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Long daily guided walks are a staple activity / photo: alladale
The 90-minute drive from Inverness airport to Alladale Wilderness Reserve winds through rolling hills and valleys, taking us through the Scottish Highlands, before a gravel road leads us to the 23,000-acre property. This is a breathtakingly beautiful place – rugged and wild, with deep glens where Highland cattle graze, majestic mountains that erupt with shades of purple as heather blooms and rushing rivers filled with Atlantic salmon.
Paul Lister bought the former hunting lodge more than 20 years ago. His vision was to reforest, rewild and return the land to its natural state, planting millions of trees, repairing damaged peatlands and reintroducing the native red squirrel and a captive breeding programme for Scottish wildcats. Lister has also hosted thousands of teenagers on week-long digital-detox school trips that focus on education and outreach, helping them connect with nature and with themselves as they learn about climate change and conservation.
“Our vision at Alladale is to see the restoration of as much flora and fauna as possible, which will help create a healthier and more balanced environment,” says Lister. “We depend on nature – nature doesn’t depend on us and getting out into it brings that home.”
Growing retreat business The original building sits perched in an enviable position at the top of a hill, with views all around and not another property or road in sight. Traditionally, guests at Alladale have included families, friends or corporate companies that hired out the lodge, but for the past few years, the reserve has opened up the bookings to retreat leaders, with much success. I’m here for a Rewilding Escape – a new programme that includes guided walks on the vast property with a ranger, birdwatching, wild swimming, 4X4 excursions, forest bathing, foraging and wild lunches.
“We’re digging deep into the marketplace and trying to get 40 per cent of our business through retreats and we’re close to that now,” says Lister. “It’s a big chunk of what we do – and it’s repeat business.”
Alladale runs between six to 12 retreats every year with the approximate cost for renting the entire reserve and accommodations starting at £34,750 (US$44,000, €41,860) a week. Lister says the capacity of a retreat is 18 people and the average number of participants is 14. Peak season is between May and October and prices are 25 per cent lower outside of those months.
Most popular retreat Yoga retreats in the Scottish wilderness have been growing in popularity, particularly with American clientele and the experience is augmented with local specialists for other wellness activities, including guided walks, sound therapy or foraging.
The newly built Willow Centre serves as an ideal location for yoga and meditation and the main lodge features a sauna and massage room where an in-house therapist works on muscles sore from hiking as part of the package.
The rest of the backdrop for the retreats, however, is the rugged landscape of Alladale itself. This is wellness in its purest form: fresh air, quiet, and a sense of pure awe at the beauty of the natural world.
Hiking highlights I stay in one of the six bedrooms in the main lodge, where meals are served family-style and feature produce grown in Alladale’s onsite aquaponic gardens. When I arrive at lunchtime, it’s a simple red pepper soup with sourdough rolls, but dinner is venison from the local deer population, which has to be culled each year to avoid starvation and suffering.
Our hikes with Innes MacNeil are the retreat highlight and we’re accompanied most days by Baxter, his faithful Labrador, whose enthusiastic romps over the grounds are infectious. MacNeil was originally trained as a deerstalker on the property long before Lister bought it but has shifted his view from hunter to conservationist. With his thick Highlands accent, walking stick and peaked hat, his knowledge of the landscape runs deep and over the course of several days, it seeps out of him and into us like a slow, steady rain. He takes us to see salmon leaping heroically up Glencalvie Falls, combs the skies with binoculars in a quest to help us spot golden eagles and points out tiny rare orchids and tiger beetles as we follow him eagerly for hours across the sprawling estate.
