Why Six Senses Zil Pasyon is our new favourite resort outside the Maldives.
INTRO
For those of you who have been living under a rock, Six Senses Zil Pasyon is a luxury hotel on Felicité Island in the Seychelles, a group of islands somewhere in the Indian Ocean. It also has one of the most amazing beaches in the Seychelles. We wrote an article about the 5 best beaches in the Seychelles here. With that out of the way, let’s start this little write-up by mentioning the negative aspects of our stay at Six Senses Zil Pasyon, or the things we feel could be improved:
- Speedboat transfer: most guests at the resort will never experience the speedboat transfer, as the hotel offers a helicopter transfer from Mahé airport (the main international airport in the Seychelles) to the resort’s own helipad. We were already on a nearby island, so decided to take the speedboat transfer. It got us there, but it wasn’t luxurious. We were given a bottle of water, though, but that about says it all.
- The weather: it rained during more than half our stay. Shame on you, Six Senses!
- The breakfast on the beach: we had planned a breakfast on the beach one morning. The arranged set-up was beautiful, the food looked delicious, but unfortunately lizards decided to eat all of it.
- The service: we’re not saying service was bad, just that at this price point we were expecting better. Maybe having been to the Maldives 3 times the last year has spoiled us a little.
Now that the critique is out of the way, lets have a look at 10 reasons why this place nestled itself in our top 3 favourite hotels of all-time.
1. The island is absolutely breathtaking
This heavenly resort is a hotel built on an island that could be the location of any National Geographic documentary. You’ll find white-sand beaches with turquoise waters, a variety of different trees and plants and the most spectacular granite rock sculptures. It’s an absolute jewel.
2. The villas are amazing
Even though we were in one of the most basic villas, it still had everything we could have dreamed of, and more! Especially the bathroom is a real piece of art. It even has a swing in the middle of it that overlooks the Indian Ocean. The outdoor area is perfectly designed for a relaxing day (even if it’s raining) and the sun loungers are the most comfortable ones we ever laid on!
3. The food – still drooling
After the first breakfast, Laura told me: “this is the best breakfast I’ve ever had”. During the second breakfast, she ordered the same dish as the day before and told the waiter she loved it so much. 5 minutes later he gave her a note with the recipe for it and showed us the magical ingredient (coconut sugar) so she could replicate it at home. Everything we ate here was so goddamn tasty and fresh and there were so many things to choose from. There was a even a complete vegan menu with over 15 high-quality dishes to choose from for Laura.
4. It’s one of the best snorkelling spots in the Seychelles
While there is a lot of bleached coral (blame El Niño), the underwater wildlife is pretty spectacular here. It’s no secret that a lot of snorkelling tours are being held around Felicité island. Eagle rays, reef sharks, turtles, … You name it and you’ll see it!
5. They strive to be as sustainable as possible
A luxury resort with private helicopter transfers will never be eco-friendly, but at this magnificent resort, they do whatever is possible to reduce their ecological footprint. Some examples we noticed personally which made us fall in love with the resort even more:
- They have their own water filtering plant where they produce all the still and sparkling water, which means no plastic bottles (they use glass ones) and no imported water!
- You’ll find solar panels on the roof of every villa
- The A/C in the villas shuts off automatically if you keep the glass doors to your outdoor deck open
- The resort organises weekly beach clean-up sessions
- They have a turtle team who help the turtles who nest on their beach. When we were there a turtle’s nest got under water due to the high tide. They managed to save some eggs, put them in an incubator and a couple days later we witnessed some baby turtles running to the sea. It was magical.
- They have a team dedicated to coral reef restoration
- The hotel grows their own herbs and veggies in their organic garden
6. You can do a movie night under the stars
A couple times a week the resort organises a movie night after dinner. They provide wireless Bose headphones and even popcorn. Get installed, order a drink or two and enjoy a romantic movie under the stars.
Ps 1: we photoshopped the Titanic image in the picture, everyone does it (we took the picture 3 hours before the movie started, too!)
Ps2: we watched Shutter Island that evening and it definitely wasn’t as romantic as described here above.
7. It’s the most beautiful spa in the world
Built in between the granite rocks, with treatment rooms overlooking the turquoise Indian Ocean, we truly believe this is the most beautiful spa in the world. Take a look at the pictures and decide for yourself. Six Senses is known for it’s spa treatments, but we didn’t expect it to be this good. From now on, all other spa treatments will probably just be mediocre. That’s the reality we live in right now and we’ll have to deal with it.
8. You can find the largest coconuts in the world here
The people call them Coco de Mer and they are native to the Seychelles. They’re also called ‘love nut’ or ‘coco fesse’, because they’re shaped like a butt.
9. It’s very close to Coco Island and La Digue
Coco Island is a very small island with just a few tiny beaches and granite rocks. It’s completely uninhabited, so you won’t find any restaurants or hotels here. It’s the perfect place to kayak too from Six Senses Zil Pasyon if you just want to lay on the beach and spend some time on a secluded island, or take some drone shots like we did!
La Digue is the third most populated island in the Seychelles and is the home of the most photographed beach in the world: Anse Source d’Argent. We only did a day trip to La Digue on our last day but really enjoyed the whole island vibe there. If we ever make it back to the Seychelles we’ll probably spend a couple nights here.
To find out more about our favourite beaches in the Seychelles, you can read our blogpost ‘Top 5 Best Beaches in the Seychelles’.
10. The best set-up to watch the sunset in the Seychelles
You can book a hilltop sunset experience where the resort will provide a little set-up with cushions, candles and champagne at one of the highest points of the island. While we weren’t very lucky with the sunset that night (it was even raining), it was still an amazing experience and we can only imagine how breathtaking it would be when there’s actually a beautiful sunset.
Conclusion
If your budget is somewhere in between $1500 – $2500 per night for your accommodation, you won’t find anything better in the Seychelles. It’s one of the best resorts we have ever stayed in and we would go back in a heartbeat. You might actually find even better in the Seychelles, but for that you’ll need to double or even triple that budget. If money isn’t an object, definitely also have a look at Fregate Island Private and North Island!
