“DO NOT USE Bookyogaretreats.com
DO NOT recommend you use this site to book any retreats on. While the experience at the yoga retreat itself was JUST okay.m, it was not worth the money. I showed up on time as per the itinerary and the place seemed surprised to see me and had to get my room ready. It didn’t seem super welcoming and it’s almost like I was intruding. Very uncomfortable.
No real direction was given at any time as far as the different rooms classes were in (one space is in one of the dorm rooms with a number on it and was hard to find. The ongoing class of yoga instructors at first seemed very standoffish which was unexpected. Multiple classes started late. First massage was shortened to less than 1 hr. Second ‘massage’ I had hit oil poured all over my head and hair and received 30 seconds one a head massage. (I’m all for trying new things but this was advertised as 2 one hour massages and I just hiked for two weeks so transparency would be nice). The retreat seemed to be an afterthought outside of the yoga teach the teacher class that was going on.
The itinerary I was given from booking online was changed upon arrival. A lot of stuff in the itinerary is just placed there to make it look like a full planned day but it is not (city trips/temple visits/walks etc didn’t exist - luckily I had already experienced this in Kathmandu). For the morning nasal cleansing on the first day, no one was there to explain this or introduce it so a yoga student was kind enough to do so. Food was just okay. Room had cockroaches in it. No one was really around that spoke English to ask questions or clarify things unless you happened to run into the manager by chance. I tried to just go with the flow and have the experience but for the money paid I was very disappointed. And at no time was I relaxed.”
“Complete bait and switch. Advertised $1,699 for a Premium room on their website. Once they verified availability and sent me a link to book, I noticed "Premium" was missing from the listing. When I asked they said, "oops, it was a mistake and is $3,299 instead." I am glad I verified because I would have been forced to share a room and bathroom with a stranger.”
“Do not use this site. Firstly when a yoga retreat says it is available it may well not be and you will be bounced back and forward. This happened to me and i was bounced back and forward for over two weeks. secondly i have just received an email explaining that the bank details i put in had now been compromised so do not use this site.”
“Warning: don't trust the Reviews listed on each retreat!
Warning to anyone considering to book a retreat through the website "Bookyogaretreat"> do not trust the Reviews that you see in the list of reviews written on each retreat's listing page. This is because they ONLY publish the positive ones - i.e. those with 5,4 or rarely you'll see the 3 stars ones. You will not see the negative reviews that have 1 or 2 starts. I can report this because between April and May 2024 I booked 2 different mini retreats though their website> one in Corfu' island was positive and they did publish the review I wrote on the listing's page but the second one in Fuerteventura island, which was negative, was cheekily NOT published on the listing's page of "Surf Yoga Villa Fuerteventura". I overall gave them 1 star because their customer service was very bad but surprisingly they did not publish it! If anyone reads on their listing titled "6 Day Yoga Package All Inclusive, The Vegan Yoga Retreat in Fuerteventura" you will only see the positive reviews. Hence, I will not trust to book through that website anymore and it's only ethical to warn other people to know their review system is manipulated!”
“scam site. advertise 72 hour cancelation and worry free cancelation but its not true. They wont refund your deposit if you cancel before 72 hours. I have cancelled months before retreat and zero refund!!”
“Terrible experience
I had terrible experience with BookYogaRetreats. Think twice about planning of your trip on this platform. I booked the yoga retreat and noticed straight away that I picked wrong dates. I payed deposit. I contacted tripplanner(BookYogaRetreat) about this straight away and also the hotel that i booked. The hotel was very helpful and we agreed that there wasn't possible to change the date and they said that they will cancel the booking on their side. They wrote me that tripplanner (BookYogaRetreat) have the deposit and that i will have a chance to use it for different booking. Tripplanner (BookYogaRetreat) was very slow and unhelpful in the email answers. They claimed that hotel didn't agree to cancel the booking and that they are holding deposit. They were answering very slow and it was clear that there is a mess on their side. Finally when the date of my trip came they didn't answer and i lost the chance of having the successful trip due to lack of communication with them. I got an email few days after the trip that they are not taking the responsibility and that the hotel didn't cancel the booking and that return or reschedule of my deposit is not possible. It was super uncomfortable and stressful experience and I am extremely sad about handling of the matter on Tripplanner (BookYogaRetreat) side. I extremely advise to be careful planning trip with them.”
