A spa retreat with a difference

I know what you’re thinking. A new spa retreat – just like every other. But this really is a new concept, promising to leave you feeling young, fit, healthy, beautiful and energised. Helena Frith Powell, writer and journalist, came up with the idea just days after finishing her latest book, To Hell in High Heels.

“I felt in need of rejuvenation,” she says. “I looked around at what was on offer, but nowhere seemed to have everything I wanted. So I decided to club together with a couple of the experts I met during my research. We will have five days of restful bliss in the south of France where we will nurture our bodies and souls. And look after our nails, obviously!”

Helena teamed up with yoga teacher and psychotherapist Anna Cooper and holistic dermatologist, anti-ageing expert and nutritionist Tina Richards to create Renew. Each five-day retreat, aimed just for women, will take place in Le Couvent, a new, luxury restored convent complete with spa pool and massage rooms in the south of France near Montpellier and the Mediterranean Coast.

This is a different kind of retreat because it takes into account not just your looks, but your diet, your mindset, your everyday skincare routine, your style, grooming and exercise. It is designed for your well-being on a mental and physical level. But unlike superficial anti-ageing treatments like Botox, these therapies go deep under the skin to renew and revitalise.

Anna has over ten years’ experience showing women how to get the most out of their lives through yoga and psychotherapy. “She also has the flattest tummy of anyone I have ever met,” says Helena. “And she promises to share the secrets of her exercise regime with us during daily abs sessions.”

Tina studied at Guys’ King’s and St Thomas’s Medical School in London and has over 15 years’ experience in the beauty industry. She is also a qualified aromatherapist, reflexologist and beauty therapist. Her specialist field is anti-ageing and she has a BSc (Hons) Degree in nutrition. Tina will be telling you how to stay young-looking through skin-care, diet and her “no needles” approach to anti-ageing. She will tell you which creams work and which ones don’t, and advise you on how to get the best out of products.

Helena will be giving lectures on style and grooming. She spent a year researching and writing a book about what makes French women so special. She will be sharing those secrets with us, as well as top tips from her up-coming anti-ageing book.

The weekend is limited to a maximum of ten people. The programme includes daily yoga sessions, spa treatments such as facials and the sensational Ayurvedic Kansu bowl massage, reflexology as well as one-to-one skincare sessions, showing you how to best fight signs of ageing and look after your skin at home, make-up workshops, style workshops, therapy sessions, nutrition talks and plenty of time to just relax and do nothing at all.

During the five days you will eat freshly prepared meals based around super-food ingredients and carefully chosen to cleanse, nourish and rejuvenate.

This is not just another spa situation where women wander around in towelling robes looking forward to their next manicure and come away with no more knowledge about themselves or how to get the best out of their bodies and mind than when they arrived. Although there will be towelling robes!

By the time you leave you will be fully rejuvenated and relaxed, but also to have some valuable knowledge that will stay with you forever regarding diet, skincare routine, exercise, grooming, style and how to survive your hectic lives until you come back again.

Location

Le Couvent in the Languedoc village of Hérépian is a 17th Century convent which has been converted into a luxury boutique hotel residence. At Le Couvent you will discover an idyllic retreat where 17th Century charm meets 21st Century luxury. There are 13 sumptuous suites, most of which have separate sleeping and relaxation areas, along with south-facing terraces with superb views over Hérépian to the Monts d'Orb immediately behind.

In-suite entertainment consists of flat screen TV and DVD player (movies available from reception), along with pre-loaded iPod and docking station. For those forced to make contact with the rest of the world, direct dial phones and wireless internet access are installed in each suite. There is also a spa with relaxation pool, a garden with views over the surrounding mountains. For more information go to Couventherepian.com.

Price and dates

The first Renew You weekend will be May 1st to 5th. The cost for five days is £1,950. This includes all accommodation, all food and wine, treatments, spa use, yoga, talks, group sessions, one-to-one dermatological consultations and transport to and from a local airport or train station. In fact the only thing it does not include is travel to France.

The closest airports are Montpellier (with flights from BA from Gatwick and Ryanair from Stansted) and Nimes (Ryanair from Luton). The closest is Béziers (Ryanair from Bristol). The closest train stations are Bédarieux or Béziers (Eurostar and then connecting train from either Paris or Lille). You can also fly to Marseille or Toulouse and catch trains from there to Béziers.