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We are looking forward to welcoming you to Wild View Retreat!

We have prepared this information to help you prepare for your week with us – please read carefully and if you have any question please get in touch.

The Team

Please visit our Team page on the website to see the staff who work at Wild View Retreat.

We have a dedicated Retreat Leader at Wild View Retreat who is responsible for your week. All our Retreat Leaders are qualified health practitioners with a wealth of wellness and retreat experience. If you have any concerns or issues or simply just want a chat they will be there for you. Any health and safety concerns or questions about the programme, please also speak to the Retreat Leader or Nutritional Therapist. Our yoga teachers have many years of experience who will guide you through gentle hatha and vinyasa poses to support the detox. All our exceptional fitness instructors have been recruited individually and will be on hand to provide 2 daily fitness classes. No previous experience of yoga or fitness required just a smile and open mind. You should aim to attend all the classes if you want to get the most value out of your week – the more you put in the more you will get out of it and the better you will feel  – but if your plan it to simply come and lie on your sun lounger all day that’s fine too, its your holiday after all. Our three massage therapists, Ilse, Justine and Paolo are exceptional and book up fast, so make sure you pre-book early over email. 

Every day one of our qualified nutritional therapists will give nutrition and wellness talks during the week, ranging from sleep to stress and hormones to detoxification. They will also be on hand to answer any of your health and wellness questions. Our local house team including house keepers, chefs, juice makers and maintenance team will working in the background, feel free to chat to them. 

We also have our lovely manager Jessica who will support you on the lead up to the retreat with any queries about the retreat, travelling to the venue, airport transfers, massage bookings etc. If you have any questions or need anything please don’t hesitate to email her. Jessica may also attend the occasional class and will introduce herself when she comes so you don’t think she’s a random off the street!

Typical Day

Each day will be purposefully busy, to encourage the detox process by keeping you moving and distract you so your mind does not wonder to unwanted food thought temptations! (Please do not bring any food with you see ‘What not to bring section’ below). There is plenty of time in the day for rest and relaxation, typically during the hottest part of the day in the afternoon. Sleep is key, and the day ends around 930pm to encourage long body recovery periods. We wake reasonably early to catch the sunrise either on a guided walk or morning yoga session (times are a guide and may be subject to change depending on the season):

  • 0730 Guided walk
  • 0830 Yoga
  • 1000 Juice and Nutrition Talk
  • 1130 Fitness
  • 1300 Juice Massages and Chill time
  • 1530 Juice, Massages and Chill time
  • 1615 Fitness, Massages
  • 1715 Yoga, Massages
  • 1800 Sauna and Pool
  • 1930 Soup, Massages
  • 2000 Documentary, Talk, Star gazing, Massages
  • 2130 Sleep

If it is a food week, the programme will be very similar except breakfast at 10, lunch at 1.30pm and dinner 7.30pm.

If you have never done yoga and or have limited fitness levels please do not worry! The groups are small (15-20 people) and level of classes will be mixed. No one coming is a super bendy yogi or fitness mad and the average age is typically 50 so we wont be doing anything you can’t give a go. The classes will be fun and motivating! Our main advice is try everything and don’t compare your chapter 1 with someone else’s chapter 14! You will feel so much better at the end of the week if try all the classes!

What to bring

If the sun goes in and the wind picks up it can get pretty chilly so…

  • Water bottle to fill up water and drink regularly!!
  • Second water bottle (juice weeks) if you want to take your juice down to the pool (juices are served in glass jars and are not allowed by the pool)
  • Sturdy walking shoes and or gym shoes and poles if you like to use them
  • Sturdy summer shoes/flip flops / crocs to get to the pool
  • Several sets of gym / yoga clothes to avoid the need to wash them
  • A sweat towel for the gym
  • Warm fleece / clothes for cold and breezy mornings and evenings
  • 1 or 2 sets of casual relaxation clothes
  • Hat
  • Sunglasses
  • Eco / organic sun screen
  • Insect repellent (we don’t have a big problem with mosquitos but worth bringing)
  • Ear plugs if you are a light sleeper and sharing
  • Medications
  • Euros for massages and tips
  • We provide shampoo and shower gel but feel free to bring your own.

What not to bring

  • FOOD see below
  • Towels (provided)
  • Hair dryers (provided)
  • Alcohol 
  • Laptops
  • Yoga mats
  • Food or snacks
  • We provide shampoo and shower gel in the rooms.

Juice and Soup Fast Retreats

On a fast week, you are giving your digestive system a well-needed week off and diverting all the energy to restoration and repair of other bodily systems. The juices and soups will give you everything you need to nourish you during your stay and also provide enough energy for daily participation in yoga and fitness classes and guided walks. So PLEASE do not bring any food with you and if you do feel the need please talk to us before hand.

Plant-Based Food Retreats

On food weeks we provide delicious plant based meals that are carefully created by our nutritional therapist in collaboration with our chef to ensure you have optimal clean nutrition during the week. On many other retreats, guests can often return home heavier than when they arrived by overindulging in the delicious ‘healthy’ all you can eat buffets. This is because we consistently eat more food when offered larger portions. That is why during our retreats we do not serve food as buffets, instead balanced healthy meals instead.  Portion control helps our guests get the benefits of the nutrients in the food without overeating and aids absorption and digestion of food easier to ensure we retain energy levels and maintain a healthy weight.

Massage

We have three great massage therapists (one of which is a male please advise if you have a preference) who visit the retreat in the afternoons through until the evening. We need to know in advance if guests would like to book a massage. Massages are €70 for one hour CASH ONLY and are always booked out so please book in advance to avoid disappointment. They will be on Sunday through to Friday (or Wednesday-Mon on July Retreats) at the following times. They are on a first come first serve basis so please email us at hello@wildviewretreat.com with the day and time you would like in advance.

