Anamchara Detox Retreats
Dieticians in Frome
Moorleaze Farm
Witham Friary
Frome
Somerset
BA11 5HH
Contact Numbers
Reviews
Exceptional Experience
I have just returned from a 14 day detox with Anamchara and I have had the most wonderful time. Before entering the retreat I was nervous about attending. My health has not been great and I had seemed to be going round in circles attempting to get well. When I arrived at Anamchara on the Friday afternoon I was greeted very warmly by one of the owners, Justin which set me at ease. After being escorted to my lovely bedroom I made use of the indoor swimming pool and then the infra red sauna. Shortly afterwards I received my first juice. Because of my health concerns I had been pre screened by Anamchara and they had recommended that I had a sugar free juice with no apples or pears but with sprouted chick peas and mung sprouts. The juices are very filling and very tasty. I was surprised that I didn't feel at all hungry during my stay. On the Sunday and Monday I felt tried and had a headache though it had been explained to me that this might happen as part of the detox reaction. I mainly stayed in bed on the Sunday but I felt very safe as staff members kept popping in to make sure that I was okay. By Tuesday I started beginning to feel much better and this trend just continued during the rest of the fortnight. I was very pleased and surprised that my symptoms subsided during my fortnight stay. I found the yoga very helpful though I couldn't do all of the positions but the teachers were very sweet and guided me through so I just managed as best as I could. I preferred the Pilates and the Aqua Aerobics as it was easier on my joints. The Raw Food on the last day was amazing. I had never realised just how much one could do with uncooked food. I adored the raw chocolate brownie, it's lovely to know that now I'm back at home I'm still able to indulge in a cheeky treat or 2 without compromising my health. At Anamchara they talk a lot about how we can sustain change once we've left. The talks are instructive and helpful. I think the main thing I learned is that health can be simple and it doesn't need to be complicated. With a good sensible diet that is realistic, healthy juices and a few colonics I am sustaining excellent results. Thank You to Karen, Kyla, Justin and Carolyne for making my stay so pleasurable and for being so supportive. Sue
Sue Samuels - 01/10/2012 | report this review
Terrible. Rip Off
Just got back from a 7 nights, 6 days days detox experience from Anamchara. I was expecting it (based on the information available on the website) to be a full 7 days experience, but it wasn't. Only after you book you are told its 6 days. I have done other detoxes before and can honestly say this was the worst experience and a complete rip-off. Its very badly organized and here are the reasons why: 1. There is incomplete information available on the website. The website doesn't even have the address of the place where the detox is held. We got an email after booking that the place is called ‘the Sanctuary'. Only it isn't..its a place called Bindon House. We were sent the postcode but postcodes don't really work if you are in the middle of the woods/nowhere. There were around 15 people in my group and 7 or 8 had driven down, and, like me had a lot of difficulty in finding the place. We were also told by email to pack a bathrobe and swim gear. When we arrived, we saw the room already had a bathrobe. Also, no aqua exercise classes were scheduled- so a complete waste of effort! 2. Once you have booked and paid, no one answers emails anymore. I wanted directions to the place and wanted to enquire about arrival time (which by the way is after 5 pm) and sent a few emails but received no response. I thought maybe this was just my experience but other people were also grumbling about this. A few people mentioned that when they paid, a 3% credit card surcharge was levied on the payment and they were not made aware of this before payment and received no response to emails querying this. The website mentions a 2.5% surcharge. 3. Greeting and daily nutrition talks: Once you arrive there, you are greeted by Karen and/or Justin who run the place or Karen's assistant Carolyne. Karen seems to be the only one who seems knowledgeable about health related stuff. Justin is just a salesman and a very bad, in your face kind. Right from the beginning he tries to sell you stuff, whether it is Anamachara cosmetics or massages or sessions with their naturopath. He conducted a couple of the daily nutrition talks, which are basically sales pitches. Carolyne held a couple and it seemed that she was narrating stuff she had just read up. There was incorrect information and when asked questions she had no answer. She is a pleasant and friendly girl though, however we had not paid for someone to be pleasant and friendly to us only. 4. Rooms: Most of the rooms are very old and have this weird horrible smell. The mattresses are very lumpy and I used to get backaches everyday, which I never do at home. Some of the 4 poster beds and wardrobes are full of wood lice. There are a few very nice rooms if you pay extra. One of the rooms (sharing rooms) does not even have a proper bed. Just a plank of wood with a bad mattress that gives bad backaches. Make sure you don't get this room! Overall the place is filthy. The room where yoga and pilates are held is so dirty with ketchup, mud, food and hair all over. The yoga mats itself are filthy and very thin for the hard stone floor. We were assured again and again that the floor looked dirty but was clean. It clearly wasn't! There is a lack of basic hygiene. I only hope the kitchen was better. 