Key points
- Years after the hotel was announced, and long after its original expected opening period passed, the obvious question for Thailand’s hospitality industry is whether the award-winning property will finally be completed and welcome guests.
- When the partnership between Six Senses and developer Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, better known as MQDC, was announced in 2018, the hotel formed an important hospitality component of the enormous forest-themed community on Bangna-Trad Road.
- As construction schedules evolved, the Six Senses hotel was subsequently promoted for an opening in the first half of 2024.
Bangkok’s ambitious The Forestias development has collected international design awards, attracted luxury residential buyers and promised to create one of Southeast Asia’s most unusual urban communities. Yet one highly anticipated component remains conspicuously absent from Bangkok’s hotel scene: Six Senses The Forestias Hotel. Years after the hotel was announced, and long after its original expected opening period passed, the obvious question for Thailand’s hospitality industry is whether the award-winning property will finally be completed and welcome guests.
Image Credit: MQDC
The question is particularly striking because the hotel was collecting accolades before receiving its first paying guest. Six Senses at The Forestias by MQDC won “Best International New Hotel Construction & Design” at the International Property Awards 2021-22, while The Forestias also won “Best Retail Development Asia Pacific” for its Family Center.
https://mqdc.com/news/377-the-forestias-wins-global-award-for-six-senses
But as this Thailand Hotel News report examines, the passage from acclaimed architectural concept to operating luxury hotel has proved substantially longer than initially anticipated. The encouraging news is that the project has not disappeared: Six Senses continues to identify The Forestias among its future properties on it website and various other platforms.
From a 2022 Opening to a Much Longer Wait
When the partnership between Six Senses and developer Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, better known as MQDC, was announced in 2018, the hotel formed an important hospitality component of the enormous forest-themed community on Bangna-Trad Road.
Early expectations placed completion of the wider development around 2022. As construction schedules evolved, the Six Senses hotel was subsequently promoted for an opening in the first half of 2024.
That date came and went. The delay is especially noticeable because other parts of The Forestias have moved considerably further forward. In January 2024, MQDC said construction of its residential projects was more than 70% complete and reported that the Six Senses villas were nearing completion. Whizdom condominiums were entering their transfer phase, while other residential and commercial components were progressing.
By December 2025, however, MQDC’s public 2026 business plan was still focused heavily on completing and handing over developments at The Forestias. The company said a THB22 billion project-finance facility obtained from Siam Commercial Bank in mid-2025 was supporting completion of ongoing developments, with residential construction being accelerated toward 2026 completion targets.
For those who are unaware, MQDC was founded by Thippaporn Ahriyavraromp (née Chearavanont), the youngest daughter of billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, the senior chairman of the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group.
An 80-Room Hotel Inside a 398-Rai Forest District
What makes the delayed hotel particularly significant is the extraordinary environment in which it is intended to operate.
The Forestias covers approximately 398 rai in the Bangna area and was conceived as a large mixed-use district where residences, hospitality, retail, leisure, healthcare and extensive natural spaces coexist. MQDC has said that 56% of the development is dedicated to green space.
The Six Senses component was announced as an approximately 80-room hotel accompanied by 27 exclusive branded villas. The concept was intended to combine Six Senses’ internationally recognized emphasis on wellness and sustainability with an unusually green urban environment close to Bangkok.
The residences themselves are far from an abandoned concept. Six Senses continues to promote Six Senses Residences The Forestias, with architecture and design consultancy involving Foster + Partners and local architectural consultant DT Design Corporation.
The residential component comprises 27 detached ultra-luxury villas, and MQDC’s December 2025 update said the Six Senses residences were expected to be progressively completed and transferred to owners from 2026 onward. (Will be interesting to know if any were bought by foreigners using locally registered companies.)
So When Will the Hotel Actually Open?
This is where the story becomes more intriguing. As of August 2026, there appears to be no publicly confirmed opening date for Six Senses The Forestias on the brand’s current new-openings page. Rather than being presented alongside properties carrying specific opening years, Six Senses The Forestias appears in the company’s “And beyond” pipeline for Asia and the Pacific.
That distinction matters. Six Senses lists several forthcoming hotels with defined opening years, including properties targeted for 2028, while Six Senses The Forestias is simply identified as a future Thailand property without a year attached. The most reasonable interpretation is therefore not that the project has been cancelled, but that the brand is currently unwilling to publicly commit to a definitive opening schedule.
For, travel advisors and the hotel industry, that means previous opening dates should no longer be treated as reliable guidance.
The Forestias Is Still Moving Forward
There are nevertheless significant signs of continuing activity across the wider development.
In July 2026, MQDC said it was accelerating a three-year business plan focused on project completions, handovers and revenue generation. The developer identified completed residential projects at The Forestias, including Whizdom The Forestias developments and The Aspen Tree The Forestias.
International marketing activity has also continued. In June 2026, The Forestias hosted representatives of Hong Kong real estate agency Global Harvest as MQDC sought to strengthen international sales channels and attract overseas buyers.
Taken together, these developments make The Forestias look less like a stalled master development and more like a huge project moving through completion in stages — although that does not provide a firm timetable for the hotel.
An Award-Winning Hotel Still Waiting for Its Opening Night
There is a certain irony surrounding Six Senses The Forestias. In 2021-22, the project was already being celebrated internationally for hotel construction and design. Years later, the hospitality industry is still waiting for the hotel to actually enter operation.
The prolonged timeline also illustrates the complexity of building luxury hospitality inside a master development of this scale. The Forestias is not simply a hotel site with adjoining residences. It is an enormous interconnected community containing multiple residential brands, commercial facilities, green infrastructure, lifestyle attractions and other components whose construction and opening schedules have evolved over several years.
The Six Senses hotel must ultimately operate as part of that ecosystem.
Its eventual debut could also arrive in a Bangkok luxury market considerably different from the one envisaged when the project was announced in 2018. Six Senses itself has since announced another Bangkok hotel, Six Senses Bangkok at the Hatai development in Silom, where foundation work was already underway when the project was announced in 2025.
That creates an unusual possibility: Bangkok could eventually have two distinctly positioned Six Senses properties — an urban hotel in historic Silom and a nature-oriented wellness property within The Forestias.
The Big Question Remains: When?
For now, the answer to whether Six Senses The Forestias will ever be built and ready appears to be yes, the project remains alive — but its hotel opening timetable remains uncertain.
The strongest evidence is Six Senses itself. The company continues to list Six Senses The Forestias in its future development pipeline, while the branded residences remain active and MQDC continues completing and handing over components of the wider destination. What is missing is the one piece of information the hotel industry has been waiting for: a new firm opening date.
Until Six Senses or MQDC formally announces a revised launch schedule, predicting a specific opening month or even year would be speculation. After earlier targets slipped from the original development timetable to the first half of 2024 and then passed without an opening, the sensible approach is to regard the property as an active future project with an unconfirmed opening date.
The fascinating part is that Six Senses The Forestias Hotel may eventually emerge stronger for having the surrounding community substantially established before hotel guests arrive. If the finished property delivers the forest immersion, wellness credentials, architectural ambition and service standards originally promised, the long wait could eventually become a footnote to one of Bangkok’s most distinctive luxury hotel openings. But after years of shifting expectations, the industry will understandably be looking for construction milestones and a firm opening announcement rather than another provisional date.
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