Manduka Europe continues to highlight some of our top-tier hotel, resort and retreat partners—all of whom chose Manduka as their equipment supplier for their studio and wellness spaces. These special locations range from luxurious, intimate villas to expansive resorts, all focused on providing best-in-class wellbeing programs.
This feature focuses on the serenely beautiful Oliveto Estate in an interview with its owner Amanda.
Can you tell us about the location of your retreat center and what makes it an ideal setting for practicing yoga and mindfulness?
We are based in Le Marche in a part of Italy nestled in between Tuscany and Umbria and on the east coast. Le Marche is still to be discovered by tourists so it is a wonderful, truly authentic Italian experience and is one of the smallest but most diverse regions of Italy with mountains and the sea only 40 minutes away from each other with rolling hills in between. We are based on a hillside only 5 minutes from the sea, so you can wake up to that view every morning. It is immersed in nature and you can practice each morning next to our 400 olive trees—it’s magical!
What inspired the creation of your yoga retreat center, and what makes it unique compared to others?
We wanted to share the space as we only used it ourselves a few times a year and felt it would be the perfect home from home for retreats. We created many different areas across the estate such as a large state of the art kitchen, an in-home spa, two pools, a tennis court and of course the wonderful studio and deck area. We wanted our location to be intimate, so we have 11 ensuite rooms that can be shared by up to 22 guests. I think our point of difference has to be the purpose-built studio and our concierge team. We haven’t found anywhere with such an intentional space where you can practice indoors or outdoors all year round.
Can you share any highlights or special activities that participants can look forward to during their retreat experience?
There are so many experiences all year round to have and it depends on what the teachers have selected to do depending on their guest’s preferences and budgets. We align any activities to them. We have lots that guests can do at the estate such as pasta-making courses, candle-making courses, sound baths, and treatments such as lymphatic drainage. Guests also love exploring the region as everything is super close. We have over 26 beautiful hilltop towns that can be visited, truffle hunting lunch, wine tasting with a beautiful view, or hiking and biking in the mountains or at the beach! The list is endless :)
Oliveto Estate is all about sustainable travel, can you tell us more about what this means for your center and retreats?
We are passionate in supporting the integrity of our untouched region, so we continuously focus on our own sustainable methods whilst supporting local partners, producers, and artisans by opening year-round and helping the destination benefit both locals and visitors.
The sustainable measures include rainwater collection, the recycling of all plant waste where possible in order to re-purpose this back into the land as mulch, a commitment to sourcing food locally that starts with our own estate-grown organic fruit and vegetables, an investment in filtered water throughout the Estate so guests can drink with no need to perpetuate the use of plastic bottled water, the use of solar panels to help reduce our carbon footprint, and a heat exchanger for the heated pool to reduce the consumption of power.
With thousands of yogis everywhere dreaming of hosting their own retreats, what pearls of wisdom would you give them?
Ensure you envisage how you want your guests to feel at the end of the retreat and work backwards. Make sure that the objective of the retreat is clear to everyone before they sign up so there is true alignment to the purpose of the retreat and the practice. This tends to help really unify the group and the energy becomes incredible when this happens. Also, ensure everything is organized well ahead of time so all you have to do is teach when you get there!
What made you decide to use Manduka gear at your retreat center and which product are you using?
We did a lot of research with our teachers and Manduka always came out as the recommended mat of choice! The PRO yoga mats are perfect for our retreats. So easy to clean after each use and super durable and our guests love them!
Connect with Oliveto Estate
Amanda and the team at Oliveto Estate would be delighted to help craft a retreat for teachers interested in bringing their groups to Italy! Please feel free to get in touch with them at hello@olivetoestate.com, via their website OlivetoEstate.com or follow @villaolivomarche.
Interested in outfitting your hotel, spa and/or studio space, connect with us!
