Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has revealed plans for a stilted eco-lodge on the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls National Park, in Zimbabwe.
Flagged to open in 2025, Six Senses Victoria Falls is the group’s first sub-Saharan African project and will comprise a riverside game reserve and wellness resort.
Six Senses Victoria Falls will front Princess Elizabeth Island on the approach to the largest waterfall in the world. The partially concealed, tree-level lodges will be ecological and understated to provide a bird’s eye platform to view nature and wildlife, including elephants, hippos, buffalo, big cats, and primates, which frequent the area.
The resort is part of The House of Chinhara initiative to recover the majesty of Zimbabwean tourism by elevating the available accommodation count and quality for visitors to the Victoria Falls National Park, as well as providing host accommodation facilities and hospitality training opportunities.
The lodge will sit on a series of stilted wooden structures to provide the lightest possible footprint while still being capable of withstanding a heavy knock from a passing elephant. Fabricated off-site to minimize construction impacts, the arrangement of lodges and villas will be connected by raised walkways and bridges.
From the main welcome pavilion, guests will transfer to the lounge lobby, where amenities will include a raised restaurant and lounge, specialty dining and braai bar, and sunset look-out bar. The Six Senses Spa and wellness facilities will include four treatment rooms, a gym, a yoga deck, outdoor hot pools, a panoramic sauna, and an integrated retail and concept store. Guests keen to hit the jungle gym will be accompanied by a ranger.
In addition to the 22 lodges with private terraces, there will be 15 deluxe lodges with suspended pools – some of the lodges can be inter-connected.
Plans call for 17 individual pool villas, nine of which offer multi-bedroom accommodation. The timber floors and natural finishes will serve as a canvas to showcase ceremonial and bespoke furnishings and artwork. Six Senses Victoria Falls will include the brand staples, such as Earth Lab, Alchemy Bar, and Grow With Six Senses children’s activities.
Six Senses’ only other property in Africa is currently the tropical island oasis of Six Senses Seychelles, which opened in 2016.