Five Minutes With Marbella Club

Marbella Club is a luxurious and sophisticated spa resort in Spain offering an indulgent range of treatments from relaxing and romantic spa breaks to targeted programmes including de-stress and detox. We recently caught up with Marbella Club's spa manager, Raquel Pena for the inside scoop on all things wellness.

1. What is the basic philosophy of Marbella Club’s wellness programmes?

Our programmes are based on a holistic approach to wellness, where nutrition, fitness and wellbeing take centre stage. We aim to provide a completely personalized journey in a magical Mediterranean beachside setting with a healing atmosphere.

Our Nutritional Consultations are guided by our Nutritional Therapists through dietary therapy and naturopathic treatments, which help restore the balance of health ecology and establish deep and lasting healing. As the conductor of our own orchestra, our guests need this information to create harmonious function.

We use bioenergy analysis – Qest - to educate people about their strengths and weaknesses and how their bodies will age or proceed toward illness. This is a non-invasive approach based on an informal conversation about their life habits and dietary and nourishment imbalances. Consultations also reveal information about mental and emotional influences, as well as family, work and social stresses and strains. Once a clear and full picture of all the aspects of a client´s inner and outer worlds is obtained and explained, a tailored program is created which includes personalized dietary routines and changes and treatments to cleanse the body, activate eliminative channels, strengthen weak areas, and balance the ecology of all the systems and organs.

2. What makes Marbella Club different from other wellness retreats?

We combine Nutritional Therapy with tailored dietary changes where completely bespoke nutritional programmes are adapted from scratch. All our product sources are seasonal and local; every sauce, recipe, details have been programmed to be fully adapted to every single guest request. From gluten free to dairy and sugar free. Honest and conscious cooking is what we base our recipes on. Our programmes are not based on functional medicine, although our Nutritional Therapists / Nutritionists are trained within that field.

We are in one of the best locations worldwide. We are a seaside resort with direct access to the beach and we have an authentic Andalusian experience just outside our door. We realise a wellness programme isn’t just about undergoing a series of activities or treatments – our guests are able to combine a programme with experiencing the greater location, whether they travel alongside their families or not.

The best part, however, is that we urge our guests to experience wellness in the degree that they want. We have no intrusive or exhausting methods, we just provide an opportunity to reset and relax.

3. Who will most benefit from undertaking a wellness programme at Marbella Club?

People with digestive problems, weight-related issues, hormonal imbalances; people who just need to unwind and reset from stressful periods. Those who would like to readjust their dietary needs, or simple would like to learn about how to become a healthier version of themselves. People who love exercising, or have been on a sport routine and people with food allergies, intolerances or gut problems.

4. What are the benefits, short-term and long-term, of undertaking a wellness programme at Marbella Club?

Within the long run, we are trying to implement very consistent protocols where our guests not only experience immediate results, but they are also motivated to return. We recommend gentle protocols and dietary adjustments, which we follow up on once the guest has returned home. We focus on health rather than on calories.

5. What is the best time to undertake a wellness programme at Marbella Club? 

We’re very lucky to be located in the south of Spain where we enjoy a microclimate that gives us nearly 320 days of sun a year. That means that our guests don’t have to be limited to summer holidays to travel and can easily enjoy a full programme in October or February.

6. Is there a minimum stay at Marbella Club? What length of stay would you recommend to get the best results?

In terms of our Wellness Programs, we do recommend a minimum stay of 6 – 8 days although there are a minimum of 4 days that are advisable. Apart from the wellness programmes, a client can always decide to book an appointment with our nutritional therapists at any time or select from our fitness activities or spa treatments.

7. Do you provide support after your guests stay?

Yes. Not only do we provide follow-up consultations, the guest also receives a full Treatment Plan Protocol to implement and follow over the next 3 - 5 weeks. We strongly recommend following up with our nutritionists and coming back!