“The retreat was a complete scam, bookretreats does not screen these retreats. Not only was it a waste of money, I fear it would be damaging to vulnerable people mentally because they were providing a lot of pseudoscience and pseudo therapy with no credentials”
“It was my first time booking a yoga retreat with bookyogaretreats.com (Tripaneer). My sister and I chose a retreat in southern Turkey and paid our deposit back in February. We left for Turkey in early October (of this month). After much planning, saving and anticipation, we finally headed to Turkey from Western Canada, travelled for 24 hours, stayed overnight in an airport hotel to help us overcome jet lag, then the next day took a domestic flight from Istanbul to Bodrum. And then our dream of having a relaxing and restorative yoga retreat came to an abrupt end. The “organizer” and her partner picked us up at the airport for an extra $50USD expense to us, and then rather than taking us to what we thought was a retreat centre, we were in utter shock when they took us to their home. They had turned their living/dining room area into a yoga space. We were then shown to our sparsely decorated shared bedroom which consisted of 2 single beds that were about as comfortable as sleeping on cardboard. Their back yard faced a busy highway below and there wasn’t even a comfortable chair to sit on outside or any cozy spots indoors where we could have some privacy unless we retreated to our “dorm room” with the 2 uncomfortable beds. We were in utter shock. Days before leaving Canada for Turkey, we were told by the organizer that actually, we were going to be the only participants attending. Although I thought it was very odd at the time and wondered how they could proceed with the retreat anyways with only my sister and I attending, our bags were packed, flights booked, time off work already planned, we headed to Turkey. The landing page for this so-called retreat had shown the organizer outdoors in a green space with a building in the background teaching yoga to 8 people in downward facing dog position. The reality couldn’t have been further from the truth. My sister, aged 61 and I (aged 58) tried to hide our shock and disappointment and after having a pathetic “welcome dinner,” we retreated to our room and neither of us could sleep a wink all night on those uncomfortable beds. We were in tears, disappointed, shocked and knew that we could not stay. We spent the whole night trying to find a hotel room or AirBNB in the area and touch typing a long email to Bookyogaretreats.com explaining the situation and asking for our deposit back. We left in the morning and continued communicating with Bookyogaretreats.com over the next few days documenting everything that we had experienced. Initially bookyogaretreats.com sounded very empathetic and responsive. We trusted that based on all the information that we had provided and our fact-based responses to the organizer’s counter-comments that they would proceed with integrity and give us our deposit back, given the $1,000s of dollars we had already shelled out for our trip and our dream for a restorative yoga retreat basically disappearing. To our complete and utter shock, they responded by saying that the $438 deposit we had paid was still unrefundable. I am writing my story so that all followers on bookyogaretreats.com understand that this company really does not vet any yoga retreat organizer that lists on their website. I made the biggest mistake thinking that retreat organizers need to go through a process with bookyogaretreats.com to list their retreats and that bookyogaretreats.com provides some protection to consumers. But I have since discovered that that is not the case at all. Anyone can list a retreat they slap together on this website. Bookyogaretreats.com just wants to take their cut. I trusted this company and I’ve been so let down and bled financially. My warning to all of you is to do your due diligence when signing up for a retreat from bookyogaretreats.com. Contact the organizer and ask numerous questions and find out exactly what the space looks like. Viewing all the pretty Instagram pictures on Bookyogaretreats’ account which shows stunning pictures of people at yoga retreats surrounded by natural beauty and in beautiful yoga spaces just filled me with heartbreak all over again. That was what my sister and I had longed for: a restful, peaceful and restorative yoga retreat, not an vastly overpriced stay in someone’s home doing 2 yoga classes per day with no retreat space to relax in. All it felt like what that we were just cash registers for them, 2 North Americans that could be duped into forking over lots of cash while they underdelivered a retreat for us. It all made sense after that fateful evening when we’d arrived at their home, why they waited until the last minute to tell us that we were going to be the only participants and why they kept postponing sending me the retreat address (for my luggage tag) until the last minute when I was so busy preparing for my trip that I never thought to put the address in Google maps. Bookyogaretreats.com would not accept any responsibility here and even after sending so much factual information about what we found, the discrepancy between the retreat listing and the reality, they sided with the organizer leaving the consumer assuming all risk. This is unethical and shocking behaviour from a company that promotes yoga. Yoga is not just about postures but about consciousness, ethics and right behaviour. Be forewarned here and do your due diligence before paying any deposit to this company, as they don’t have your back.”
