Around the Planet

Taking off for a retreat in the countryside can summon up images of expanses of green, bracing fresh air, and spartan, character-building accommodation. However, with Natural Retreats you get the wonderful benefits of the rural environment, along with some top-notch accommodation to relax in after a hearty day’s hiking.

Natural Retreats have only been in operation for about a year, and combine luxury accommodation with structures that are completely in keeping with their surroundings, and offer the most dramatic, breathtaking and varied landscapes that the UK has to offer. Natural Retreats aim to expand their portfolio in the near future to include sites alongside or within all fourteen of the UK’s National Parks.

You can’t get much more beautiful than the Yorkshire Dales, with its green meadows and rolling hills, dotted with grazing sheep, and criss-crossed with lattices of limestone walls. Natural Retreats in the Yorkshire Dales are currently constructing a further nine residences, and will be open again in time for the start of the summer holidays on 4^th July 2008. The building project also includes planting new areas with indigenous wild plants and trees, and care is being taken that the work is carried out with minimum disruption to the deer, badgers, birds, and other wildlife that share their land with Natural Retreats.The new residences will use the latest technology and methods of minimising environmental impact, and will have a level of luxury and design that does not compromise the sustainable principles on which Natural Retreats is founded.

An exciting new feature of the new development is that the old barns at the top of the land are being converted into “The Sanctuary” which will become a focal point for the complex, providing additional services for Natural Retreats guests. Facilities will include a library, a children’s educational area, those ever-important wi-fi connections, a lounge, a panoramic viewing area and an external terrace. The Natural Retreats office and guest information service will also be located there, as will also be two multi-functional workshop rooms, where it is hoped that diverse activites such as yoga classes, brainstorming workshops, presentations, art exhibitions and much more will be held. Natural Retreats will be publishing a seasonal programme of events to be hosted, such as film showings, talks and children’s activities.

The views from The Sanctuary are excellent, and light floods in through full length windows, providing the perfect setting for relaxation and creativity. Natural Retreats are hoping to have a centre such as The Sanctuary on all their future sites.

So, if you fancy a break in the Yorkshire Dales, and you enjoy comfortable accommodation, that is in keeping with its environment, you could be thinking about Natural Retreats.