Forget simply booking a massage and spending a few hours beside the pool. Yorkshire Spa Retreat’s three-night wellness experience takes the traditional spa break and turns it into a more holistic escape; combining movement, mindfulness, nutrition, nature and luxury. Victoria Reddington heads to the North York Moors to discover what a 360-degree wellness break really looks like.
I love a spa break. Give me a fluffy robe, a massage and a few uninterrupted hours doing very little and I’m a very happy bunny indeed. However…Yorkshire Spa Retreat’s Wellness Retreat is designed to be something altogether different and more immersive. This isn’t just checking into a spa hotel, booking a treatment and seeing where the weekend takes you; no – this is a carefully curated wellness journey bringing together movement, nutrition, nature, treatments and mindfulness.
The full experience takes place over two or three nights, with guests staying in a luxury lodge and following a programme designed to help reset both body and mind. Yoga, Pilates and meditation sit alongside instructor-led fitness sessions, spa treatments and use of the spa facilities, with nourishing breakfasts, brunches and dinners woven throughout. Time outdoors is part of the experience too, including a gorgeous guided walk through the North York Moors.
I was invited to experience a specially condensed one-night version, which I attended with my best friend Sophia, giving us a taste of the full two or three night retreat and an insight into how the complete wellness journey would feel.
Check in and Decompress
We arrived and checked into The Hare, our luxury lodge for the night. Sleeping four across two generously sized bedrooms, it is especially well suited to a friends’ or two couples’ break, as neither party will feel like they have drawn the short straw, due to a considered layout. The two bedrooms sit at opposite ends of the lodge, each with its own en-suite, while the spacious central living area brings together a comfortable lounge, dining space and fully fitted kitchen. Outside, the lodge really comes into its own, with a private hot tub, seating area, pergola and outdoor kitchen with a Kamado Joe barbecue, giving you your own little retreat within a retreat, (the hot tub in particular became a very welcome part of our evening!).
Our itinerary deliberately begins with time to settle in and explore the spa before anything more structured starts. We changed into our robes and headed straight for the facilities. The spa is centred around the beautiful Wild Swim Pond, alongside a hydrotherapy pool, Himalayan Salt Sauna, Herbal Steam Room and relaxation spaces.
The Wild Swim Pond is an absolute stand-out feature! Surrounded by greenery and open to the sky, you feel so much more connected to nature when swimming outside in its beautiful waters. Afterwards, I curled up in one of the relaxation lounges, grabbed a magazine and fully switched off.
Then was it time for our treatments. Sophia and I each had a full back massage, scheduled at different times so that while one of us disappeared for a treatment, the other could carry on enjoying the spa. This treatment is excellent and eased my tension through my shoulders, neck and back. By the time I emerged, my shoulders were significantly less tense than when I arrived, and the reset was fully underway.
Where Wellness Still Feels Indulgent
The next stage of our itinerary was welcome drinks in The Dome Restaurant & Bar, followed by dinner. The Dome is the retreat’s striking glass-fronted restaurant and bar, overlooking the water and serving as the social heart of Yorkshire Spa Retreat.
Here, the food forms a large part in what makes the retreat feel genuinely holistic as – although the retreat incorporates nutritious dining – the emphasis is still very much on food that feels generous and enjoyable. Our dinner was beautifully presented and genuinely delicious. The vibe is very much going out for a lovely meal rather than eating something worthy just because we happened to be on a wellness retreat, and that great yet tricky-to-achieve balance runs throughout the entire experience.
We also happened to visit when a DJ was playing 00s house outside The Dome overlooking the water, (note this is not part of the package and only runs on selected dates). An Ibiza-esque soundtrack was not what I had expected from a North Yorkshire wellness retreat, but it was such a welcome surprise!
Breakfast, Fitness and Pilates
Our second day started with a breakfast hamper to enjoy in the comfort of our lodge. Ours came filled with breakfast goodies including yoghurt, fruit and granola, alongside juice and a wellness shot, so we could start the morning right before the more active part of the itinerary began.
We began the day with an instructor-led fitness session in The Barn Studio, followed by a Pilates class, (one of my favourite sessions of the stay). The retreat is built around a more rounded approach, with expert-led movement sitting alongside treatments, rest and good food. Nothing felt punishing or overly intense; it was more about moving our bodies and feeling better for it.
Back in The Dome, brunch was served; colourful smoothies, generous plates of food with nothing about it feeling restrictive. Movement followed by a big brunch is a wellness philosophy which I can absolutely get behind!
Taking Wellness Outside
A chauffeur-driven guided walk through the North York Moors forms part of the wider retreat experience, and ours took us through the landscape around Kilburn and Sutton Bank. It was a beautiful route, with plenty of history woven into it too. We passed the famous White Horse of Kilburn, the most northerly turf-cut hill figure in Britain, created in 1857 and stretching 318 feet across the hillside.
From there, the landscape opened up dramatically at Sutton Bank, where the panorama stretches for miles across the Vale of Mowbray towards the Pennines, and it was clear to see why writer and local resident James Herriot famously described it as “the finest view in England”.
One Final Reset
Back at Yorkshire Spa Retreat, there was still one final element of our compressed itinerary to experience: yoga and meditation in The Barn Studio, before a final relaxing hour spent by the Wild Water Pond.
I loved that throughout this break we had structure, but also space.
Sophia and I experienced only a condensed taste of the full retreat, but even that was enough to understand what Yorkshire Spa Retreat is trying to achieve. A traditional spa break can leave you feeling pampered but this retreat aims for something more: to send you home genuinely restored.
This is a thoroughly considered 360-degree approach to wellbeing, and a very different proposition from the usual spa escape. For anyone craving more than a night of pampering, it is well worth discovering for yourself.
The Important Information
Yorkshire Spa Retreat
Gale Lane, Nawton, York, North Yorkshire, YO62 7SD
The Wellness Retreat
The full experience takes place over three nights and combines luxury lodge accommodation with spa access, treatments, yoga, Pilates, meditation, instructor-led fitness, nourishing food and time outdoors in the North York Moors.
Find out more and book
https://yorkshire-spa-retreat.co.uk/spa/wellness-retreat/
Review and some images by Victoria Reddington @vic_reddington
