Holistic Hotel & Retreat Center Rancho Los Lobos — El Campico de las Moletas, Spain
A cork-oak finca retreat centre in Andalusia, run by its owners, with no WiFi
Mornings at Rancho Los Lobos start in the Yoga Shala, a thatched-roof space open on the side to the cork oak woods, which the house describes as ideal for early sessions. Practice moves through the day from there: to the closed Ubuntu Temple, to the covered wooden terrace for sunset, to the Mongolian yurt for meditation circles.
The finca sits at the edge of the Los Alcornocales natural park in Jimena de la Frontera, Cádiz, about 90 minutes from Málaga or Jerez and 45 from Gibraltar. Karl and Barbara live here and have run it as a retreat centre since 2018. They chose to have no WiFi, to keep the radiation low and to protect a digital detox. It is open only to booked groups and guests.
The Ubuntu Temple is about 80 square metres and holds up to 20 people. It is equipped with mats, bolsters, backjacks, sheepskins, a sound system, two guitars and a harmonium, and it has a pellet stove and warm lighting. Beside it are the Shala (about 40 sqm), the terrace, the yurt and the Centro Salud, a small private room for treatments. Nine individually designed rooms sleep up to 21 guests including the teacher. They range from a tiny house called Familia to the Casakarma suite, where a tunnel fireplace divides the living and sleeping areas. There is a salt-water pool, and horses, dogs, hens and cats share the grounds.
Karl cooks regional organic food: a generous brunch that includes eggs from the house hens, and a three-course vegetarian dinner, vegan on request. Groups bring their own teachers and shape their own programme, and from ten participants they have the whole finca to themselves. The calendar runs from an Ashtanga retreat with Philippa Asher to InnerFlow, with its cacao ceremony, and the Soul Sisters retreat, which pairs vinyasa to electronic beats with silent mornings. The house motto, on a place named for wolves, is: come as you are, leave as a pack.
Traditions: Yoga, Yin Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Breathwork, Sound Healing, Cacao Ceremony
Programs: In Her Bloom Goddess Retreat, InnerFlow Retreat, Back to the Roots Women's Retreat, Soul Sisters Retreat, Ashtanga Yoga Retreat with Philippa Asher, Zen & Zeitenwende, Integrale Männlichkeit, Pilates, Yoga & Relaxation Retreat with Nicole Schlottig