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Right now: Sonu and Eva Shivdasani announce their new luxurious resort model Sosei
Right here’s some really thrilling information for the world of luxurious journey: Sonu and Eva Shivdasani, the trailblazing hoteliers who reworked the Maldives from a modest island getaway into a world benchmark for high-end tourism, are about to unveil their newest enterprise—Sosei. Generally known as the founders of Six Senses and Soneva, the couple redefined the very concept of luxurious by their pioneering idea of barefoot luxurious, the place simplicity, sustainability, and indulgence mix seamlessly. Now, after many years of reshaping the business and stepping again from operational management of Soneva, they’re making ready to embark on a daring new journey.
In an unique dialog with Journey + Leisure Asia’s Ron Gluckman, the Shivdasanis revealed plans for Sosei, a hospitality model that not solely displays their signature mixture of creativity and eco-consciousness but in addition symbolizes a deeply private transformation. Impressed by the Japanese phrase for “rebirth,” Sosei marks each a brand new skilled horizon and a renewal of spirit for the couple, notably for Sonu, who has emerged from a current well being battle with renewed vitality and imaginative and prescient. With tasks already within the works from Japan to the Arctic Circle, and ambitions to deliver their philosophy into cities in addition to distant retreats, the launch of Sosei indicators a recent chapter within the evolution of luxurious journey—one which guarantees to be as groundbreaking as their earlier creations.
From Barefoot Luxurious to International Icons
In creating two of the world’s most celebrated resort manufacturers—Six Senses (now a part of the InterContinental Lodge Group) and Soneva—Sonu and Eva Shivdasani didn’t simply launch motels; they pioneered a wholly new style of high-end journey that got here to be often called barefoot luxurious. Their philosophy, embodied within the now-iconic motto “No footwear, no information,” challenged the prevailing definition of luxurious by encouraging company to desert formality, swap off from the trendy world, and reconnect with nature in a method few had skilled earlier than.
The place conventional five-star resorts dazzled with marble-clad lobbies, glittering chandeliers, and closely formalized service, the Shivdasanis launched one thing radically completely different: jungle paths instead of paved walkways, bicycles as an alternative of golf carts, rustic furnishings crafted from pure supplies, and bogs open to the sky the place showers might be taken below a banana tree. Eating barefoot on the sand, watching movies below the celebrities, and having fun with chocolate rooms open across the clock—all these turned a part of the Soneva and Six Senses identification, creating experiences that felt indulgent but unpretentious.
Maybe most revolutionary of all, the couple wove sustainability into the DNA of their resorts—lengthy earlier than “eco-luxury” turned a world buzzword. Plastic-free operations, water bottled onsite, natural produce grown in island gardens, and sturdy recycling programs weren’t advertising gimmicks however cornerstones of their method. At a time when luxurious hospitality largely relied on importing all the pieces from marble to bottled water, these practices set them aside as true innovators.
This recent imaginative and prescient rapidly struck a chord with discerning vacationers, together with celebrities and business tastemakers, who had been looking forward to experiences that mixed consolation with authenticity. Their properties turned common winners of worldwide luxurious awards, setting benchmarks for the business and provoking a brand new wave of ultra-luxury eco-resorts worldwide. By stripping away extra and changing extravagance with intimacy, the Shivdasanis redefined what it meant to journey in fashion—proving that true luxurious might be each pure and restorative.
Soneva and the Maldivian Transformation
The Maldives turned the canvas for his or her imaginative and prescient. In 1995, Sonu and Eva opened Soneva Fushi on Kunfunadhoo Island in Baa Atoll, a website that had as soon as housed a failed resort because of poor accessibility. At the moment, most Maldivian properties catered to European funds vacationers. Sonu, drawing on his world resort excursions in his pre-Soneva days, and Eva, whose Scandinavian design sensibility and modeling background knowledgeable a lot of the resort’s aesthetics, reworked the deserted property into one thing unprecedented.
