Local hotel becomes wellness retreat

A picturesque Mid Wales hotel has been transformed into a health and wellness centre, offering retreats to customers in the tranquil Upper Severn Valley.

Lisa and John Brant purchased the 20-bedroomed Maesmawr Hall Hotel, set in four acres of grounds at Caersws, near Newtown, in February and ran it as a traditional hotel until August to honour existing bookings.

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Now the couple are calling on 12 years’ experience of running La Crisalida Retreats, a hugely popular health and wellbeing retreat near Alicante in Spain, to bring the same successful concept to Mid Wales.

Managers from La Crisalida Wellness at Maesmawr Hall, the hotel’s new name, have been on a learning visit to the Spanish retreat.

The new retreat, which is open all year round, has a team of 20 staff and began welcoming guests last month. Guests choose their own arrival and departure dates, and the retreat also offers a limited number of day passes.

Activities include yoga, rebounding, meditation, a range of workshops, creativity and exercise classes and guided walks, and a range of treatments is also available. The daily programme runs from 8am to 9pm and guests are served a plant based food and juices menu.

Tailored packages are available for those suffering from burnout, in need of an immune system boost or looking for a health reset.

To help promote the business, La Crisalida Wellness has joined MWT Cymru, an independent membership organisation representing around 550 tourism businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia (Eryri).

Explorers in the field of lifestyle change and wellbeing, Lisa and John quit busy jobs in London, feeling unfulfilled and burnt out, to travel the world for six months. This time out helped them to dramatically change direction and transform their lives.

Lisa has worked in the health sector for more than 25 years, most recently as an epidemiologist, after studying at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She also worked for the Health Protection Agency (now Public Health England) and NHS Blood and Transplant where she published scientific articles on infectious blood-borne diseases.

She now follows a more alternative health route, integrating science, nutrition and other health options, teaching therapeutic hatha, yin yoga and mindfulness meditation. 

Lisa overcame health challenges related to endometriosis, pain management and the mental scars it leaves through the holistic health and wellbeing approach.

A former actuary, John is an author, speaker and transformational coach. Passionate about helping others to find their own inspired path, he leads life makeover and mindset workshops, meditation and guided walks.

A master trainer of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), he’s qualified in hypnosis, life coaching and the Demartini Method.

The couple were all set to buy a property in North Wales to establish their first Welsh retreat, before the Covid pandemic scuppered their plans in 2020.

“In 2023, we started to look again and came across Maesmawr Hall Hotel,” she said. “The location and venue work really well for a retreat.

“Having done a degree in Archaeology and Geography, I love old buildings and that’s why we chose this beautiful, Grade II Listed property. Everything that we do here will respect and take care of this hall, the oldest part of which dates to 1535.

“We believe that the programme we provide at La Crisalida Wellness offers people the opportunity to create optimal health and wellbeing. Some people will come for yoga and detox, some for a health reset, while others may be going through life change, such as redundancy, career move or divorce.

“We offer a place where they can come and take time out from their busy lives -quietness provides clarity. People coming from London or other big cities are struck by how green and peaceful it is here.

“Hopefully, bringing people in from a wider area will have a positive knock on effect to the local area and other local businesses which is what happened in Spain. We always try to work with local businesses.

“We want not only our guests but also our staff to experience learning growth and development as part of our programme. We are proud that in Spain many of our staff have been promoted from junior to managerial positions in the past decade.”