5. Massages: As mentioned, these are sold to you again and again by Justin, till the point you feel obligated to book some. The 2 masseuses are Andrew and Carolyne. Andrew is very good, Carolyne not so good. Please be aware that 25 minutes massage sessions (costing £30) with Carolyne last for 18-20 minutes at the most and the massages itself are not great as no effort is put in. Everyone who saw her was pretty annoyed about this as the massages are not cheap! 6. NLP: There is a complimentary NLP session with Justin, which everyone is entitled to, however this is not publicized when you arrive so you need to ask for it. I have had NLP sessions before and the session with Justin was very clearly NOT NLP. I am not sure if he is even qualified as the session was a joke! Again other people mentioned a similar experience. One person from our group asked for an NLP session 3 times but never got it. During my NLP session he tried to sell me a session with their naturopath Rhaya FOUR times! 7. Pilates and Yoga: Karen does the pilates classes and she is very good. It was great to be in her class. Yoga is another story altogether. Its conducted by Anna and although she could be a good yoga teacher, her constant chatter about inane things throughout the class gets on peoples nerves (for e.g. her pole dancing, and what she does in life, etc). She also tries to be very spiritual but you can see it's a show. I wasn't too annoyed by her as I discounted her as a bit kooky, but a few people were so put off that they never went again after the first couple of sessions. 8. Daily walks: Justin takes people for these when he is in the mood for it. A couple of days he didn't bother showing up and another day asked someone else if she could conduct the walk. She (very obviously) politely declined to lead a bunch of people in the middle of nowhere. 9. Naturopath: You get a 10 minutes session with a naturopath, Rhaya. She seems very good but the few minutes you spend with her are useless as its too short. Of course, you are sold a full £90 session with her in those few minutes. All very uncomfortable as you have already been told a number of times by then (by Justin and in the daily talks) to pay and go for the session with Rhaya. If you wanted it, you would buy it! 10. Weight loss: No one in our group lost more than 6 pounds. On the website, it says 10-20 pounds in a week. Most people lost 2-4 pounds. Ours was a diverse group with young and old people but no one lost much weight. We were also told to expect to put on 5 pounds after we go back as the metabolism slows down, etc. 11. Raw food demonstration: A lot of emphasis was given (I guess rightly so) on eating raw food. We had a demonstration on the last day. A person called Anna (not the yoga Anna) prepared the food. While the food was tasty (specially after not eating for 6 days), it was highly unpractical to prepare even on a weekly basis. You need all sorts of equipment (spiralizer, dehydrator, etc) and unless you sit at home and want to spend 4 hours on food everyday, its not for you. After a detox, you would like to be shown ways to sustain a good diet in a practical way...not in a ‘spend 4 hours a day preparing food and nut milk as that's the only healthy way'. We also got a book of raw food recipes which I regret won't be used by me as I cant afford to spend so much time in the kitchen (some of the dehydrator recipes take 12-14 hours to prepare!). Again, at the end of the demonstration you are sold ‘very essential' supplements and super foods which in my view you don't need to buy from Anamchara and carry all the way back. 12. Lack of care: Someone from our group was unwell for 2 days due to detox symptoms. She was in her room for 1.5 days without coming downstairs and no one checked on her. She could have died and no one would have known! All in all, it wasn't a good experience. I wasn't expecting it to be a great one with no food for 6 days but I felt I was taken for a ride and just sold stuff along the way. If it weren't for Karen, this place would be in shambles..its close to it anyway. The other people (specially Justin) know next to nothing. Please go somewhere else- NOT to Anamchara! You can get much better value for money elsewhere and not feel like an utter fool by the end of it.
psps15 psps - 20/08/2012 | report this review
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