As a result of reaching the island was so troublesome, the couple pioneered inventive transport options. Initially, they chartered helicopters from Bulgaria, making the most of low-cost leases after the autumn of the Soviet Union. Later, they shifted to seaplanes, laying the muse for the air companies that right now outline journey within the Maldives. Their method to design and operations—plastic-free resorts, water bottled onsite, home-grown produce, eco-accountability officers, and waste recycling—was thought of eccentric on the time, even by a few of their employees. But these improvements set the usual for inexperienced journey and at the moment are broadly adopted throughout the hospitality business.
The success of Soneva Fushi not solely elevated the Maldives right into a luxurious powerhouse but in addition impressed a wave of ultra-luxury resorts that cemented the archipelago’s fame as one of many world’s most fascinating high-end locations. Over time, the Soneva model continued to increase. In 2015, the Shivdasanis launched the Maldives’ first floating villa, Soneva in Aqua. In 2016, they launched Soneva Jani, a visionary overwater retreat that set a brand new benchmark for barefoot luxurious within the area. And most just lately, in 2023, Soneva unveiled its most unique venture to this point: Soneva Secret, an ultra-private assortment of simply 14 villas in one of many Maldives’ most distant atolls.
The success of Soneva additionally laid the muse for Sonu and Eva’s second resort enterprise: Six Senses Resorts & Spas, a model that took their barefoot luxurious philosophy and tailored it to a wider, extra globally scalable mannequin. Quickly increasing throughout Southeast Asia, the Center East, and Europe, the model turned recognized for mixing eco-conscious luxurious with revolutionary wellbeing applications, together with yoga, meditation, and regionally influenced therapies. By 2011, Six Senses had change into a world chief with 26 resorts, 41 spas throughout greater than 20 nations, and annual revenues of roughly $175 million, establishing itself as some of the acknowledged names in experiential journey. The model’s success quickly attracted world traders, and in 2012, the Shivdasanis offered it, paving the best way for its continued progress below new possession; right now, it’s a part of the InterContinental Lodges Group (IHG), the place it stays a benchmark for sustainable, wellness-driven hospitality.
Shedding the Outdated, Embracing the New
Having offered Six Senses in 2012, the couple extra just lately made the numerous determination to half with their majority stake in Soneva, stepping away from operational management of the model that not solely carried their mixed title but in addition outlined their legacy within the Maldives and past. For a lot of within the business, this transfer marked the shut of a outstanding chapter—one wherein the Shivdasanis set solely new benchmarks for sustainable, experience-led luxurious. But for Sonu and Eva themselves, the sale was much less an ending and extra a obligatory clearing of the stage for his or her subsequent act.
That new enterprise is Sosei, a model whose very title, that means “rebirth” in Japanese, displays each knowledgeable transformation and a deeply private one. Not like their earlier tasks, which had been largely island-focused, Sosei is conceived as a very world hospitality platform, designed to merge sustainability, wellness, and inventive types of luxurious throughout a various set of locations. “By the tip of this 12 months, we count on to signal a number of offers,” Sonu revealed within the interview, noting that discussions are already underway in Japan, the Arctic Circle, the European mountains, South Africa, and a number of other places throughout Asia.
What units Sosei aside from its predecessors is its ambition to increase past distant paradises: for the primary time, the Shivdasanis are envisioning intimate boutique retreats in main cities, permitting them to deliver their distinctive mix of barefoot-inspired philosophy, eco-conscious design, and customized wellbeing into city settings the place vacationers more and more search sanctuaries of calm. On this sense, Sosei represents not only a new model, however the evolution of the Shivdasanis’ whole method to hospitality—taking classes realized from many years of innovation within the Maldives and projecting them onto the worldwide stage.
A Private and Skilled Rebirth
Sosei’s launch comes at a profoundly private second for the Shivdasanis. In January 2024, Sonu was identified with lymphoma—a life-altering problem that compelled him to step again and confront his personal well being whereas reflecting on the longer term. After present process profitable therapy, he now continues with immunotherapy, approaching each life and enterprise with renewed vigor and readability of goal. For Sonu, the symbolism of Sosei—the Japanese phrase for “rebirth”—couldn’t be extra becoming. He describes the model not solely as a brand new skilled chapter in hospitality innovation but in addition as a mirror of his personal journey of resilience, renewal, and rediscovery after sickness.
