Holidays in Sancti Petri: make yours a luxury summer camp for adults

Our childhood memories are probably the ones which are held with the greatest affection in our subconscious, and more than anything these are linked with the summer holidays. If you were one of those who, the minute school finished, hoisted a huge rucksack with a water bottle onto your back, and who now misses that joy of setting off to enjoy a few days at summer camp, now is your chance to relive the experience. Yes, relive the experience, albeit with all the comforts of a five-star luxury hotel, and the wisdom that comes with age... Well, age must come with some benefits.

At the Hotel Royal Hideaway Sancti Petri - located on the Costa de la Luz graced by the city of Cadiz, facing the kilometre-long, fine, sandy beach of la Barrosa - you can once again experience that innocent thrill of escaping the city, in the knowledge that although your destination is unknown, what awaits is certain to please you: who would refuse a summer camp where the most you have to do is let yourself be treated like royalty? The answer is simple: no-one in their right mind.

Hidden away in this tropical paradise, with 35,000 m² of tropical gardens and just 40 km from Cadiz, is the biggest spa in Andalusia: 3,650 m² in which guests can access the most innovative beauty treatments on the market. This is why the resort features among the World Spa Awards’ list of the best Spa Resorts in Spain, having been nominated in this category for six years, while in 2017 it was named as the Best Beach Holiday Hotel in Spain by the Roca Awards, and as the Best Spanish Coastal Resort by the World Luxury Hotel Awards, second to none. We are talking about the Perricone Retreat, a three-day getaway that combines  the hotel’s own wellness programme with the techniques, philosophy and products of one of the most exclusive cosmeceutical brands in the world.

This summer camp goes much further than merely pampering you with the usual massages and beauty treatments, so precious is the goal of inner and outer physical wellness.

To ensure you leave looking ten years younger and mentally restored, the Perricone Retreat offers the services of a Wellness Personal Assistant and the expertise of Perricone MD who will, among other things, recommend to you various meals from the Perricone Diet, in which salmon is a key ingredient, with the aim of improving the health of your skin from within. All this is combined with other treatments to make a personalised recipe for tailored wellness.

In between regenerating treatments to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and improve the body’s elasticity, dips in the sea, or in any of the five outdoor pools equipped with whirlpool baths, and relaxing as if there was no tomorrow, a little sport would not go amiss.

Let’s start with another neologism: sportmeditation. Using the Chinese medicine techniques of Qi Gong, this treatment combines movements that exercise the organs and improve their functioning. But if this fails to impress you, you can go up on the roof and participate in a spinning session with a difference, and burn fat against a backdrop never before seen in a gym: the sea.

Beauty cocktails are another highlight of the Royal Hideaway Sancti Petri. The “barman” is none other than the Wellness Personal Assistant, and each guest will have their own custom-made cocktail made with antioxidant fruits such as pineapple, kiwi or forest fruits. This, combined with the ayurvedic hair treatment, will improve the rate of growth of your hair and nourish every single hair from the root to the end, making you feel like a king.

If Cadiz and the surrounding towns - Chiclana, Rota, Barbate and Jerez de la Frontera - are famous for anything both here and throughout the world, it is for their cuisine and fine produce. It is not only visitors wanting to taste the good things in life who make a pilgrimage to this coast: for three centuries bluefin tuna have been travelling thousands of kilometres from the North Sea to spawn in the Mediterranean. But before they can reach the Straits of Gibraltar they are caught in the fishermen’s nets, and brought to Atunante, one of the Royal Hideaway Sancti Petri’s restaurants, where every dish is not only a delight for the palate, but forms part of our healthy eating programme. The menu even has a special section designed in consultation with a nutritionist and an endocrinologist.

The Mediterranean diet, which is not so much a diet as a way of life based on physical exercise and particularly on healthy eating, features prominently in the Almadraba buffet restaurant, (overlooking the swimming pool) as well as in the hotel’s La Bahía Beach Club. The menu poses a serious dilemma: what to choose from the seafood, fresh fish or rice dishes on offer?