Robb's Report Resorts

January 01, 2010

Soneva Kiri

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The Eco Villa at Six Senses’ new Soneva Kiri resort is best identified by what it lacks: carbon emissions. This environmentally friendly accommodation—which Six Senses intends as a prototype for its future properties—is one of 42 villas at Soneva Kiri, a stylishly sensitive beach resort that opened on Thailand’s Koh Kood Island in November.

Since its launch in 1995, Bangkok-based Six Senses has been committed to eco-friendly building methods. But the environment has never trumped indulgence at the company’s resorts. At the 150-acre Soneva Kiri, butlers service each of the villas, where bathrooms are outdoors but still feature all of the comforts of a marble-laden interior space. Activities at the resort include catamaran excursions on the Gulf of Thailand and evening screenings at Kiri’s over-water theater, Cinema Paradiso. Guests can enjoy contemporary Thai cuisine at the resort’s fine-dining restaurant or in one of several elevated venues called Tree Pods.

Visitors staying in the Eco Villa can select a bottle from the accommodation’s wine cellar to pair with dinner. The villa also features a swimming pond, as well as a bush-filled garden that grows out of a cellulose-insulated roof. Soneva Kiri, +662.631.9777, www.sixsenses.com

—Poppy Friedman

Soneva Kiri

Photo by Kiattipong Panchee

Soneva Kiri

Soneva Kiri’s eco-friendly architecture ranges from a sleek four-bedroom suite (shown here) to a whimsical children’s club. Photo by Kiattipong Panchee

Soneva Kiri’s eco-friendly architecture ranges from a sleek four-bedroom suite to a whimsical children’s club (shown here). Photo by Kiattipong Panchee