We tourists have tortured the Earth, or much of it. Nowadays, there’s scarcely a city without a McDonald’s or a plaza without a Pizza Hut. Yet, there are still a precious few wild, far-flung places where you can escape the tentacles of the modern world.
I’ve just been to one. Trasierra, set high in the Sierra Morena mountains north of Seville in southern Spain, is still seemingly as ancient and unchanged as the hills in which it hides. How lucky that it should have a host of guardian angels in the shape of the Scott family, who have turned it into the most special of hideaways.
Between them, Charlotte Scott and her children – Amber, Gioconda, George and Jackson – have let the word spread slowly and only on the tide of the most trusted tongues. Never seeking publicity, but catering quietly for a steady flow of regulars fortunate enough to have discovered it. So I write this with some trepidation. More a thank-you letter than a review. And in the hope that few will take notice.
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Southern Spain’s best-kept secret
Trasierra has thrived in its quiet way and become, albeit accidentally, one of the top hotels in the world (even if it doesn’t really see itself as a hotel).
There is no attempt at modernity. Indeed Charlotte, beautiful and bewitching, longs for the days in Seville when every man over 40 wore a hat and gloves, and the hotels had baths with wonky taps. Somewhere in our unconscious we all feel the same.
And so Trasierra is not for those who require or desire the luxury of kings. It’s a paradise more suited to the spirit. Both maharajas and rock stars have understood this, and passed through its great white gates. Inside, you feel like a naughty schoolgirl with the keys to the kingdom.
It was the youngest daughter, Amber, who drew me to Trasierra. Her health retreats are highly sought after. The numbers are kept low – just 12 at a time – so it’s a race when she publishes her dates for the year.
“You untether from time and the tyranny of the clock”
(Image credit: Cameron Maynard/Trasierra)
Retreats like this can be a bore. Who really wants to be strapped to a yoga mat for 12 hours a day, panting for cake and parting with every penny you could get your paws on? But there are no rules here.
Trasierra lets you be. In the afternoons, you can rest and relax, swim in the pool, walk in the hills and lie in the sun. In the evenings, there is music and wine and a roaring fire. Abstinence is optional. Amber and her sister Gioconda let you dance between the two worlds of prohibition and play – where life flourishes.
Healthy, delicious food
So, what should you know? The Wi-Fi is weak, but you want it to be. You untether from time and the tyranny of the clock. It’s fun to go with friends and fun, too, to make new ones. You can rest assured that Trasierra draws in people you want to meet.
The yoga is gentle and powerful. The food, made by Gioconda, Amber’s famously talented sister, is as good as any I’ve ever had. Everything is healthy and nutritious, but disguised as delicious.
There are picnics in the hills, fairy lights and firepits at dinner – or, if you’re sleepy, you can take a tray to your room – and there’s even teatime for us Brits.
“The yoga is gentle and powerful”
(Image credit: Cameron Maynard/Trasierra)
My favourite moments were having breakfast by the fire. This drifts on like Christmas, with everything you can imagine. Eggs, avocado, nuts and seeds, herbs from the garden for teas, and they even think of your knees.
The breakfast tablecloth is heated, something my grateful knees just couldn’t believe. Have a massage with Jesús, ride through the hills, play tennis if you wish, but don’t miss Gioconda’s cooking demonstration.
In the afternoons we walked through the hills, in silent meditation, to see the sun set over the Sierra Morena. Gioconda picked wild fennel to help us digest the gluten, sugar and dairy-free cake we had massacred.
And Amber picked psychedelic strawberries. (Rumour has it, husbands go missing at the foot of the mischievous strawberry tree, collapsing with greedy tummies in its shade.)
Slowly, my river of thoughts subsided as I followed Amber’s footsteps through the trees. My consciousness clambered onto the banks and lay like a lizard in the sun, my thoughts rushed past, forgotten in the stream.
Amber is a gifted healer and a special kind of teacher. Her style is natural and pure. And she’s a magnetic creature. When she was a child she wrote in her mother’s notebook, “Think Good and Good always happens. So just think Good.”
What better advice do you need? You feel at home in these hills. They reminded me of Scotland. I was married shortly after I returned and I added
to the back of my order of service Psalm 121. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
Dates for Hill Yoga retreat in 2025: 27-31 March, 15-19 May, 25-29 September and 9-13 October. From £1,350 per person on a sharing basis and £1,750 per single person. Visit amberscottyoga.com/retreats for more information; and trasierra.com for more information on Trasierra.
