Luxury Wellness & Yoga Escape on the Andalusian Coast

The hotel sits a five-minute walk from Playa de la Rada, on a stretch of coast between Estepona and Marbella. It's a small property — whitewashed walls, bougainvillea, a saltwater pool, and a spa with a hammam, sauna and outdoor jacuzzi. Rooms are air-conditioned with either garden or partial sea views, and there's a rooftop terrace where the group eats breakfast most mornings and gathers for stargazing after dinner.

Days follow a loose shape. You're up for a guided meditation at 07:00, then a 90-minute vinyasa class on the outdoor yoga deck before breakfast. The middle of the day is yours. Two afternoons a week there's an optional Yin or restorative session at 16:00, followed by a workshop — arm balances in week one, breathwork in week two — before the evening meal. Dinner is a set menu from the hotel's restaurant, which has held a Michelin star since 2019, with dishes like almond soup with Andalusian olive oil, grilled sea bream with saffron rice, and orange blossom ice cream. Local wines are included with dinner.

What sets this apart from a standard yoga week is the food and the spa access. Most yoga retreats serve plain vegetarian buffets; here you're eating a set dinner from a starred kitchen every night, and breakfast includes pastries from the hotel's own bakery. Guests also get full use of the spa — hammam, sauna, heated indoor pool — for the whole stay, plus a 60-minute massage booked for each person. The Wednesday boat trip to see the Strait's dolphins is weather-dependent but included.

The location does most of the work. The Costa del Sol is warm from April through October, the beach is right there, and the old town of Estepona — with its flower-lined streets and the Plaza de las Flores — is a 15-minute walk or a short taxi. Marbella is 30 minutes by car, Gibraltar about 45. You don't need a car, but the hotel can arrange day trips if you want one.

Mariana teaches in English and Spanish and has run this week twice a year since 2019. She trained in Mysore and holds Yoga Alliance RYT-500 certification, plus a Level 2 certificate in restorative yoga from Triyoga in London. She keeps the classes to 14 people at most, and she adjusts the sequence if someone's dealing with an injury — she's used to working with people in their fifties who haven't done yoga for years, as well as regular practitioners.