Yeotown Madeira: the wellbeing holiday that goes the extra mile

Was it the floating sound bath at sunset or the breath-taking views of the Atlantic, hard-earned after heart-pounding hike up a banana plantation? Or was it the three full-body massages or the creative, organic cuisine? It’s hard to pick a favourite experience from the six-day ‘Yeotox’ programme at Yeotown Madeira; every offering here is just that little bit different from any other wellness retreat.

If you are looking for a health reboot and a mental reset that’ll challenge, pamper and inspire you, either as a solo traveller or with friends, this is the break to book. With year-round sunshine and temperatures that remain in a comfortable range of 20-30°C, a sea that never falls below 19°C, and no time difference from the UK, it’s the perfect doable jaunt.

It is one holiday that you don’t have to recover from when you get home. “This has without doubt been the healthiest week of my life,” declared the fortysomething marathon-running lawyer, who had come with his CEO wife to escape their 12-hour working days. He’d surprised himself with a newfound love of buckwheat pancakes, yoga and forest bathing. In the three times I have done the programme (twice at the flagship in Devon), I’ve seen many sceptical plus-ones – who’d never set foot in a yoga studio and declared themselves allergic to meditation – leave with a new glow and fresh energy. Many people drop a few pounds too.

Bootcamp or privation detox, this is not.”It’s meant to be really reasonable, nothing extreme,” says co-founder Mercedes Sieff, one of the world’s top yoga teachers and a positive psychology coach.

Left: Yeotown founder Mercedes Sieff and Victoria Woodhall

With her husband Simon, she founded the award-winning Yeotown wellness retreat in Devon in 2010, which has hosted the likes of broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, who hosts menopause retreats there.  Dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting wrote about it on Get The Gloss as one of her top five ‘Wellness Wins’.

Yeotown boasts an almost unheard-of 50 per cent return rate and hundreds of glowing reviews, for its combination of all-weather hikes in stunning coastal scenery, movement practices such as yoga, Pilates and tai chi, massages, nutrient-dense, gluten-free pescatarian food and chic homely rooms. Its younger Madeiran sister, set up in 2022, brings the same vibes but with year-round sunshine.

Not your average wellness retreat

Mercedes insists that what they offer is not even a ‘wellness retreat’ as such. “That term has become a bit over-saturated – anyone with a farmhouse who’s offering yoga and a green juice is calling themselves a wellness retreat now,” she says, preferring the term ‘haven of health’.

What does that mean exactly? “It’s a getaway or respite, where you can focus on your physical health, your mental health, your spiritual health and your emotional health – and have fun doing it. We don’t try to be spiritual with a big ‘S’ or dogmatic.”

There’s definitely the feeling of being looked after. While you will have to find 3600 Euros for a basic room (£3115), you have no expenses, apart from flight and transfers, while you’re there, and there’s so much included.

How do you get to Yeotown Madeira health retreat?

After a four-hour Easyjet flight from London to the capital Funchal, it’s less than an hour’s drive to the site on a hillside in the south-west of the island, which is part of Portugal, and sits in the middle of the Atlantic, level with Morocco and north of the Canaries.

Pretty much everything is situated on a hillside in Madeira; the island is volcanic, with steep hills rising up from the coastline and covering the island, including virgin forests, waterfalls, and an abundance of tropical fruit, vegetables, and herbs. You can see why it’s known as the Hawaii of Europe.

The volcanic soil is so fertile that anything grows on the terraced hillsides, and Yeotown has its own stepped permaculture garden – in which the main house and guest lodges sit and which provides as much of the food for guests as possible.

Victoria and Clara on a hillside hike at Yeotown Madeira

Plant-forward food and obliging chickens

The retreats run every week year-round from Tuesdays to Saturdays, and groups are never more than about 15 people. We were six. I was there with my daughter Clara, 21, who, being gluten-free, loved the fact that she never had to ask for a special menu. The ‘plant-forward’ pescatarian food is includes a bit of dairy, and eggs from the chickens that pootle around the orchard and permaculture gardens, in which the main house and assorted cabins are set. You won’t find coffee, alcohol or refined sugar here. Not that they’re judging, it’s just a chance to reassess your relationship with something that might be more of a prop than you’d like.

The clientele is often international, making it a great opportunity to broaden your friendship group, too. Many participants stay in touch after Yeotown and even re-book the same week together.

