The Challenges & Wonders of Running an Eco Friendly Retreat Venue In Spain

By the casas benali owners, Martine & Daniel Van Boven

Our team sat down with our wonderful venue partners to find out more about their experiences and life which can hopefully bring helpful tips and advice to aspiring retreat leaders and retreat venue owners.

Name: Martine van Boven

Venue Name: Benali Rural Retreats

Location: Enguera, Valencia, Spain

Tell us about yourself!:

We are Daniel and Martine, a Dutch couple whose hearts truly belong in Spain. Having lived in Barcelona for some time, we have come to seek the peace and space the countryside of Valencia has to offer.

In 2009 we made our home on a beautiful estate with incredible views.
With pleasure and devotion we have offered camping and glamping during 6 years.
At the end of 2015 it was time for a new challenge, and we instantly fell in love with Benali.
We have since made the switch to a new location and are now putting all of our passion into our vision of living sustainable.

What makes us so happy? The silence, tranquility, the great local products like olive oil, honey, veggies and nuts,, ecological farming and the close-knit, like-minded community here.

Becoming a venue owner:

7 years ago we, Daniel and Martine, fell in love with Casas Benali. Due to the remote location, there was no electricity network, which challenged us to live off the grid.
Fortunately there was a water source. We also did not shy away from the immense terrain with, among other things, 2000 ecological olive trees, fruit and walnut trees and the care thereof.
The alternation between contact with guests, administration, picking up deliveries and working on the land provides an ideal change.

Uniqueness:

Casas Benali is an authentic restored Arab hamlet with 68 hectares of land in the green, rough interior 1 hour of Valencia and 1,5 hour from Alicante.
From the nearest village Enguera, you drive the last 18 kilometer up though a stunning green mountain area where you will find the hamlet at the end of the road.

What is more unique than a private self sufficient hamlet with endless mountain views, no neighbors and nothing else than nature sounds. Benali is a perfect retreat venue for those who want to enjoy tranquility.

The beautiful light in the morning and afternoon makes Benali perfect for photo and video shoots.

We offer 12 accommodation with private bathroom for an exclusive rental up to 30 people.
The Spanish interior, with a modern Scandinavian look exudes rural simplicity and a clean, balanced feeling.
The venue includes a spacious, multi functional group space of 120m2 with private courtyard.
Outside you will find a green, rural scenery with pine tree forest, agriculture fields, olive groves and fresh mountain herbs, like thyme and rosemary. Go for a long walk and fill your longs with fresh mountain air.
Relax and unwind. Read a book, have a siesta nap in a hammock or chill out area.
Enjoy a swim in the pool with breath taking mountain views.

Our chef will surprise you with a daily healthy breakfast buffet, Buddah bowls and amazing Mediteranean food, carefully prepared based on local, seasonal, very rich and healthy products.
Book a yoga class, massage or sound therapy session with our Benali team to relax completely.
Even though we have a high service standard, our guests always feel immediately at home and enjoy making their own barbecue or fire, feeding our pig or take the dog for a walk.

Dreams & Goals:

In our daily lives it is very hard to disconnect and connect to yourself. What do I want? What do I need?
The combination of silence, tranquility and nature will make you feel completely unwind and will give you answers to the questions above.
Nature, silence, animal cuddles, self care and healthy food will be the main ingredients for a stay at Benali and will help you to live a balanced, healthy, happy and conscious life.
Our goal is to share the magic of Benali.

Challenges:

Living of grid is very challenging because you can´t control nature. Although we have our own well, if it is not raining, we don´t have water. Buying water and bring it to a remote place like ours is very expensive so we have to be very careful and conscious with using water. Same story for the electricity. We have to plan when we do our laundry based on the capacity of our batteries.
On top of this mountain stormy wind destroyed a couple of times our Glamping tents and canopies. Creative solutions which are climate prove are very important.

Business wise we had some challenges to. Our venue is perfect for weddings and other type of private parties, but it didn´t make us happy and it felt that we don´t respect the place where we live,
a place that offers unique silence. We started 2 years ago to focus only on groups and retreats who are looking for the nature and tranquility. Financially we can not stick to our plan all year, so in July and August also families are welcome to celebrate their summer holiday, but more and more we stick to what makes us happy and to share this.

Connecting with Venue Retreat!:

When we made the step to change our focus, I contacted a couple of venue retreat owners.
David was the first person who called me. We had a long telephone conversation about Benali and about setting up his Venue Retreat business.
Because of the transparency, honesty and clearness during the long call, it felt like a perfect match!

Advice:

My advice is to check out if the property has a licence for the activities you like to start.
In case of a remote property if there is sufficient water all year along.
Work together with local people as employees (building proyects, cleaning staff, etc), buy buying local products and try to be apart of the community.

A little bit our our venue

CAPACITY
High season: 1 June - 30 September: 8 - 40 people
Low season: 1 October - 30 May: 8 - 28 people

ACCOMMODATION LOW SEASON:

12 accommodations with 12 private bathroom
- 8 double rooms (16 single or 8 double beds)
- 1 guesthouse with living room/ kitchen for 2 people (1 double bed)
- 1 triple room (3 single beds or 1 double and 1 single bed)
- 2 quadruple room (8 singles beds or 4 double beds)

ACCOMMODATION HIGH SEASON:

15 accommodations with 14 bathrooms
- all accommodation low season
- 3 Glamping tents (12 single or 6 double beds, 2 shared bathrooms)

FACILITIES
* 2 Living/dining rooms with wood burner and central heating
* 120m2 indoor and 250m2 outdoor space for all kinds of classes, workshops, training, teambuilding etc.
* Catering for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.
* 3 fully equiped kitchens available to cook yourself
* Pool (8 x 10 meter) with sunbeds, mini-bar and chill out area
* WiFi
* Yoga classes
* Yoga mats & blocks available
* Massages
* Sound therapy
* Sound therapy treatment
* Hiking trails
* Excursion ecological winery