After just three days at Alladale, I can’t help but feel completely transformed. It’s what Lister hopes to impart to all his guests. “The stress of being in a city with concrete – we lose all connection with nature and sense of a place,” he says. “We’re trying to go a little bit deeper and get people to get out of their normal rhythm and breathe. And people are impacted – it changes them; they have time to think, they have time to stop. The connection between physical wellbeing and being out in nature is clear.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2024 issue 4
Editor's letter: Pleasure time
It’s time to make ‘pleasure health’ the new ‘play’ to realise the true value of the wellness sector, says Katie Barnes
Spa people: Luuk Melisse
Sanctum's co-founder Luuk Melisse on going global with the unique, spiritual workout that originated in Amsterdam
Interview: Dean Kowarski
Virgin Active is transforming its gym business with 230 sites and 1.2 million members into a social wellness brand. The CEO reveals more details to Liz Terry
First person: Steamy situation
Cassandra Cavanah is moved to tears (and also a little nervous) as she joins hundreds of near-naked heat enthusiasts at this year's Aufguss World Championships
Promotion: TechnoAlpin: In touch
Sara Brenninger talks
to wellness expert
Alina Hernandez
about the power of
real snow to create
immersive touchless
wellness experiences
Interview: Fabian Dolman
How can operators make a successful business out of aufguss programmes? Thermen Resort's CEO gives some tips
Sponsored: Best of both
Alina Hernandez, Gharieni Group advisory board member, explains how Metawell – its portfolio of tech-forward mind/body technologies – is right on time for the next era of wellness
Sponsored: Elevate your business with EGYM
Transform your business with fully connected, personalised and data-powered solutions that drive results
for members, trainers and businesses
Sponsored: Outstanding in its field
RKF Luxury Linen has had a stellar year in 2024, hitting new standards of excellence with a raft of certifications
Promotion: Rest and repeat
Starpool is drawing on science, innovation and equilibrium to offer the industry’s leading recovery solutions
Sponsored: Iyashi Dôme's Oteire
Modern consumers demand solutions that blend cutting-edge technology with proven results, and Iyashi Dôme is rising to the challenge by redefining industry standards
First person: Sparkling Water
Mary Bemis is one of the first to visit the stunning new Sacred River Spa at Four Seasons Bali at Sayan
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
Long daily guided walks are a staple activity / photo: alladale
The 90-minute drive from Inverness airport to Alladale Wilderness Reserve winds through rolling hills and valleys, taking us through the Scottish Highlands, before a gravel road leads us to the 23,000-acre property. This is a breathtakingly beautiful place – rugged and wild, with deep glens where Highland cattle graze, majestic mountains that erupt with shades of purple as heather blooms and rushing rivers filled with Atlantic salmon.
Paul Lister bought the former hunting lodge more than 20 years ago. His vision was to reforest, rewild and return the land to its natural state, planting millions of trees, repairing damaged peatlands and reintroducing the native red squirrel and a captive breeding programme for Scottish wildcats. Lister has also hosted thousands of teenagers on week-long digital-detox school trips that focus on education and outreach, helping them connect with nature and with themselves as they learn about climate change and conservation.
“Our vision at Alladale is to see the restoration of as much flora and fauna as possible, which will help create a healthier and more balanced environment,” says Lister. “We depend on nature – nature doesn’t depend on us and getting out into it brings that home.”
Growing retreat business The original building sits perched in an enviable position at the top of a hill, with views all around and not another property or road in sight. Traditionally, guests at Alladale have included families, friends or corporate companies that hired out the lodge, but for the past few years, the reserve has opened up the bookings to retreat leaders, with much success. I’m here for a Rewilding Escape – a new programme that includes guided walks on the vast property with a ranger, birdwatching, wild swimming, 4X4 excursions, forest bathing, foraging and wild lunches.
“We’re digging deep into the marketplace and trying to get 40 per cent of our business through retreats and we’re close to that now,” says Lister. “It’s a big chunk of what we do – and it’s repeat business.”
Alladale runs between six to 12 retreats every year with the approximate cost for renting the entire reserve and accommodations starting at £34,750 (US$44,000, €41,860) a week. Lister says the capacity of a retreat is 18 people and the average number of participants is 14. Peak season is between May and October and prices are 25 per cent lower outside of those months.
Most popular retreat Yoga retreats in the Scottish wilderness have been growing in popularity, particularly with American clientele and the experience is augmented with local specialists for other wellness activities, including guided walks, sound therapy or foraging.
