“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.”
“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.”
