Caroline Phillips

Journalism

Caroline Phillips
“Caroline Phillips is a tenacious and skilful writer with a flair for high quality interviewing and a knack for making things work.”

Caroline Phillips

Journalism

All Queen of Retreats articles

Our review of trauma therapist Sheryl Close

Queen of Retreats | 20 Aug 2018

The quick read: Sheryl Close offers Somatic Experiencing and Trauma Therapy, and her sessions include an eclectic mixture of skills she’s developed over the years – including psychotherapy, massage therapy, addiction counselling and Gestalt therapy. The focus is primarily on Somatic Experiencing, and Sheryl’s therapy is for anybody who feels stuck in their life, who want to connect more deeply emotionally with him/herself, and who want to release historical destructive patterns. Sheryl can be booked for an individual, hour-long session at private practices in London or Bedfordshire in the UK.


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Our review of a facial with Vaishaly

Queen of Retreats | 7 Sep 2016

Vaishaly (like Madonna and Brad, she’s known only by her first name) is a superfacialist who works with your energy, reading your unique energy ‘signature’ and using her intuition and magic hands (plus her own brand organic products). Her treatment includes a facial massage, cranial techniques, Reiki and manual lymphatic drainage. It’s a holistic approach that takes you to heaven and back – without moving from her Marylebone clinic with its flickering candles and serene Buddhas. She has a three-month waiting list – but it’s worth the wait.


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My Personal Sanctuary review: roaming therapists, UK

Queen of Retreats | 5 Feb 2016

The quick read: This lovely company organises spa therapists to come to your own home or five star holiday homes anywhere in the UK outside of London. They have hundreds of high-end therapists on their books, do training and secret shopping to maintain standards, and use products by Neal’s Yard Remedies, which smell great and are effective. You can buy an amount of time and mix and match the treatments to your needs – from deep tissue massage to facials and hand and feet pampering treats. It’s great for parties, family get togethers, hen nights and corporate jollies.


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Mindful movement (and cake) in the Atlas Mountains

Queen of Retreats | 6 Dec 2015

The quick read: Satvada Retreats’ 5-day yoga, mindfulness meditation and walking retreat runs on set dates throughout the year and is based at a kasbah at Tahanaout, in the spectacular foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The vibe is gentle, mindful and uncompetitive, so these retreats suit beginners just as much as they do the experienced practitioner. The accommodation is traditional – in a serene setting – and the food rustic and good, including cake and wine if you want it. There are superb guided walks, a hammam (with so-so massages) or it’s just a 30-minute drive from Marrakech for the souk. You’re almost guaranteed to come back from the holiday feeling inspired and restored.


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The Aman Spa at The Connaught review

Queen of Retreats | 20 Aug 2015

The quick read: The Aman Spa is in (arguably) London’s premier hotel in swanky Mayfair. You come to this subterranean beauty when you want to swap stressy city life, noise and buzz for tranquility, spiritual sustenance and top-notch treatments. It’s very ‘om’, with an elegant twist – from the second a staff member glides to your side to offer you a steaming ceramic bowl of lemongrass or ginger tea until you leave the serene, Asian-style treatment room. There’s a 60-metre swimming pool with a cascading water wall, a steam room with twinkling lights, crystals and multi-buhzillionaires letting off steam, plus five treatment rooms. You leave a few hours later feeling as though you’ve had a mini holiday.


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Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge review – Eco-friendly adventure, massage and yoga in Costa Rica

Queen of Retreats | 28 Apr 2015

The Quick Read: Accessible only by boat, Playa Nicuesa is an eco lodge set in a 165-acre private reserve in Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce region, bordered by ocean and rainforest that leads onto a national park. The location is paradisiacal – an emerald coast with jade water in which dolphins play and turtles dive. It’s one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, with lush forestry, humongous leaves, three types of monkeys, iguanas, sloths, toucans – it’s like the Oscars for wildlife. There’s yoga and massage, but really you come for the wildlife. It’s perfect for hiking, snorkeling, fishing and jungle kayaking expeditions – though you can just meditate in a hammock. With a carbon footprint so small it’s almost a paw mark, the lodge has 5 leaves – the highest award for sustainability in tourism – but deserves an entire tree.


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Welcome to my bed spa

Queen of Retreats | 15 Sep 2014

I’m on a retreat in my bedroom. Call it Bed Spa. This because I’ve broken my ankle and had an op. My life is normally crazily busy, but now I’ve been forced to stop. Suddenly I realise how much of my running around is unnecessary. And what’s important in life. The chance to be unfettered by the outside world is rare, especially at home. My bedroom has monastic white polished plasterwork, a Moroccan bedcover twinkling with sequins and a view of trees. Anyone would want to spa here!


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Therapist watch: movement therapist Ivana Daniell on Wimpole Street

Queen of Retreats | 14 Aug 2014

Ivana offers Life In Movement therapy, a brilliant combo of postural movement analysis, aerobics, Pilates, Alexander Technique, Ayurveda, Feldenkrais Method and Gyrontonics. Perfect for those who have injuries or sedentary lifestyles, it features bespoke exercises – mostly on pilates machines – tailored to your postural misalignments, muscular needs, lifestyle and ayurvedic body type. The aim is to help you attain a fully functioning body that operates at its optimum. As well as working out of her own clinic at 61 Wimpole Street, she is much sought after by private clients globally and works for retreats run by Aman Resorts on a consultancy basis.


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Therapist watch: spiritual healer Katie Winterbourne

Queen of Retreats | 27 May 2014

Katie Winterbourne works with your energy, reading your unique energy ‘signature’ and using her intuition to give you a better understanding of your life – to deliver healing in whichever form her higher consciousness reckons is best. You can have a reading with her by Skype or over the phone, at a clinic on Wimple Street and or at Harrods Urban Retreat in London, or alternative locations by arrangement.


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Anassa: something healthy for all the family in Cyprus

Queen of Retreats | 12 Sep 2013

Greek for ‘queen’, Anassa is a grande dame resort in western Cyprus modelled on a traditional Cypriot village. It’s no longer the only building on this part of the coastline – but Anassa has its own stretch of beach and your feet get a hot stone massage every time you run across it. Plus it has more watersports than you can shake a stick at.


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A watery work out with teenagers at Anassa, Cyprus

Queen of Retreats | 12 Sep 2013

I’m not a fan of resorts. So why go to Anassa, the Cypriot mother of all resorts? Two teenage daughters, that’s why. First there’s the weather. 40 degrees in the shade in August, which suits teenagers whose idea of a holiday is to get brown, then browner and even more brown. Meet Anya, 18, dark mahogany and Ella, 15, deep hazelnut.


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