Omar Perez
Adrian Thomas, Grenada's minister of tourism, the creative economy and culture, just wasn't feeling the Six Senses La Sagesse Grenada at first. Far from it.
"This is the third time I've been on this property legally," Thomas said in late April at a media breakfast at the newly opened resort, praising it but reflecting on when he, then a parliament senator, was among those who challenged and protested the environmental harm it could cause. Like some locals, he was not keen on disturbing St. David's Parish, an unspoiled region that locals refer to as the "Virgin Parish," a place known for bird watching and a popular saltwater lagoon teaming with wildlife.
But today, Thomas said he is satisfied with the steps the resort took in its development and that it has continued to take to minimize environmental impact.
"We have seen now that they made some attempt to preserve the lake, and it's magnificent," Thomas said last week. "Six Senses is one of the leading hotels in Grenada now that has, on their agenda, some level of sustainability. While we were demonstrating in the beginning, it was a question of environmental issues and to bring to the attention that we want to promote sustainable tourism, and I'm quite glad that they're leading in that direction."
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To mitigate environmental impacts, the developer took steps such as preserving as much of the area ecosystem as possible, cleaning the lagoon and the property's two beaches, restoring mangroves, using native flora and keeping resort structures no taller than a palm tree. And the resort continues to take sustainable steps: avoiding pesticides, adding birdhouses across the property and using a small portion of revenue as well as guest donations for a sustainability fund specifically for local projects that benefit communities and ecosystems, a practice adapted by all Six Senses properties.
The Six Senses La Sagesse, which comprises 71 rooms, suites and villas, uses recycled and repurposed material, right down to using discarded shells of nutmeg -- Grenada grows 20% of the world's supply of the spice -- for landscape mulch.
The SeaFire restaurant at Six Senses La Sagesse Grenada. Photo Credit: Omar Perez
"We're doing daily sustainability tours with our guests into the back where the recycling center is, where everything is getting sorted," said Thomas Fehlbier, general manager of Six Senses La Sagesse Grenada. "We're into a zero-waste policy; you will not find a big garbage compartment somewhere. There's always someone who has some use for something, like wet foods, glass and paper cardboard. I want to meet the truck that comes and picks it up."
In part to avoid surplus food waste, the resort sticks to more nutritious, less bountiful meals. Menus are inspired by the Caribbean and South America while incorporating the brand's "Eat with Six Senses" approach to dining, utilizing natural, local ingredients whenever possible and limiting the use of ingredients like gluten, salt, lactose and sugar.
Even if the resort has its own garden and works directly with local farmers, buying locally faces day-to-day challenges.
"It is just so inconsistent, especially during the dry season. One day I'm getting 50 kilos of certain products, and the next day I'm not getting anything, and so we are constantly rewriting menus and doing changes," Fehlbier said. "It's cheaper to import from Miami than buying local, but we are committed to locals so we have to be authentic, as well."
Authenticity in a menu also comes in what they don't serve, like Grenada's national dish, oil down, a salted meat and vegetable stew simmered in coconut milk that's typically cooked outdoors. Instead of offering guests a version of the stew prepared by Six Senses chefs, the resort opts to offer it on one of its farming tours, with locals preparing it from generations-old recipes.
"A lot of our excursions are clearly Grenadian," he said. "We don't like to put people in a coach and drive them to a waterfall when all of the people from the cruise lines are everywhere. We'd rather take a bicycle up to the rainforest or go to [Seven Sisters Waterfalls] when everybody else is gone."