Finca Cortesin – see its Beach Club, above – is one of the all-time treasures in the Estepona area of Spain. As Brian Mumby, CEO of Kiwi Collection, says of this luxury resort: ‘Experience gracious Mediterranean living at this tranquil enclave in the heart of Costa del Sol featuring four swimming pools, tennis courts, a beach club and one of Spain’s best golf courses’ (Girlahead happens to know Mr M is a fanatical golfer so he knows what he is talking about – the 220-hectare resort has 18 Cabell Robinson holes and over 100 bunkers on its total-6,800 metre course).
Kiwi Collection, based in Vancouver, has chosen its favourite Wow Picks from Travel+Leisure’s 2020 World’s Best Awards. Finca Cortesin is one of that number. The others, for the record, are Awasi Patagonia, Torres del Paine, Chile; Canaves Oia Epitome, Oia, Greece; Capella Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; The Lodge at Blue Sky, Utah, USA; Secret Bay, Portsmouth, Dominica; Shangri-La Hotel At The Shard, London, UK, and Singita Sweni Lodge, Kruger National Park, South Africa.
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The Original FX Mayr spa is in one of the most beautiful hotels on Austria’s Lake Wörthersee – and it offers what sounds like disciplinary therapy. In 1976, FX Mayr student Dr. Med. Erich Rauch, with entrepreneur Rolf Deyhle, founded the world’s first FX Mayr Medicine centre, which attracts followers from all over. Do not come here unless you are dedicated, and it does sound ideal for weight loss. (A three-week guest told TripAdvisor he lost 11 Kg by following the plan and availing himself of all the exercise activities. He commented on other guests, where
owners of Patek Philippe’s, and Audemar Piguet’s jostled for position with high-end Rolexes. He went on convivial walks in the woods, had fun with lakeside activities and saunas and enjoyed remarkably tasty meals of 600 calories.)
Your stay is full board, that is to say breakfast and lunch, with a light soup in the evening – no alcohol or coffee allowed. You can drink herbal teas and mineral waters, you can use the spa and indoor pool, and enjoy the lake’s private beach. They provide loungers, plus robes, towels, slippers. There is a comprehensive weekly programme that includes yoga, guided tours, specialised lectures, meditation. You also have access to naturopathic treatments advocated by that great Bavarian priest, Sebastian Kneipp, 1821-1897. He believed in hydrotherapy, leading to a system of healing that rests on the five legs of balance (a healthy mind begats a healthy person), exercise, hydrotherapy, nutrition and botanical phytotherapy medicines.
