Launching a private membership community for travellers who want holidays to contribute to the places they visit, Discover Collection is the latest venture from hotelier Bernhard Bohnenberger. Rooted in regenerative travel, the collection will debut its first properties in Oman and Kenya in 2026. Robbie Hodges reports

Travel brands that proclaim to do good – that really nourish people and planet – have become viewed with scepticism in recent years. In part, that’s due to the trendification of sustainability. As brands casually leapt onto the trend for purpose-driven business, with little demonstrative impact to show for themselves, ‘sustainability’ became bloated beyond use. Off it floated, trailing ‘eco’ and ‘ethical’.  

But legendary hotelier Bernhard Bohnenberger is on a mission to change all that. After 28 years at Six Senses, 11 of which were spent serving as president, he’s launching into fresh ground with a new hospitality concept that promises to ‘Unearth the Uncommon’ and restore faith in impact-driven business. 

Discover Collection is a membership-based community rooted in conservation and positive impact. At its core sits the Discover Collection Foundation and a series of smaller Local Impact Funds, which will be plumped up by membership fees, donations and auctions, with proceeds being distributed among those living locally to the group’s properties. 

Oman is scheduled for a September opening and Kenya in December, before a staggered but expansive rollout across destinations including Albania, Switzerland, Greece, Morocco and Ireland in the years ahead – including the Instagram-famous Six Senses Svart in Norway, which hovers over water like a halo. That site, Bohnenberger says, will be radically reimagined. Staggered across developing and developed economies, Bohnenberger points out that local uplift will look very different per destination; but that every destination, no matter how ostensibly wealthy, has people in need of a helping hand.   

Getting into this purpose club will involve a light vetting process; “more of a filtering process,” says Grace Probyn, head of membership. “ The questions in the application form ask which region can we expect to see you in most frequently? What are you passionate about? When you’re visiting a destination, what do you like to do? Do you like to try the local food?”

After paying the annual fee of $3,600 ($5,008 for couples), supplemented by a one-off $650 administrative charge, it’s all systems go. Members won’t just get their pick of stays at exceptional properties; they’ll be invited to bid on once-in-a-lifetime mega-events, referred to as “spark events”, that involve visiting hard-to-reach or unexpected destinations, complemented by extraordinary cultural programming.

Perhaps Discover Collection’s most innovative idea is ‘Post-Trip Integration’ – ensuring that the impact of a stay extends well beyond the property. Members are connected with local practitioners and experts who help weave the passions they explored on holiday into their daily lives. “It’s not just a one-hit, come stay with us,” says Probyn. “ Perhaps you’re really focused on aligning your circadian rhythms on property, but you then continue to have your consultations throughout the year with practitioners in your own life back in your city.” In this way, the hotel becomes a lifestyle that’s lived 365 days a year. 

As for what to expect on site? Everything will scream quiet luxury, right down to the champagne – eschewing big-name labels like Dom Pérignon in favour of rare cuvées from artisanal producers. Décor will be a homely assemblage of local crafts and antiques, filled with all the idiosyncrasies of human touch. The throughline across properties won’t be Discover Collection logos – “no logos!” Bohnenberger insists – but a consistent sense of purpose and human service.

“There are lots of experiences you can have in a hotel that are so far removed from the destination. But we want you to really feel like you're immersed in that culture, meeting the local people, eating the local food, or doing something that feels really authentic to that region," says Probyn. 

With construction in full swing at the collection’s first two properties in Oman and Kenya, the race is on to find and upskill local staff who will provide that meaningful bridge to the destination.

 “We’ve launched a Joint Venture Alliance with an organisation called Saira Hospitality” explains Bohnenberger. Saira finds overlooked talent in remote or underserved destinations. Once those with the hospitality gene have been identified, “there’s a six-week course, which is free for them, in which they get exposed to luxury habits, cultures; they’re brought to fancy hotels and shown how it all works. And when they graduate, they’ll come to us and we start the professional training.” 

As the brand takes root, expect the collection to branch out into urban hubs where members can grab dinner, socialise and catch-up with friends. The brand’s currently scoping a location in Copenhagen that would house a restaurant open to the public along with discrete members-only spaces.

What Discover Collection is creating is more than a hotel brand. Across the luxury space we see brands extending their brand equity into 360° lifestyle offerings. Four Seasons, once a hotel brand, boasts a jet and, by this time next year, a yacht. Orient Express, too. Meanwhile, the number of branded residences continues to soar. Discover Collection offers a similar lifestyle-as-a-service, but for the purpose-driven; a living experiment in how purpose and pleasure might neatly coexist.