs bar the latter, you also get a full-board wellness cuisine included in the package which starts at €2,245 per person for three days (accommodation not included).

The dining on site is a perfect mixture of Aegean, Mediterranean and Pan-Asian dining. As part of their Eat With Six Senses approach, the restaurants at the resorts are committed to sourcing freshly harvested vegetables, seafood, and specialty ingredients from artisan producers locally alongside being sourced from their organic garden.

At breakfast time, you can enjoy a fantastic selection of charcuterie – a smiling chef makes fresh gözleme (a Turkish turnover pastry), and there’s a dedicated station for eggs – however you want them – omelettes, benedict, scrambled or fried with every option for garnishing. At lunch, you can wander down to the seafront and lounge in a sunbed on the sandy beach where staff will adhere to your every need. There are two dining options to choose from here – Ortakoy Beach Bar and Barbeque Grill alongside Meze by the Sea which also opens for dinner. For lunch, you can enjoy chicken kebabs and tacos, a full array of mezzes and a selection of incredible smoothies and juices. Dinnertime at Six Senses is set like a banquet for kings and queens – for starters, every food imaginable is served with mezze style sharing plates. The offering shows off just how locally sourced and grown their ingredients are – from stuffed peppers to freshly-caught crispy mackerel, cheeses and hummus, chickpea and onion salads – you’re full before you get to your delicious main courses and beautifully produced desserts– reimagined from traditional Turkish dishes. Later this year, they’re opening a dedicated Japanese restaurant on site to go along with their other dining options including the quiet Library Café and Family Beach where guests can enjoy a selection of grilled meats. The juices and smoothies at Six Senses are so delicious it makes you forget to order a glass of vino – but like everything else, they take their wine supply very seriously at the resort.

Every restaurant boasts a large menu of red, whites and roses – from traditional Turkish wines to the best of worldwide imports. If you’re not sure what will pair with your Kabak Tatlısı (a decadent, caramelized pumpkin dessert) or any other dish – there are sommeliers on hand at all times to help you pick the perfect pairing. Their wine cellar holds 350 bottles of wine from around the world and has won them the prestigious Wine Spectator Award – with tastings, tours and other experiences for those so inclined!

Across all experiences at the Six Senses, a range of experts are there to answer your questions – whether it’s during a workshop on Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), or your yoga teacher taking you through your early morning class. Like the rest of the staff, these experts are one-in-a-million and there to tend to your every need. The staff across the resort are friendly and attentive, they take every request with a smile and the seriousness that luxury resorts require – whether it’s a ride back to the main hotel building in a buggy or a special cocktail you’d like to have curated for you by the onsite mixologist.