A luxury pilates retreat in Thailand: what the word should actually mean

"Luxury" on a retreat listing usually means a bigger infinity pool in the photographs. It rarely says anything about the classes. So here is what we think the word should mean when a pilates retreat uses it, and how the Isla retreat measures up against that.

Luxury is a teacher who knows your name

The first luxury is a small class. Ten reformers, ten people, one teacher who has watched you for three mornings in a row and knows which hip is tight. A retreat with thirty on the mats cannot give you that at any price. Isla's classes are never bigger than the room.

Luxury is not being herded

Fixed-date retreats run to a programme: breakfast at a time, class at a time, an excursion whether you wanted one or not. On a rolling retreat, class is the one fixed point of the day and the rest is yours. No group to keep up with, no schedule to be late for, no icebreaker.

Luxury is the room

This is where the word usually earns its keep, and it does here too. The beachfront suites are at a five-star hotel on Bophut beach, one of them with its own pool; the seaview villa studio sits on a private estate with breakfast included. Both are a short ride from the studio, and the ride is included, so nobody is negotiating with a taxi at seven in the morning.

Luxury is choosing

The retreat includes a class a day, the transfers and the ride. Everything else — a private session, a massage after class, lunch at the café, a sound bath, a scooter for the afternoons — is there to add, and priced on its own, so a retreat is exactly as indulgent as you decide and not a baht more. the Isla retreat shows the rooms and what each one includes; a private session is the add-on most people on the beachfront suites choose.

Do it somewhere warm, for as long as you like

the Isla retreat is a reformer class every day on Koh Samui, on the dates you choose — from three nights, with your ride to the studio and back included and a room you pick. Nothing is charged until a person has confirmed your room. If you would rather start with one class, the timetable is the place.