Six Senses Vana is the Ultimate in Impeccable Design, Style and Service

Head to Six Senses Vana for a fabulous, luxury wellness break, with outstanding treatments and holistic wellbeing experts at your disposal.

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Hotel Review: Six Senses Vana, Dehradun

There’s change in the air at Vana, which, when it first opened in 2014, marked a new dawn of spiritual luxury on the Indian wellbeing scene. Founded by Veer Singh, a young man of pure intent in his 30s, here was a global game changer, a world-class design hotel with a pulsing heart offering a unique combination of Ayurveda, yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) and superb natural therapies. And while India’s other top tier destination, Ananda in the Himalayas, maintains an atmosphere of old school charm and heritage, Vana walks a different path. 

Impeccably executed with no expense spared, the design (by Spanish architectural company Esteva i Esteva) remains cool, contemporary and clean-lined. A wall made of backlit pink Himalayan salt, corridors lined in beguiling images of the Buddha, a sleek swimming pool and polished interiors peppered with Indian touches: bowls of flowers, a candlelit statue of Ganesh, an underground tantric-meditation cave. All this beauty remains. What the old guard, known as Vanavasi, are struggling with is that Veer has now taken a backseat and the day-to-day management of this exquisite hideaway, surrounded by Sal trees in the northern state of Uttarakhand, has been given over to global resort group Six Senses. Rebirth is ever painful but beyond the chitter chat, what is the truth of the experience at Vana today? 

One French guest on his eighth visit from Paris shares with me, ‘it was a retreat, now it’s a wellness centre’. It’s true that the intense, intellectual atmosphere akin to a designer ashram has been gently popped. Children over six are now allowed, and the five-night policy was abolished during the dark days of Covid, meaning guests can now flit in for a weekend should they wish. The price of the rooms has risen (with a loyalty discount in place for old timers). More Indians themselves are visiting. More wine is being ordered. And yet, and yet, we’re not exactly talking church to nightclub. Photography and social media remain forbidden, phones are not allowed in public, and the crisp kurta pyjamas, designed on special commission by Abraham & Thakore, are still worn for the duration of a stay. Crucially, the elevated mood of healing and harmony remains. Indeed, herein lies the point. As a portal for spiritual, emotional and physical restoration, Vana still holds its place in the world. 

The insights given by the in-house doctors are outstanding, every treatment a story unto itself. A central nexus of staff who have stayed the course ensures you are held in superbly caring hands. Days begin with yoga as it should be – slow and centred on the breath – and are then peppered with the likes of back-to-the womb Watsu sessions, incredible reflexology, Ayurvedic massages where even your ears are stretched and astonishingly nurturing Tibetan treatments (ask about the oil used and your therapist might reply, ‘it opens the white channels where the wind energy flows’). Vana is the first place in the world where the Dalai Lama has allowed therapists trained at Men-Tsee-Khang, his Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, to work. 

Some guests come for time out from high flying jobs or to think about their marriage, others to recover from illness or to grieve a devastating loss. Don’t miss seeing legendary acupuncturist Dimple who has an uncanny ability to read your story. Towards the end of our revelatory session she tells me: ‘Stay away from energy vampires, keep your circle small. Making yourself powerful, this is your responsibility. Your mission is very big. You can become the medicine.’ Inspiration and needles all in the same room. Rare indeed. 

Under the watchful eye of soulful financier and GM Jaspreet Singh, who talks on the phone to Veer every day, the attention to detail is still fastidious. The food is deliciously, dangerously healthy and the most avant-garde of any wellbeing centre I have visited in India. With sustainable earth-conscious principles pulsing through its veins, there are vegetable and herb gardens, hot tubs with views, jaw-drop treks into the hills and immersive trips to Rishikesh, where you can watch the ritualistic evening aarti. Other highs include varying meditations, flute therapy, yoga nidra, cookery workshops and movie nights under the stars. Rich and rewarding, every guest
I spoke to had both laughed and cried. There is a hushed profundity to the proceedings which takes you back to the raw, true you. 

Vana has always soothed tired spirits. No wonder protecting this special place is a prerogative for so many. In the old days Deepak Chopra asked if he could run a retreat here with 40 guests. Veer said no. His ultra-protective touch ensured a sacred, sealed vibration. But, as the scriptures teach, change is the only constant. Were Vana to remain the exclusive, insider enclave it once was, it would likely not survive. Surely it’s better to become economically sustainable than vanish completely? When you think about what has been thrown at this property, starting with a lobby so beautiful I discovered I am not the only one who once cried on arrival, it’s easy to appreciate why Vana deserves to undergo its own transformation and meet the needs of the new world. 

If opening up to more people means spreading the healing further, allowing the seed to blossom so that more people can share in her fruits then I’m right behind it. Vana is, as it has always been, a superlative sanctuary soaked in goodness and generosity. It is still a centre of love and light. A discreet hideaway illuminated by the midday sunlight or come dusk, candlelit walkways. You, in turn, should come here to find and rekindle your own light. Let’s make sure both you, and Vana, keep shining.

BOOK IT: From £5,550pp for seven nights full board, based on two people. Includes internal flights, transfers, accommodation, consultations, treatments and activities according to your programme. greavesindia.co.uk