Sunday till Thursday: 

  • 13:15-14:15 (free time) 
  • 14:30-15:30 (free time) 
  • 16:00-17:00 (fitness 16:45-17:30) 
  • 17:15-18:15 (yoga 17:30-18:30) 
  • 18:45-19:45 (free time) 
  • 20:00-21:00 (free time) 

Schedule Friday:

  • 08:45-09:45 (walk) 
  • 10:00-11:00 (talk) 
  • 11:30-12:30 (fitness) 
  • 12:45-13:45 (free time)
  • 14:15-15:15 (free time)
  • 15:30-16:30 (food workshop on juice weeks 16:15-17:00)

Water

Please pretty please come with an environmentally conscious hat on. We are in the wilderness and the Algarve is facing droughts every year as such we need to conserve water or our water source can run dry if not used carefully. Please be mindful of your water use – only flush if you need to, limit showers by turning off water when your applying soap and turning on again, and refrain from washing clothes in the shower.

Drinking water is provided as filtered water fountains – please bring a water bottle to fill up.

Sunscreen and Bed Linen

We politely request that you do not lay on the white bed linen in the rooms with any sunscreen on as it will stain and result in the linen needing to be discarded.

We recommend eco sunscreen ie ‘Jason’ as it will also avoid toxicity of your skin J and also avoid contamination of the linen, pool water and sun loungers.

Fire Risk Prevention

We are in a high fire risk area in the Serra da Calderão mountains in the north of the Algarve. The annual fires in Portugal cause devastation and severe losses to communities. As a result we have a strict no smoking or candles or open flame policy* and ask that you respect this. If you must smoke there is a designated place outside of the retreat grounds please ask us where this is.

*The massage therapist and yoga teacher may use an incense stick in the yoga studio or treatment room – these are the exceptions.

Private Waste System

We have our own private biological system for waste that gets blocked if waste products are discarded down the toilet. Please be careful not to put anything down the toilets other than toilet paper or it will block your toilet and the whole system for others. Facial wipes, sanitary towels, cotton buds are the main offenders please put them in the bin provided.

Cleaning, Towels and Glass

There is a mid week tidy of the bedrooms where bins will be changed and rooms given a light clean. Please prepare your room mid week if you would like a light clean. We provide sun lounger towels for use by the pool and bathroom towels for use in your rooms only. Please do not take your bathroom towels to the yoga studio or pool. To avoid unnecessary use of water we do not routinely replace towels but would be very happy to do so if you need a new towel. Please also refrain from taking glass or mugs to the pool. If you take a cup of tea to your room please bring it back so it can be reused J Thank you!

Wifi and Social Media

In order to get the best out of your retreat we encourage you to take a digital detox of the mind as well as the body. Perhaps try leaving your phone at home or in your room (there is a safe in each room) as we do not like digital devices being used in communal areas except for photos. Try to use the week to break the habit of looking at it constantly and tell important contacts to respect your week away. Obviously for some with important work or family responsibilities it may not be easy to completely switch off so we have wifi available at the retreat for your use. If you would like to ‘check in at Wild View Retreat’ and post your photos we’d love you to do so but respect others and do not talk on phones or use digital devices in communal areas except for taking photos etc. Please do not steam videos in your rooms as it will block the access for others – thank you!

Insurances

We recommend you take out appropriate travel insurance for your trip that includes cover for medical expenses and travel issues.

Health and Liability Waiver Form

Both you and any other guests in your booking need to fill out the online health form in advance to allow you to participate in the retreat. If you have not already done this please fill out the link below and email back to us. If you don’t do this you can’t participate so please do this no later than 2-3 weeks before the retreat.

http://www.wildviewretreat.com/extras

Check in and Check out times

The retreat opens for arrival from 5pm on the arrival day. Check out time on departure day is by 1030am. We politely ask you to adhere to these times so we can prepare the retreat in time.

Airport transfers

If you are flying to Faro or taking the train down from Lisbon we offer return transfers for €60 both ways from the airport or train station (if arriving and departing within our group times (see below). For all info on transfers and booking please click here:

Airport transfers

Terms and conditions

Please read the Ts and Cs on the website. Let us know if you have any questions.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback and have a dedicated online feedback form for you to fill in at the end of your retreat to help us improve. We expect you to have an amazing time but if for whatever reason something is not right we would much rather the opportunity to fix the issue than you leave the retreat disappointed. Please do let us know about it in person here during the week and we will do everything we can to fix it.

Reviews

We would not be where we are in these first few years without the great reviews of past guests. We are very grateful to all our guests who have reviewed us as the support and boost it has given us has allowed us to continue during this tough years. If you would like to write something positive about your experience please visit Google or Trip Advisor via these direct links.

 

A final thought from Andrew

Its’ natural to feel a bit apprehensive about joining a retreat such as this if you haven’t done one before. The first time I went on a retreat, I sat in the minivan upon pick up from the airport, silent and wishing I had stayed at home, thinking how am I going to do yoga and do fitness classes on juice alone, was I mad!? A guy next to me said, “Just enjoy the experience and keep an open mind”. I had very closed views on the whole subject but I was shocked with how positive the results were. Not only was the fast easy when I put my mind to it, but my energy levels towards the second half of the week really improved. I have since learnt that my digestive system was absorbing the nutrients with maximum energy efficiency and not wasting energy on mechanical breakdown, aiding healing, repair and restoration of my body. Allow yourself to go through the process and enjoy the new experience and the results. We will walk you through the whole week and if you are new to this don’t be worried! Start your own journey you may be surprised how far it eventually takes you.

See you soon!

The Wild View Team