Six Senses Southern Dunes – the first Red Sea Project resort in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia opening up to international tourism is one of those geopolitical shifts that travel people have been watching carefully for a few years now, and Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea is the opening statement. The first resort to open under Red Sea Global’s Red Sea Project, designed by Foster + Partners, LEED Platinum certified, sitting in the Alnesai Desert with 28,000 square kilometers of coral, islands, and desert in the broader development around it. The video above covers a March 2025 stay in the Wadi Suite at 3,920 SAR per night (approximately $1,045 USD), plus the restaurant, spa, activities, and a Saudia domestic Business Class connection out of Red Sea International Airport to Riyadh. Here’s the honest picture of what Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious hospitality project actually delivers on the ground.

The context matters here: this isn’t a resort that happened to open in Saudi Arabia. It’s the centerpiece of a deliberate national project to reposition the country as a luxury travel destination. The pressure on this property to be extraordinary was enormous before it even opened. Whether it earns that billing is the question worth answering.

Getting there – Red Sea International Airport and the transfer

The access situation is one of the more unusual parts of this trip and worth understanding before you book. Red Sea International Airport opened specifically to service the Red Sea Project development – it’s a purpose-built airport for a resort region that barely existed two years ago. The transfer from the airport to Six Senses Southern Dunes takes about 60 minutes by car.

That’s a long transfer. But the road runs through the Alnesai Desert and the landscape is part of the arrival experience in a way that a 10-minute taxi from an urban airport isn’t. The video shows the electric car transfer at the end of the stay and the drive gives you a proper sense of the scale of what’s been built – and what’s still being built – in this corner of northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Getting to Red Sea International Airport:

• Direct international flights are operating but limited as of early 2025 – check current routes as the airport is actively expanding its network
• Connect via Riyadh (RUH) or Jeddah (JED) on Saudia domestic – the video covers the Saudia Business Class connection from Red Sea International to Riyadh at the end of the stay and it’s a solid domestic product
• Riyadh to Red Sea International on Saudia domestic is approximately 1.5-2 hours flight time

The Saudi Arabia entry situation is now considerably more accessible than it was pre-2019. Most nationalities can obtain an e-visa on arrival or online in advance. The process has been streamlined as part of Vision 2030’s tourism push. Check current requirements for your passport before booking.

The Red Sea Project – what it actually is

A brief explainer because this context matters for understanding why this resort exists and what it sits within. Red Sea Global’s Red Sea Project is a 28,000 square kilometer development covering the northwestern Saudi coastline – coral reef systems, uninhabited islands, protected desert, and coastline that has been essentially inaccessible to tourism until now. The ambition is to develop this into a multi-resort, multi-island destination while maintaining the ecological integrity of what is genuinely one of the world’s most pristine marine environments.

Six Senses Southern Dunes is the land-based anchor of the project. Other resorts on the Red Sea islands are at various stages of construction and opening. The scale of what’s being planned makes this feel like being at the beginning of something rather than arriving at an established destination – which is either exciting or unsettling depending on how you feel about staying at a resort that is adjacent to what is still an active mega-construction zone.

The design – Foster + Partners and the Nabataean reference

The resort was designed by Foster + Partners – the firm behind the Gherkin, Hong Kong Airport, the Reichstag dome – which is not a practice that does desert resort pastiche. The brief was to reference Nabataean architectural traditions of the Red Sea coast while achieving LEED Platinum certification, which is the most demanding green building standard in existence.

The result is a resort built around a shaded central oasis inspired by desert flowers – a curving, organic central spine of covered walkways, water features, and planted areas that create a microclimate within the desert. The architecture uses local stone, rammed earth techniques, and passive cooling design to minimize energy load. The entire property generates its own renewable energy.

In practical guest terms: the resort doesn’t look like any other Six Senses property and it doesn’t look like any other resort in the Middle East. It looks like a building that took its desert environment seriously as a design brief rather than something dropped into the landscape from a generic luxury hotel catalogue.

The main area – arrival and common spaces

The main area section of the video runs nearly 9 minutes – the longest single section – and it’s justified because the common spaces at Six Senses Southern Dunes are architecturally interesting enough to warrant proper documentation. Reception, the main restaurant, the boutique, gym, and the central oasis spine are all connected through the shaded walkway system.

