Tucked away amongst the pines and olive trees of the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park of southern Spain is the gorgeous Shanti-Som Wellbeing Retreat. Formerly a rustic, two-star hotel, it was relaunched in May 2011 and now offers serious yoga, detoxing, life-coaching and weight loss programmes.
The 14 rooms are set around a courtyard, with each one having been individually designed and given a name like ‘Courage’, ‘Friendship’ or ‘Peace’ (which evokes the spirit of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘bed-in’ with its pure white décor). All of the rooms have private sun terraces that look out onto inspiring mountain views, while there are plenty of luxurious touches like walk-in wardrobes and bathrooms that come with sleek wet rooms. The style throughout is eclectic with baroque Parisian sofas sitting alongside Moroccan candleholders and oversized paintings of young Buddhist monks by local artist Alejandro Hermann.
The plethora of reclining Buddhas and tomes about yoga and raw juicing signals that Shanti-Som is a full-on wellness retreat. In between all the healing, though, you can sunbathe, swim and walk in the surrounding hillsides - meaning that you return home completely refreshed with healthy kidneys and, crucially, a healthy bank balance.
What’s hot?
- The fact that it’s extremely good value for money
- The delicious food served up at the hotel restaurant
- The Thai massage and lavender facial are out-of-this-world relaxing
What’s not?
- There were a couple of glitches at the time of visiting as it was still fairly new – but these are all swiftly being ironed out
Need to Know: Shanti-Som
Number of rooms: 14
Check-in/check-out times: 3pm and 12pm
Room service: Yes
Swimming pool: Yes. There’s a gorgeous outdoor lounger-surrounded pool
Spa: Yes. The focal point of the place. Your stay begins with founder Kezia Jacobsen, an experienced beauty therapist, healer and life-skills counsellor, investigating your health, family, career, fitness/ exercise, passions, goals, dreams and spirituality. After helping to work out how to develop your strengths and conquer your weaknesses, she then helps you achieve it through twice daily yoga sessions, meditation and healing therapies like Reiki.
Dogs welcome: No
Eating and drinking: The food in the Amrita (‘nectar for the soul’) restaurant is top-notch. Head chef Ben Hayes creates nutritionally balanced Asian-Mediterranean menus for healthy, organic eating - think Thai vegetable green curry with lime-scented rice, roasted vegetables, guacamole, home-made flat breads, and salads such as beetroot carpaccio with goat’s cheese.
Near to? Shanti Som feels like a slice of Indonesian wellness less than three hours from the UK. You can take tranquil walks in the mountains in the clean air of the Sierra de las Nieves, or if you’ve had enough of nature, then Puerto Banus is a 20-minute drive away with its many designer shops, restaurants bars and private yachts.
Getting there: The hotel is an easy 40-minute taxi ride from Malaga airport, where flights regularly depart to and from all of the London Airports.
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