These videos show our transformation in the past from 2012 to around 2018, not long before we closed the business due to Covid. We began as a luxury retreat but our conscience steered us to simple lives, to living 100% outdoors, sleeping in Prana-Pods and very low energy consumption.
Good Health
CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER
It seems that every week there's a new diet fad on the menu. But the age-old practice of cutting out animal products is also back in fashion at a smart villa in Spain. Daisy Finer hunts down her inner vegan… Read the article.
Caring, cleansing breaks in Andalucia
QUEEN OF RETREATS
Olive Retreat is perfect for those who want to relax and cleanse gently. The wellbeing retreats help you clear your body and mind with healthy food, gentle exercise, optional classes in wellbeing activities such as healthy cooking or natural facials and plenty of free time to spend as you choose… Read the article.
“Europe is graced by a number of classy retreats, particularly in Spain. Olive (olive@oliveretreat.com) in Andalucia runs gentle weeks of cleansing food and relaxation in a converted farmhouse.
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Rediscovering our natural energy at Olive Retreat in Andalusia
QUEEN OF RETREATS
Our first meal on the Saturday evening was all about easing us in gently, and I needn’t have worried: rather than being a juice fast, Olive’s ethos is about allowing your body to detox through healthy, hearty and tasty vegan on wholefoods… Read the article.
“Ruth – chronic autoimmune arthritis & reporter
I have still had more energy than I’ve had in a long while.
The detox was definitely effective and I was particularly skeptical that it would have any effect, so I can’t put it down to placebo! I’ve decided to radically cut down cheese from my diet. I know that it doesn’t agree with my digestion but I persist in eating it and I suspect that it’s been one of the culprits in my low energy because of the effort taken for me to digest. I’m getting lots of compliments about my appearance and how well I look. My mother is particularly impressed! She says that I look better than I have done in years.
I continue to be pain-free, – this current run is 17 days – and I’m sure that this is related to the gluten-free diet, which is plenty of incentive to stick with it for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again for a wonderful week. Best wishes, Ruth”
A genuinely life-changing experience
Dale's Life Magazine
Nowadays there are any number of spas, bootcamps and retreats to choose from. Even so, it’s all too easy to come back home with none of your problems solved. Fortunately, though, we’ve discovered a retreat that’s a genuinely life-changing experience.
Olive Retreat is set in a beautifully converted whitewashed farmhouse near Rhonda, in Andalusia, in southern Spain. With its light and airy guest rooms, 14 acres of gardens and fruit trees – plus the added bonus of spectacular views of the Grazalema National Park – The Olive Retreat is the ideal place to relax and recharge your batteries.
The founders, both pictures of glowing good health, are clearly passionate about their philosophy of wellbeing. Their retreats emphasise detoxing, weight loss and wholesome nutrition, with options to study meditation and yogic breathing techniques. The food is entirely vegan, with coffee, alcohol and dairy also strictly off limits.
They served up some of the most sensational food we’ve ever tasted, even managing to rustle up a delicious chocolate pudding that doesn’t compromise on healthy eating. Cristina leads classes on nutrition and offers one-to-one sessions for guests to explore their individual issues.
Their detox regime may be rigorous, but the days are unstructured, with no pressure and no punishing exercise regimes. Instead you can join in with a poolside yoga session, enjoy a massage or take a stroll in the surrounding countryside.
Of course the real test is what happens when you return home. Here too the Olive Retreat shines, because included in the price of retreats is a month of support by phone or email from the resident team. So far we’ve managed not to slip back into bad habits, and there’s no arguing with losing a stone of surplus weight, so it’s a big thumbs-up from Dales Life!
READ MORE FROM JANA @ AUF DEUTSCH VEGAN BLATT - DAS VEGANE MAGAZINE
“Jana’s testimonial:
I loved nature, I knew that, but at Olive I really learnt to love myself. That was huge for me. Thank you so much.”
“Esto es lo mejor que he hecho en toda mi vida.💚💜
Me ha encantado todo y se como integrarlo en mi vida. ...la comida me hizo sentar mejor que nunca, las clases explican todo en una manera tan sencilla y bonita y lo hacéis con tanto respeto y amor que nos sentimos todos como en casa. Las charlas de Ray... hay que vivir lo, las meditaciones, los paseos...
Quiero volver.... Cuando estáis en Tailandia?”