The central oasis works. Walking from the desert arrival area into a shaded, planted, water-cooled environment in March – when the temperature is already in the high 20s°C – is a genuinely pleasant transition. The planted areas use native and adapted desert species rather than the water-intensive landscaping that luxury resorts in arid climates usually default to. In August when temperatures exceed 40°C the shaded oasis design shifts from pleasant to essential.

The boutique carries the Six Senses branded wellness products alongside regional craft and local artisan pieces. The gym is well-equipped and fully air-conditioned. The layout of the main area means you can move between facilities without going outdoors in the heat, which is thoughtful design rather than incidental.

The Wadi Suite – room tour

The room tour runs 11 minutes and the Wadi Suite at 969 sq ft / 90 sqm gives that time enough to spend. At 3,920 SAR ($1,045 USD) per night this is the entry-level suite category at the property – above the standard guest rooms, below the pool villas.

What the suite contains:

• 🏜️ Desert views – the Wadi Suite faces the wadi landscape with dunes and the natural desert topography rather than a pool deck or the main resort area. The view in the early morning and at sunset is the suite’s headline feature
• 🪟 Floor-to-ceiling glazing on the desert-facing wall – the Foster + Partners design uses controlled glazing to frame the landscape without overheating the interior, which is a technical achievement that shows
• 🛏️ Bedroom and living area with Bedouin-inspired interiors – natural textiles, earthy palette, locally sourced materials. The Six Senses design language here is more restrained and place-specific than the brand’s tropical resort properties
• 🛁 Bathroom with soaking tub and walk-in shower, Six Senses’ own Grow skincare products throughout
• 🌿 Biophilic design elements throughout – Six Senses as a brand has a wellness and sustainability ethos that runs through the room design rather than sitting alongside it. The suite doesn’t feel like a standard luxury room with some plants added
• 🌡️ Climate control that performs – the passive cooling design brings the base temperature down but the active system handles the rest. In March the evenings are cool enough to turn it off and open the terrace door, which in a desert setting is a pleasure
• 🍃 Private terrace with desert-facing seating – the terrace works in March and in the evening hours of summer. Midday July is a different conversation

The 90 sqm footprint means this suite is genuinely spacious without being ostentatiously large. The design prioritizes the connection to the landscape over the accumulation of amenities, which is consistent with the Six Senses brand identity and works particularly well in this setting.

The villa area

The 40 pool villas are arranged in two rows following the natural contour of the desert – the Foster + Partners site planning decision to align the villas with the landscape rather than grid them out is visible in the aerial view and felt on the ground. The video covers the villa area and main pool from the 22-minute mark.

The main pool serving the villa area is large, properly positioned relative to the desert view, and the surrounding restaurant and lounge spaces have the same architectural quality as the main area. The villas themselves have private pools – the transition from the shaded villa walkways to a private pool deck facing the dunes is the product that the villa premium is buying.

Villa pricing runs above the suite categories and if the private pool and complete seclusion from other guests matters to you, the price difference is justified. The Wadi Suite at $1,045 USD per night is already a significant spend; the pool villas are the next conversation up.

The spa

The spa section runs nearly 5 minutes and Six Senses takes its spa program more seriously than most luxury hotel brands – it’s a core part of the brand identity rather than a checkbox facility. The Southern Dunes spa uses the desert environment as a treatment context – sand therapy, local mineral treatments, the landscape integrated into the wellness program rather than the spa being a generic luxury facility that happens to be located in Saudi Arabia.

Treatment rooms are designed with the same architectural vocabulary as the rest of the resort. The thermal journey facilities – steam, sauna, hydrotherapy – are properly realized rather than minimal. The Six Senses Alchemy Bar, where guests can create personalized skincare blends from natural ingredients, is present here and is one of the brand’s more distinctive wellness touches.

Spa pricing is at the level you’d expect for the region and brand – individual treatments in the SAR 500-900 range, half-day programs considerably more. Build this into your budget if spa access is a priority rather than treating it as an included amenity.

