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Six Senses GM’s circuitous route to the Maldives

GOSTELOW REPORT  – “Our interaction with local communities, especially their schools, is a vital part of our operation,” says Marteyne van Well, GM of  97-villa Six Senses Laamu, on 37-acre Olhuveli Island in the Indian Ocean nation of The Maldives.

Conservationists fear that with climate change ocean levels will rise, and even submerge, some of the thousands of islands that uniquely form this archipelago country. Owned by Singapore-based Leisure Frontiers, the 37-acre resort knows marine life and the environment are not only a draw but an omnipresent part of everyday life. Among endless neighborly acts, 63 donated reverse-osmosis filtration systems give free drinking water to over 4,300 Maldivians.

Marteyne van Well (r.) with her sustainability champion Adam Tholhath
Marteyne van Well (r.) with her sustainability champion Adam Tholhath

Hotel sustainability is led by Adam Tholhath, 29, recipient of the first-ever sustainable hotelier award given December 2020 by Asia’s annual Stelliers hotel industry assessments. “Adam is so passionate, for the environment, for the country, for its people,” van Well said.

Tholhath leads lots of local-islands projects, maintaining relationships with schools and community leaders, and he has become a strong voice. He does daily sustainability tours showing guests both back-of-house and front-of-house. “He shows our chicken farm, and our water-bottling plant,” van Well added.

In normal times, the resort has a team of 385. “Everyone, including myself, lives here on-island, and we work a six-day week,” van Well continued. Most of the team are Maldivian. They usually go to their own village-islands on days off but sadly that is forbidden now without 10 days’ quarantine on returning to Laamu.

“Fortunately we have the best team in the country – our average length of tenure is well over four years, and they are authentic, they care about each other and customers, everyone is inspired,” explained van Well, adding that off-duty on-island activities range from soccer to music photo clubs.

As always, island resort life seems to heighten interaction between staff and guests: hearing that female employees missed going to their beauty parlors, one visitor cut their hair, fortunately professionally.

Since opening in April 2011 the resort has built up a strong UK market, at about 60% year-round. The United States is also significant, as is Brazil some months. Before COVID, average stay was 6.5 nights. Now it is more like 11.5 nights, and the usual 18.5% repeat rate has soared to 38%, plus first-timers recommended by those repeaters, according to van Well.

“Back home in the Netherlands I wanted to teach sports – I was in the national ski team and I loved swimming, tennis, soccer and all sorts of team sports,” van Well said. “But to please my parents I applied both to sports academies and to Hotelschool The Hague. A serious bike accident ended sports so hotels it turned out to be.”

After graduating, van Well worked at InterContinental London Park Lane, and when its GM, Graham Jeffrey, moved to Washington D.C. and the Willard InterContinental, she went with him.

Apart from a spell out of the industry, working as PA to two movie stars, she has been immersed in hotels ever since.

In 2008, van Well joined Six Senses, attracted by its sustainability and wellness ethos. Since, she has been with them in Thailand as well as The Maldives.

She smiles when recalling Six Senses’ Sonu Shivdasani selling in 2012 to Pegasus private equity, which in turn sold in 2019 to InterContinental brand owner IHG. Marteyne van Well is, it could be said, back where her professional career started.

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