“I went to Corfu on a Yoga holiday with Corfu Yoga Holidays- booked via Book Yoga retreats. I cannot find any option to write a review on the Book Yoga Retreats site therefore I'm writing it here.
Let's start with the positives. The Yoga was on the roof terrace which has a stunning view of the sea and surrounding area. It's an absolutely beautiful place and I would definitely like to visit that area again. The food was substantial, plenty choice and delicious-with vegetarian options. The people I met were lovely and I had fun with them. The Yoga teachers were very good although more consistency would be helpful i.e. perhaps have the same one for a whole week? Now for the negatives.. On the day I departed for my holiday, I received a text from the Corfu retreats, saying that I was about to have a lot of unforgettable memories.. well they didn't disappoint! I decided to come on this holiday as I liked the fact that the holiday included activities such as kayaking. I have never kayaked before and the turquoise water looked very tempting. On the day of the kayaking, the waves were big -however we were told the kayaking was going ahead. I had some trepidation- having never done it before however I put my faith in the guides as I assumed they were qualified leaders. We had a very brief intro on how to paddle (for the few of us who were inexperienced/beginners), then told to grab a life jacket on to head town to the kayaks. A lot of the lifejackets did not have clips. I tried on 3 before I found one with a clip. I headed down to the water and was feeling very anxious about it by then as the sea was quite choppy. Then we were told to get into the kayaks (again no instruction). Myself and another girl (who also was a complete beginner) lifted our kayak and headed into the water. A huge wave knocked her over, the kayak was then sideways on and walloped me over into and under water. The rest of the group and guides stood on the beach and watched. I stood up, we were told to try again- so we did and the same thing happened again. I stood up and walked off, in shock but glad not to be seriously injured. Fortunately, for me, I only sustained two massive bruises on my leg- one of which came up in a lump on the side of my leg. I felt very grateful that I wasn't knocked unconscious, or had my prescription glasses smashed in. I later discovered that the "guides" were actually volunteers who had only arrived a few days before. So they were brand new to this whole thing. Health & Safety did not seem to matter- as we had signed a disclaimer. Secondly, whilst I did book a shared dorm, it was inhabited by a volunteer who is there for 2 months- and was living in the room and therefore had a lot of luggage (understandably). There was absolutely no storage space- perhaps a crate/box to put clothes in would have been useful. Also, the volunteer regularly came back at 3.00 or 4.00.a.m which was disruptive to my sleep. I don't blame her as she is there to enjoy herself and she was lovely and tried to be considerate, however, wouldn't it have been wiser to house the volunteers together in one room rather than with paying guests? The room consisted of a bunk bed, two beds and a kitchen- which also had two beds in it! So, if anyone wanted to use the kitchen- then they couldn't whilst guests were sleeping in there. The room was full to capacity and got dirty very quickly, sandy floors, plus the toilet waste paper was overflowing as was the bin in the bedroom the day I arrived. I asked for our room to be cleaned on 4 occasions with no joy and in the end I had to ask one of the Yoga teachers to ask reception for it to be cleaned- this happened 4 days into the holiday. I had to request toilet roll for the room as it had run out and was only permitted to have one roll (between 5 of us) which meant that it ran out again very quickly. The bizarre thing was that instead of packing everyone into this room, there was another room- which was also a shared dorm which had only one occupant (who was a Yoga participant) for 6 days! They were paying the exact same amount as I was. There was a constant stream of people in my dorm. The website says airport transfer free both ways HOWEVER if your flight arrives after 11.00p.m. or leaves after 11.00p.m. expect to cough up for a taxi at the pricely sum of 45 euros. Corfu Taxis is a reliable company. All in all I feel a mixed bag. My sleep was disturbed for the entire week which wasn’t quite the relaxing break I needed. I did meet some lovely folk, enjoyed the food, yoga and was SO lucky that I didn't have a serious accident when the kayak hit me. The unnecessary lack of cleanliness and being packed into a room -when there were lots of empty beds in another dorm didn't make my stay very relaxing. I contacted Corfu holidays to request to pay by bank transfer or credit card and was told that this would be fine. However, I was told that I needed to pay by cash (when I arrived) and my passport was withheld until I did so. This resulted in costly transaction costs for me. So, make it clear on your website that it's cash and nothing else, make it clear that airport transfers are not possible after 11.00p.m. and please clean the rooms regularly. Make Health & Safety a priority for your paying guests.”
