Coming To Our Senses
If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing a Six Senses hotel or resort, I’ll let you in on a little secret. They are among the very best places in the world to relax a while. Predominantly in Asia until recently, Six Senses branched out in 2015 with their very first European outpost in Douro Valley, Portugal. Which, as you’ll know if you’re a regular around here, is where we just so happen to find ourselves. It would be rude not to stay a couple days and make sure they are keeping up the standards over here in Europe. Quality control from the woman/man/dog on the street, as it were. You’re welcome, Six Senses.
Having nearly frozen to death the previous few nights, I was looking forward to anywhere warm and cozy with a nice bed. If there was a little bit of relaxation in the mix, great, but really I just wanted a warm bed and a hot shower. And then we drove up to the property, a renovated 19th century manor house amongst 20 acres of woodland and surrounded by vineyards, and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven before I set foot outside the car. The guest reception team welcomed us with hot towels, warm ginger tea and a glass of port and made such a fuss of the WonderDog, I thought for sure she’d be going home with one of them by the time the day was out. It was all I could do not to hug them all.
Six Senses Douro is one of those places that doesn’t just put up with dogs staying in the hotel, they are made to feel as welcome as the humans. When we got to our room, Shadow had her own bed, bowls, treats and toys, and there’s no extra charge for dogs (some places have charged us upwards of 50 euro extra a night). Later on, the general manager Nick told us that not only do they have an office dog, Tilly, but they also adopted a stray that kept coming back to the property. They would return her to her foster home only to have her show up again at the door (I mean, wouldn’t you!?) so they just adopted her, named her Aqua and now she leads guests on walks through the woods. She’s part of the family.
That kindness and generosity seems to extend through everything at the resort. Whether it’s through the kindness of the staff, their approach to the environment, their hiring of the local community, the way they share their local knowledge with you so you feel like an insider - it really does make a difference to how you feel when you stay there. They also go above and beyond in terms of the quality and creativity of the food they serve, with a focus on organic, locally sourced produce and have many options if you're anything-free (gluten, sugar, fat etc). We are not and we ate like champions (you’d expect nothing less) and the food was outstanding.
I won’t rave about the spa, or the rooms, the incredible shower, or the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on, because you can read all about that on the internet. I was there in a strictly professional capacity as I’ve said, doing research and (ahem) keeping standards high. To be as thorough as possible, it did mean I had to try all five of the sauna experiences and swim in the gorgeous indoor pool (they have an outdoor one too in summer) but it was all in the name of academics you see.
But this is not a blog about relaxation, it’s about wine. So it meant we were ‘forced’ to put the place through it’s paces on wine front to see if things stacked up. Not only is Six Senses Douro Valley in the heart of wine country surrounded by places to taste, they also have their own Wine Library where they have wine tastings every day, a great tasting set up where you can taste 8 different wines yourself anytime, a full stocked wine shop and many, many great wines by the glass or bottle.
After steadily making our way through the wine tasting machine and wines by the glass, we attracted the attention of the wonderful Sommelier Acácio who was a wealth of amazing knowledge and information. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go and taste at the actual wineries in Douro, but if it’s pouring with rain when you visit, you can take a virtual tour with Acácio and it will be absolutely outstanding. You will not be disappointed, you'll feel like you've been rolling through the vineyards and tasting along the way. Douro can be a bit baffling at times with so many wineries to chose from. With someone like Acácio in your corner, you’ll feel like a local in no time at all. And we tried everything - whites, reds, ports, the lot. I’m sure there will be a guest post about all of the great wines at some point from Mr T (humble nag!), but for now, you should know that we didn’t have a single wine I didn’t love or would drink again (and I’d conservatively say we tried at least 25-30, maybe more). We came away with at least 12 bottles by the end of our stay but would have loved to buy many more.
So how are they doing at Six Senses first European outpost? Quality still good? Standards still high? You’ll be relieved to know the answer is a resounding yes. Mr T and I came away the most relaxed we’ve been in a long time. In just 48 hours, we felt not only relaxed than we've been in a very long time, but also as if we knew more about the Douro Valley than if we’d stayed for a week or more. I can only imagine how incredible it is in spring and summer. The WonderDog would like me to mention that it was one of her favourite walking places so far too. Woodland trails that lead in many different directions, a secret tunnel, the lovely river, and grass to roll around on - she gives it a resounding 10/10 on the Sniff-o-Meter.
There you have it, a tough report from out in the field but someone has to do the hard work. Six Senses Douro Valley is an absolute winner. Just don’t tell everyone, it’ll be our secret.
