Press Release: 5 October 2011, London

destination yoga wins “Yogic Star” award in Tatler’s 2012 Spa Guide

Destination Yoga received international recognition on Monday, 3 October 2011 when it was named as the best yoga holiday at the Tatler 2012 Spa Awards. Kathryn Brown, Owner of Destination Yoga, received the award in front of an audience of members of the international spa and hospitality industry.  The 2012 Tatler Spa Guide awards Destination Yoga as the “Yogic Star” for having “What every self-respecting yogi is looking for: a week of challenging classes with expert teachers – the type who inspire, motivate and lend life wisdom – without the ashram-type suffering and soggy cabbage.”

About destination yoga

Every Destination Yoga holiday combines stylish, comfortable venues with a choice of daily yoga classes in beautiful, peaceful environments in such fabulous destinations ranging from Puglia to India, and next year they are introducing the west coast of Portugal. Holidays are ideal for all levels of yoga ability and understanding, including beginners, as all yoga teachers are highly regarded, with many years of experience and tend to teach a balanced mix of styles that they have created for themselves and Destination Yoga guests. When guests are not enjoying a yoga class, they may enjoy lounging by swimming pools, walking in the countryside or exploring local places of interest. Destination Yoga also features its own chef who creates delectably healthy vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes to suit every palate.

Destination Yoga holidays cost from £895 per person including accommodation for seven nights, local transfers from recommended flights, all yoga classes and all meals. For further information visit www.destinationyoga.co.uk or call 0845 458 0723.

For press information please contact Tanya Ansaldi at Ann Scott Associates:

Telephone: 0207 823 9988 / Email: Tanya@annscott.co.uk

Note to Editors: Destination Yoga forms part of The Healthy Holiday Company, whose other brands include in:spa www.inspa.co.uk and Fitscape www.fitscape.co.uk

What’s the difference between an in:spa retreat and a fitscape fitness holiday?

Physical Exercise

An in:spa retreat will offer guests 2 or 3 exercise sessions each day, lead by one or more of our expert fitness instructors.  On a fitscape week, guests will have a choice of 6 to 8 exercise sessions each day.  All exercise classes are designed to be helpful and rewarding for all ages and levels of ability.

A fitscape fitness holiday focuses on fitness.  An in:spa holiday takes a more rounded, holistic approach and provides guests with other classes and more time to relax.

Hiking

Both fitscape and in:spa trips offer hiking, as this is a fun variation on the important aspect of fitness training that underpins both types of holiday.

Diet

in:spa chefs serve gourmet cleansing cuisine that excludes wheat, dairy, salt, sugar, red meat, caffeine and alcohol.  All meals consist of light, innovative food that makes use of the highest quality fresh local fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and other ingredients, all organic when possible. The food programme, carefully designed by the UK’s top nutritionists, offers the perfect blend of nutritious and delicious cuisine. Alongside targeted exercise, it is a formula that encourages deep cellular cleansing.

Whilst the meals on a fitscape week are both delicious and healthy, it is not designed to be so deeply cleansing.  Our chefs will include some red meat and more carbohydrates than would be served on an in:spa week.  This is because of the substantial amount of physical exercise taken on a fitscape week.  However, most people would tell you that the most obvious differences regarding diet are that, on a fitscape week, guests can enjoy coffee and alcohol if they wish.

Nutritional consultations

Every guest on an in:spa holiday will benefit from a one to one nutritional consultation with one of our highly regarded nutritionists.  Furthermore, the nutritionists are on hand throughout the holiday to talk to guests about all aspects of diet and nutrition.

There are no nutritionists on fitscape weeks.

Cooking Class

On in:spa holidays, the chef and nutritionist host a cookery class for guests to discover exactly how food that is devoid of all the naughty bits (wheat, dairy, salt, sugar, alcohol) can taste so good!  These classes are not held on fitscape holidays.

Yoga

Yoga classes are only offered on in:spa retreats.  Morning classes are dynamic, whilst evening classes are more relaxing and restorative.

Massage

Guests on in:spa retreats have two massages included as part of the cost of their holiday.  Fitscape guests may book and pay for massages at an extra charge, if desired.

Exclusivity

in:spa retreats are to exclusive, private properties where only in:spa guests will be staying at that time.  This helps give the feeling of a ‘retreat’ and allows our guests to avoid the distractions of others, for example, drinking coffee at breakfast or enjoying a glass of wine in the evening.  Fitscape weeks, whilst mostly at private properties, are not always so.

Similarities

Both holidays are for 7 nights to beautiful sunny destinations with guests staying in comfortable, stylish accommodation.  Both are priced on an all inclusive basis, but an in:spa retreat comprises many more elements than a fitscape fitness week.

Lastly, on both types of holiday, all guests can be sure of individual care and attention, and confident that you are in the hands of some of the UK’s leading experts.