“This review is on BookYogaRetreats.com and Healing Body Yoga. I was scammed by the latter, which I was introduced to from the former. BookYogaRetreats.com has been complicit in the scam, they don't do their due-diligence on the businesses they post, and they have offered no help in coming up with a resolution. Rather they punt it to Healing Body Energy, and they provide stock email responses. When I ask to speak to someone there live, they lied about calling me and being unable to reach me. Full review below of the Scam, where I signed up for a retreat in Tulum on 12/19/23, but was taken to Puerto Morelos.
I initially was introduced to Healing Body Energy through BookYogaRetreats.com website and communicated with them from there, before booking directly through them (healingbody.energy). Pls beware as this business is a scam. I thought I booked a 5 day yoga retreat in Tulum, but ended up in Puerto Morelos, joining another yoga retreat that was scheduled for 7 days, and I was stationed in an apartment rental, not the yoga house everyone else was stationed at. They also told me they would compensate me for the flat out false advertisement, but I have yet to receive my compensation and they stopped communication with me. Here are the full details, so no one else falls victim to their practices.
I first contacted Healing Body Energy through the BookYogaRetreats website, and asked where the retreat would be held in Tulum. I was told (in writing, through the message app) that they have their own healing center in Tulum..."we have pictures on Instagram". I then decided to call Healing Body Energy directly to ask a few additional questions on the retreat, as I didn't see this particular retreat directly on their own website. The person I spoke with on the phone asked which days I was looking at, and said it would be posted the next day on their website, and that if I booked directly through them, they would offer me a "friends and family discount" of $500 off for a total of $2999 USD. I thus booked directly with them the next day and downloaded the 5 day Tulum brochure . They sent me a personalized link via email for payment. There were 2 payment options, first was via ACH / bank transfer, and the second was via Credit Card, which incurred an additional 2.9% service charge, so naturally I chose the first option and paid on 12/15 for retreat dates 12/19-12/23.
All of a sudden, I hear from Alysia Kaempf at Healing Body Energy past 8pm on 12/18 that they have not received the payment, and for me to check with the bank.."the funds have not cleared". I email her right away with a screenshot from my bank showing the funds have been withdrawn from my account already and payment processed. She then starts to email me again early the next day in the morning around 6am pst, before my 8am pst flight, and again as I was going through customs, saying the issue is on their end but I should have paid by credit card, and asked that I call Bank of America to cancel the ACH that already went through and initiate a Zelle or Venmo. Her communication became more and more unprofessional, accusatory, and absurd, asking me multiple times why I didnt speak with her and pay by credit card. I was pretty upset at this point and asked to speak to her manager Tony. I explained to him no one told me I had to pay by credit card, and why am I just hearing of the issue NOW, as I'm heading to what is supposedly a relaxing retreat? It seemed like they were having logistics issues that they were trying to pin on me. He said he will speak to Alysia and take care of it. Little did I know that would be the least of my issues.
Once I arrived at Cancun airport, I thought the driver would take me to Tulum, but instead, he dropped me off at an apartment rental in PUERTO MORELOS, a fishing village over an hr from Cancun. I was told to join a dinner that night with the rest of the yogis at Casa Om. I then come to find out not only am I not in TULUM, I am also not staying at the yoga house. The rest of the attendees paid for a 7 day retreat (not 5), and are staying at Casa Om for much less money than I paid. I paid Tulum prices, and I was taken to an entirely different location! The link I paid through, the communications I had with Healing Body, the brochure I downloaded all said "5 day healing wellness retreat with yoga in Tulum", but this is the actual retreat they put me on:
asanatechnician.com
I told Tony, the manager (424.379.7250) that this is flat out false advertisement . He kept telling me he would 'call me after his call', and kept postponing our communications. He finally told me that they were able to get me "$600 cash return". When I pressed for specifics, he didn't have any (which method of refund, Venmo, Zelle, from whom can I expect the payment from, and when, etc). He said he would check and it would take a while since I paid by credit card for them to get clearance...which I had to remind him that I DID NOT pay by credit card...He then all of a sudden stopped answering my calls and texts and I have yet to get my money back. This is really unacceptable on all fronts and someone needs to look into their business practices.