On arrival, you’re greeted with a ‘Yeotini’ juice by a team member, who reappears every day with an energy ball or a smoothie, as you finally pull off your walking boots after a morning hike. Meals are at communal tables in the kitchen or outside.

What is the accommodation like?

The rooms and cabins with a sitting room, are what I’d call ‘rustic luxe’. Our cabin had a hammock on the porch and comfy chairs. I can’t even remember if we had a TV. We certainly didn’t watch it as why would you, with technicolour sunsets so beguiling or an after-dinner sauna, massage or swim to slot in.

The bathrooms, stocked with Yeotown natural toiletries, are roomy. It’s something you appreciate as you find yourself showering a lot due to the many physical activities on the ‘schedule’ (which isn’t really a schedule – as I’ll explain). Sweating is all part of the detox process. Thoughtfully, your laundry is done every day for free so we opted for hand luggage only.

What to pack?

There’s no formality here, evenings are for comfy clothes. Even in high summer you’ll need a waterproof and a couple of warm jumpers, as one the wonders of the island is just how many microclimates you can experience depending on which side you are on and how high up. You can be on the beach in the morning in your cozzie and above the clouds in your cagoule in the afternoon, in the mysterious Fanal Forest. (Fun fact: it’s popular as a spooky filming location as it’s always misty, with prehistoric twisted laurel forest trees. Star Wars: The Acolyte was filmed there. Even more fun fact: Mercedes, in a former life, was an actress in Return of the Jedi and her character was made into a Star Wars doll).

What’s a typical day like at Yeotown Madeira?

Everyone arrives on Monday for a Tuesday 7.15am start with yoga. We were lucky to practice with Mercedes, who was in residence that week. Her training also as a positive psychology coach means that no one is left behind and there are challenges for all levels.

Then it’s a surprisingly substantial breakfast at communal tables – typically avocado and eggs on buckwheat toast, a green juice, a ginger shot and bircher museli. There’s an emphasis on protein, fibre and gut-friendly pre-and probiotic food.

Next it’s into the minibus for a three-hour hike, easing you in with a gentle-ish route along the levadas on day one. These are miles of small man-made canals unique to Madeira, that carry water around the island.  The guide-led hikes get more stunning as the week progresses – up and down steep banana plantations, gazing at rainbows over cliffs and standing under waterfalls. You might even catch sight of whales and dolphins.

And, boy, do your legs need the three massages that are included in the programme.

All practitioners are hand-picked to Mercedes’ exacting standards, so that their treatments are indulgent and yet therapeutic and with that little extra magic.

You return for lunch, which might be a vegetarian curry, and in the afternoon there’s always a surprise activity.

What are the surprise activities?

Well, that would be spoiling it. If you ask what’s coming up, it’s always met with a delightfully evasive answer from staff. “It’s very much about being living in the moment, being with the people you’re present with, being open to trying different things, and knowing that we’re going to make sure that it’s take you’re taken care of,” says Mercedes.

She says that many people, especially Type As who are used to being over-scheduled and in control, can find not knowing the biggest challenge. “The hardest part is that letting go, and they struggle on the first day,” she says.

Early experience told her that putting meditation, for example, on the schedule (although that’s seen more mainstream now) would lead to people being inexplicably detained elsewhere. I’m glad I didn’t know about the cold plunge experience more than about an hour in advance, otherwise I’d have definitely chickened out. As it was, I did it and the group carried me through. “Sometimes we get in our own way too much, right?” says Mercedes.

My verdict

What I find ‘above and beyond’ about Yeotown, is the way it scoops up all levels of fitness and wellness and makes you feel included and challenged, whatever your starting point. Everyone discovered muscles they never knew that had and left feeling energised and with a smile on their faces. And even if you think you’ve done every wellness experience in the book, you’ll be guaranteed some highly creative surprises to challenge body and mind.

The focus is on what you can do, not what you can’t (yet!). Whether it’s trying a new drink such as probiotic-rich water kefir, or a crystal mediation or a hilly hike, the emphasis is on what you can add to your repertoire rather than what you need to cut out. This a modern approach to wellness informed by positive psychology – homing in on ‘what’s going strong, not what’s going wrong,’ as Mercedes likes to say.

Yeotown Madeira Price: a 5-night Yeotox stay in Madeira costs from £3115 (3600 Euros) per person excluding flights and transfers. Shared rooms have a 10% discount. Book at yeotown.com