This evening, 20 guests will be arriving at our luxury villa in Marrakech for the start of their 7 night in:spa retreat.  On average, one in three of the guests will have been on an in:spa retreat before, and the same is true about this particular week too.  However, one of the guests will be on his 9th in:spa trip and two of our female guests will be starting their 7th retreat!  As a company we are both very proud and extremely happy to have such a high repeat visitor rate and particularly delighted to be able to welcome back, once more, these three long standing guests.  Of course, as a thoroughly justifiable special favour, all are benefitting from a complimentary upgrade.

We have yet to host a retreat where all the guests have been on holiday with us before, but we are expecting it to happen in the not too distant future and very much look forward to it.  Marrakech in March is perhaps the best month to visit, so we hope the weather will be warm and sunny (as forecast) and that all our guests all have a fun, re-energising and rejuvenating week with our team of highly experienced in:spa health experts.  And it’s a fabulous team, comprising two personal trainers, a chef and a nutritionist, two massage therapists and a yoga teacher, all being lead by Emily who is acting as host for the week.

We have recently started publishing venue specific feedback / comments from our guests, so if you would like to read what our guests said after our last trip to Marrakech in February, please see guest comments

It seems that fitscape’s concept of combining great skiing with exercise classes, yoga and gourmet healthy cuisine has struck a chord with the market.  Apart from fitscape’s original mix, lots of people who don’t normally go skiing because it never seems to coincide with timings that suits their friends too, are booking in to our ski holidays because of the fun group / houseparty element.  So, teaming up with other guests on the slopes (in same level groups) under the guidance of one of fitscape’s ski team leaders means that all guests can enjoy the magnificent skiing in the Italian Dolomites with new friends.  And, once back at our 5 star Relais & Chateaux hotel, Rosa Alpina, there are lots of guests to socialise with too.

To give you an idea of how one of our days in the mountains might be structured, here’s a bullet point itinerary for you:

• Morning stretch class
• Healthy breakfast
• Fun skiing with your friends or our team
• Post-ski stretching, followed by afternoon tea
• Afternoon fitness training sessions
• Evening yoga classes
• Delicious, nutritious dinner

One of the added attractions of hotel Rosa Alpina is that it has an outstanding spa which was recently voted by Conde Nast Traveller readers as the ‘best hotel spa in Europe’.  So if guests don’t feel like skiing all day or would rather enjoy the spa one afternoon rather than joining a fitness or yoga class, there is always the temptation of the spa’s pool, hot tub, Jacuzzi, sauna or steam room.  And, of course, numerous treatments to choose from too.

Some people describe skiing in the Dolomites as one of the world’s great secrets.  And the skiing is fantastic.  The area around the hotel is called the Dolomiti Superski.  It consists of 12 valleys, 460 lifts and 760 miles of ski runs and all are accessible under one ski pass.

If you would like to see pictures and learn more about dates and prices, please visit fitscape ski

The team at The Healthy Holiday Company would like to wish all our past – and future – guests a very happy, healthy New Year!  We currently have twenty guests enjoying an in:spa retreat in Marrakech where the weather is warm and sunny, and today they all ventured into the Atlas Mountains for an invigorating and exhilarating hike.  We also have a similar number of guests further south, near Agadir, enjoying a fitscape fitness holiday with our team of expert personal trainers.  They will all be returning home in a few days time feeling amazing, ready for whatever 2011 throws at us all.

We had a very busy few days in the office between Christmas and New Year, with lots of you deciding to book one of our 2011 holidays.  The office re-opens on Tuesday 4 January at 09.00 and we very much expect that many more of you will be in touch to arrange your ‘healthy holiday’ for the months ahead.  Talk soon!

The team at The Healthy Holiday Company would like to wish all our guests – past, present and future – a very merry Christmas!  We have a fully booked in:spa retreat to Marrakech over New Year and a fully booked fitscape fitness holiday to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains over the same period, so at least these guests will all be starting 2011 looking and feeling amazing.  For those of you who think you might over indulge at Christmas and feel the need to get in to shape as early as possible next year, we still have some places available on our in:spa week to southern Spain from 12 – 19 January.  We expect the weather to be lovely and sunny – around 25 degrees centigrade – so you’ll be able to get much fitter and healthier and enjoy some warm sunshine too.  Don’t forget, if you book before 30 December, we’ll even fly you there for free! (Up to £200 per person).  Enquire now To view all our holidays next year for in:spa, fitscape and destination yoga, please see all holiday dates We very much hope to welcome you on one of our holidays during 2011.

Both the in:spa retreat in Marrakech and the fitscape fitness holiday in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains are now fully booked for New Year.  So, around 40 of our lucky guests will be returning home in early 2011 looking and feeling amazing and, no doubt, sporting a light tan too.  For those that are keen to throw off the excesses of Christmas and New Year as soon as possible afterwards, we can offer an in:spa retreat from 12-19 January at our magnificent converted monastery in southern Spain or a destination yoga holiday to a luxury country resort in India, near Bangalore, from 29 January to 6 February.  Our first fitscape week in 2011 is from 23 February to 2 March in Andalusia – and, until 13 December, we’re offering free flights on all our 2011 in:spa and fitscape weeks (up to £200 per person but excluding Easter and New Year weeks).  This includes the fitscape ski weeks to the mighty Italian Dolomites in March and April.