This deeply private rebirth comes on the heels of public recognition. In 2023, Sonu was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), acknowledging his decades-long contributions to tourism, sustainability, and philanthropy. The dignity underlined the transformative influence that he and Eva have had on world hospitality—turning remoted islands into luxurious sanctuaries and exhibiting the world that environmental duty might coexist with indulgence.
Reflecting on the skepticism they confronted within the early years, Sonu recalled: “Individuals used to say: If it’s sustainable, it could’t be luxurious. Or if it’s luxurious, it could’t be good for you.” Their work, from the creation of Soneva Fushi to the expansion of Six Senses, overturned that standard knowledge, proving that luxurious might be immersive, restorative, and environmentally aware abruptly. With Sosei, the Shivdasanis intend to push these boundaries even additional, guaranteeing that sustainability and wellness stay on the core of what true trendy luxurious ought to imply.
Reimagining the Way forward for Luxurious
The Shivdasanis’ earlier ventures had been by no means nearly luxurious villas and turquoise waters—they stood out due to the sense of surprise and playfulness woven into each keep. Company at their resorts might bask in 24-hour chocolate rooms, wander into ice-cream parlors with limitless flavors, and even expertise paragliding as a type of check-in, setting a tone of discovery that balanced indulgence with enjoyable. These parts reworked their properties from easy resorts into fantasy-like escapes, the place the luxurious was not solely within the environment but in addition within the joyful, surprising experiences. In doing so, they echoed the disruptive spirit of Aman Resorts’ Adrian Zecha, who, within the Eighties, reimagined high-end journey by exhibiting that understated design and genuine cultural immersion might rival essentially the most opulent conventional motels. Like Zecha, the Shivdasanis attracted a loyal following of elite, experience-driven vacationers who valued authenticity, creativity, and a robust sense of place over standard trappings of standing.
Now, with Sosei, Sonu and Eva stand as soon as once more on the threshold of redefining what luxurious journey can imply within the trendy period. Their new model guarantees to push boundaries by marrying spectacular consolation with imaginative, surprising touches, whereas staying firmly rooted within the rules of sustainability, wellness, and native connection which have lengthy outlined their work. Not like their earlier island-centric ventures, Sosei will embrace each secluded retreats in far-flung locations and intimate sanctuaries in main cities, responding to the rising need amongst world vacationers for experiences that mix escapism with accessibility. On this method, Sosei represents not solely the continuation of the Shivdasanis’ legacy but in addition its evolution—an bold try and as soon as once more form the way forward for high-end hospitality for a brand new era of vacationers.
Legacy and Wanting Forward
Although their consideration is now turning towards the creation of a brand new model, the Maldives will all the time stay the guts of the Shivdasanis’ story and legacy. It was right here, on a once-abandoned island in Baa Atoll, that they launched a radical reimagining of luxurious journey—barefoot luxurious—that endlessly altered the course of the nation’s tourism business. The foundations they laid with Soneva—open-air bogs, “no footwear, no information” philosophy, sustainable operations, and eccentric touches that blended indulgence with play—didn’t simply remodel the islands right into a magnet for high-net-worth vacationers; additionally they set the tone for the worldwide eco-luxury motion that adopted. Whilst they step again from Soneva, its pioneering affect will proceed to echo throughout the Maldives, guaranteeing the islands’ standing as some of the aspirational journey locations on this planet.
But, with Sosei, the Shivdasanis are widening their scope far past the Indian Ocean. Not like their earlier ventures, which had been tied to distant islands, Sosei is envisioned as a world canvas, encompassing all the pieces from intimate city sanctuaries to spectacular retreats within the Arctic, the European mountains, South Africa, and Asia. It represents the fruits of many years of innovation in sustainability, wellness, and design—fields wherein Sonu and Eva have repeatedly confirmed themselves to be forward of the curve. With their hallmark mix of eco-conscious structure, holistic wellbeing applications, and imaginative experiences, they’ve persistently challenged and reshaped expectations of what luxurious needs to be. Now, as they step into this new chapter, Sosei is poised not solely to construct on that legacy however to redefine the very way forward for luxurious journey on a world stage, reaffirming the Shivdasanis’ position as two of essentially the most influential visionaries in trendy hospitality.
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