It has been over 5 months, and this business has not resolved the issue nor refunded me any amount. Furthermore, I've realized that the person I thought I was communicating with ("Sheila Syngal") is actually a fake person they made up, using a stock image of Sonia Syngal, ex CEO of GAP INC. In reality, I have been speaking directly to the Alysia Kaempf, the "CEO" (look her up on Linkedin and Facebook..) To note, BookYogaRetreats.com has also dodged my calls, and are complicit in working with a scam business. Pls avoid giving any money to this business. Your safety is at risk.”
“Breakdown in expectations with Yoga host, the host handled it amazingly, BookYogaRetreats were just interested in their money, my advice stay away and find a yoga tutor direct!”
“Poor customer service, saying they will give me permission to hear from them in 48hours. If they don’t get back to me “that’s just how we are you know”
For $280 commission”
“I trip was booked by mistake, and the organization is inflexible about making adjustments or refunds. It is important to note that the entity who is actually hosting the event was completely fine with making the adjustment, it is BookYogaRetreats who is not. Where most organizations are hyper-focused on customer experience, BookYogaRetreats is hyper focused on the profitability of one-time transactions above all else. Do yourself a favor: bypass this third party service and go directly to the provider. There is no need to deal with BookYogaRetreats.
In response to what I expect to hear from the vendor: Just because a policy is "stated" does not mean that the policy is right or just. If you hope to enjoy repeat business, a little empathy and customer focus goes a long way.”
“wish I saw this review site before as I was also affected by this poor excuse of a company. Absolite scam, set up to collect cancelled bookings and offer store credit - is that even legal? This company will go bankrupt, poor customer service organisations never last. good riddance.”
“They are set up to collect that nonrefundable deposit but don't follow through with information about the actual retreat itself. They ignored my messages (while still sending daily spam emails) until I threatened to cancel. At that point I was inundated with calls and texts wanting to confirm the cancelation so they can fill my spot. When I tried to explain WHY I wanted to cancel, they were defensive and combative. They promised to refund the deposit than backed out and offered a store credit, which I will never use, as I will never book a trip through them. Worst customer experience of my life. I only wish I had read these reviews before I considered their service, as I can see many others had this same experience.”
“This company has a no refund cancellation policy, but do not assume that it’s if you cancel your trip…if THEY cancel your trip, they will not give your money back. They cancelled my trip and I was forced to book another or lose my money. I booked another at greater cost as that was all that was viable and NOW THEY HAVE CANCELLED AGAIN AND REFUSE TO REFUND.
You will lose your money if you book through this platform. Go direct instead.”
“I had a $495 voucher for this website as my surf camp was cancelled due to COVID19. When I wanted to book a new camp they replied straight away saying the requested dates were not available. A few days before the voucher expired I wanted to book a new camp and got an email back that the requested dates were available. I was really excited and wanted to confirm the booking right away. Unfortunately the voucher did not appear on the payment page on their website and the only option to confirm the booking was to fill out my credit card details again. Which thank god I didn't do. I sent out an email to ask for instructions. They replied a few hours later saying the voucher should appear on the payment page. I send out 2 more emails to ask for help. This was 2 days before the expiry date. They never replied to me again. I then send them a very direct email telling them that I feel like being scammed. Never got a reply and my voucher expired and disappeared from my account on their website. I'm going to report this website. I wish I read the other reviews about this website before making the booking.”
“Be careful!!! I was doing some research on this website before booking a retreat and I decided to go with BookRetreats instead, because they offer a full refund no matter the issue, and I know many others who have used the site before with a lot of success. From what I've gathered, it seems like BookYogaRetreats isn't a very ethical, yoga-like company which is very disheartening. I just wanted to share my wonderful experience with BookRetreats on these reviews because I don't want anyone looking for a retreat (a trip to BETTER themselves) to get scammed ever again. Hoping others read this before they end up regretting it. Stay safe out there, ya'll!!”
“I can just confirm what others say about this booking service, it is obviously fraudulent. I have been corresponding back and forth with a resort, after making a deposit. They constantly change the days available and different persons reply to my queries. Stay away from this site! What makes this extra serious is that the BookYogaRetreats advertise heavily on Google, and appear to be a serious site to begin with. Google should monitor and expel them for fraud.”