Dining – buffet done properly

🌙 Dinner buffet

The dinner buffet runs about 4 minutes of coverage and the format – buffet rather than à la carte service – is the right call for a resort at this stage of development where the guest mix is international and varied. The spread is extensive and leans on regional Saudi and Middle Eastern cuisine alongside international options. The quality level is appropriate to the nightly rate – this is not a hotel buffet of warming trays and uninspired proteins. The local and regional dishes are the ones worth prioritizing.

🌅 Breakfast buffet

The breakfast section gets more than 5 minutes of footage and the spread is properly extensive – fresh breads, regional pastries, Arabic breakfast items alongside international options, egg station, fruit. In March with the desert light coming in at that angle, breakfast at this resort is an occasion rather than a meal. The buffet format for breakfast makes sense at a 76-room property where guests are arriving from different time zones and the morning schedule doesn’t need to be choreographed around table service.

Activities

The activities section is brief in the video – a list rather than a deep dive – but worth covering because the activity offering is part of what justifies staying at the anchor resort of a 28,000 square kilometer development.

Available activities at Six Senses Southern Dunes:

• 🐪 Desert experiences – camel trekking, dune walks, guided desert ecology tours. The Alnesai Desert around the resort is genuinely undisturbed and the guided content reflects that
• 🤿 Red Sea access – the resort can arrange excursions to the Red Sea coral reef systems within the broader project area. The coral here is among the most pristine in the world and has been inaccessible to tourism until very recently
• 🌿 Wellness programming – Six Senses’ signature wellness activities including yoga, meditation, sound healing, fitness classes. Integrated into the daily schedule rather than optional extras
• ⭐ Stargazing – the Alnesai Desert has near-zero light pollution and the night sky visibility is exceptional. The resort has a stargazing program. This is the kind of thing that sounds like filler on an activities list and is actually one of the more memorable experiences available here
• 🏄 Water sports – accessible through excursions to the Red Sea coast

Saudia domestic Business Class – Red Sea to Riyadh

The video ends with the Saudia domestic Business Class flight from Red Sea International Airport to Riyadh – covered from the 45-minute mark for about 5 minutes. A few useful observations:

Red Sea International Airport itself is a well-designed, modern facility – purpose-built for this development and lacking the chaos of established Saudi airports. Security and boarding are smooth. The terminal is small and efficient.

Saudia domestic Business Class on the short hop to Riyadh is a proper product – wider seats in a 2-2 configuration, meal service, dedicated cabin. Not the pointy-end international product but a genuinely comfortable domestic Business Class that makes the connection feel appropriate to the overall trip rather than an abrupt quality drop after a week at Six Senses.

Riyadh (RUH) is the main international hub for onward connections from this routing. From Riyadh to Europe is roughly 6-7 hours on Saudia or connecting carriers. To the US via the Gulf hubs is the most common routing for American travelers.

What this costs and who it makes sense for

Wadi Suite at 3,920 SAR ($1,045 USD) per night in March 2025. For context, this is a competitive price point for Six Senses globally – the brand’s Maldives and Bali properties run considerably higher for equivalent suite categories. Saudi Arabia is currently pricing its tourism product to attract the first wave of international visitors, and the value relative to comparable Six Senses destinations is real.

Points and booking angles:

• IHG One Rewards – Six Senses is now part of IHG Hotels & Resorts following the acquisition. The property participates in IHG One Rewards and can be booked on IHG points – one of the more useful redemption options in the program given the nightly cash rate
• IHG points transfer – Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to IHG One Rewards at 1:1, making Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred the most useful cards for building toward this redemption
• Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts – check current participation; FHR benefits at this rate category are meaningful
• Book direct through sixsenses.com for best flexibility and direct communication on room preferences

Best time to visit: October through April is the viable window for comfortable outdoor enjoyment of a desert resort. March hits the sweet spot – temperatures in the high 20s°C, the desert vegetation at its best after winter rains, and the Red Sea water temperature ideal for snorkeling and diving. May through September is technically operational but outdoor activities in 40°C+ desert heat are a different proposition entirely. November through February is slightly cooler and equally good.

Frequently asked questions

📹 Video by ST Travel