Five of the best – Retreats
The best places to detox, rebalance your chi and get a tan while you’re at it
Barbados
Yogoloji Yoga Retreat
Can you really host a yoga retreat in Sandy Lane, Barbados’s super-exclusive resort? Yogoloji certain believe so. Their 5-15 March break bills itself as a ‘yoga and surf ’ event with both yoga teachers and surfing experts on hand to help novices through. Visitors stay in the Jamoon villa on the Sandy Lane estate, and can take advantage of the resort’s golf and tennis courses and private beach. www.yogoloji.co.uk
Las Vegas
The Rapport Executive Retreat
Corporate combatants sharpen their business skills and take in the beauty of the Pahranagat Valley, Nevada, with the help of Rapport Leadership International. This executive skills training centre takes clients from its offices in Las Vegas to its training retreat in Alamo, a few miles further north. Classes include ‘Leadership Breakthrough’, ‘Power Communication’, as well as the racy sounding ‘Eagle Quest’ and the positively all-encompassing ‘Life Mastery’.Would-be winners should sign up now. www.rapportleadership.com
Moscow
Uncle Pasha’s Dacha
Offering spartan accommodation and hearty vegetarian cooking, and with no higher spiritual calling than a deep love of equestrian sports, this dacha has more in common with Uncle Vanya than Moscow’s new millionaires. There is plenty of opportunity to explore the Tver countryside, north west of Moscow, and drinking is encouraged, though Uncle Pasha doesn’t tolerate any meat eating on site. So don’t expect goulash on the menu. www.russian-horse-rides.com
London
The Causeway Retreat
Those with deep pockets and in need of some serious drying out should check into this, the world’s first private island retreat which happens to be in the UK – something you don’t usually read in the same sentence. Founded in 2003, on Osea Island in the Thames Estuary, The Causeway takes a holistic approach to drug and alcohol dependency, stress-related illnesses and psychological treatment. It pairs Tudorstyle cottages with 24-hour therapists and medical practitioners. Oh, and Gordon Gekkos take note: it’s only a 30 minute helicopter ride from central London.www.thecausewayretreat.com
Palma de Mallorca
La Serrania Retreat
Though it principally offers yoga courses, visitors to this lush, well-furnished retreat at the foot of Mallorca’s Sierra de Tramontana mountain range (fly in to Palma) may also cook, paint, write, take mountain walks and enjoy massages.The place also boasts a great resident chef and a seemingly unending supply of wine.Who says all retreats have to be dry? www.laserrania.com
Words: Alex Rayner