The newly built Willow Centre serves as an ideal location for yoga and meditation and the main lodge features a sauna and massage room where an in-house therapist works on muscles sore from hiking as part of the package.
The rest of the backdrop for the retreats, however, is the rugged landscape of Alladale itself. This is wellness in its purest form: fresh air, quiet, and a sense of pure awe at the beauty of the natural world.
Hiking highlights I stay in one of the six bedrooms in the main lodge, where meals are served family-style and feature produce grown in Alladale’s onsite aquaponic gardens. When I arrive at lunchtime, it’s a simple red pepper soup with sourdough rolls, but dinner is venison from the local deer population, which has to be culled each year to avoid starvation and suffering.
Our hikes with Innes MacNeil are the retreat highlight and we’re accompanied most days by Baxter, his faithful Labrador, whose enthusiastic romps over the grounds are infectious. MacNeil was originally trained as a deerstalker on the property long before Lister bought it but has shifted his view from hunter to conservationist. With his thick Highlands accent, walking stick and peaked hat, his knowledge of the landscape runs deep and over the course of several days, it seeps out of him and into us like a slow, steady rain. He takes us to see salmon leaping heroically up Glencalvie Falls, combs the skies with binoculars in a quest to help us spot golden eagles and points out tiny rare orchids and tiger beetles as we follow him eagerly for hours across the sprawling estate.
After just three days at Alladale, I can’t help but feel completely transformed. It’s what Lister hopes to impart to all his guests. “The stress of being in a city with concrete – we lose all connection with nature and sense of a place,” he says. “We’re trying to go a little bit deeper and get people to get out of their normal rhythm and breathe. And people are impacted – it changes them; they have time to think, they have time to stop. The connection between physical wellbeing and being out in nature is clear.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2024 issue 4
Editor's letter: Pleasure time
It’s time to make ‘pleasure health’ the new ‘play’ to realise the true value of the wellness sector, says Katie Barnes
Spa people: Luuk Melisse
Sanctum's co-founder Luuk Melisse on going global with the unique, spiritual workout that originated in Amsterdam
Interview: Dean Kowarski
Virgin Active is transforming its gym business with 230 sites and 1.2 million members into a social wellness brand. The CEO reveals more details to Liz Terry
First person: Steamy situation
Cassandra Cavanah is moved to tears (and also a little nervous) as she joins hundreds of near-naked heat enthusiasts at this year's Aufguss World Championships
Promotion: TechnoAlpin: In touch
Sara Brenninger talks
to wellness expert
Alina Hernandez
about the power of
real snow to create
immersive touchless
wellness experiences
Interview: Fabian Dolman
How can operators make a successful business out of aufguss programmes? Thermen Resort's CEO gives some tips
Sponsored: Best of both
Alina Hernandez, Gharieni Group advisory board member, explains how Metawell – its portfolio of tech-forward mind/body technologies – is right on time for the next era of wellness
Sponsored: Elevate your business with EGYM
Transform your business with fully connected, personalised and data-powered solutions that drive results
for members, trainers and businesses
Sponsored: Outstanding in its field
RKF Luxury Linen has had a stellar year in 2024, hitting new standards of excellence with a raft of certifications
Promotion: Rest and repeat
Starpool is drawing on science, innovation and equilibrium to offer the industry’s leading recovery solutions
Sponsored: Iyashi Dôme's Oteire
Modern consumers demand solutions that blend cutting-edge technology with proven results, and Iyashi Dôme is rising to the challenge by redefining industry standards
First person: Sparkling Water
Mary Bemis is one of the first to visit the stunning new Sacred River Spa at Four Seasons Bali at Sayan
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
Lefay Resorts, the portfolio of two luxury wellness properties in Italy, has added emotional
dance classes and group cold plunge sessions in response to market demand for social
connection.
Aditya Saluja, an industry leader in luxury wellness hospitality, has been
appointed as
commercial director of spa and wellness for the spa management division of
Minor Hotels,
MSpa International.
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
