HAPPINESS BREAK AT BORGO EGNAZIA
Puglia, Italy ‘Borgo Egnazia is a boutique hotel with a big heart and a fashionably old-fashioned approach to happiness, believing we’d all be far more content if we focused on simple exercise, deeper connections with friends and family, and plenty of good food. Diet is central to the three-day programme I tried, but in a way that feels the opposite of restrictive. Meals are devised to reduce inflammation and balance levels of happy-making hormones – serotonin in particular, which means lots of fresh pasta and overflowing bread baskets alongside the most delicious tomatoes, Pugliese breadsticks, cured meats, vermouth spritzes and (surprise hit!) pistachio gelato with peppery olive oil. I could have come here for one meal and gone home happy – my “personalised pro-happiness menu” (prescribed after a consultation in the spa) featured plenty of creamy burrata cheese and even cake for breakfast, as long as it had fruit in it. Common sense, right? Actually, everything here makes sense. A “circadian” eating pattern of abundant breakfasts, two-course lunches and lighter evening meals aids sleep, and exercise boosts self-esteem and the health of the nervous system, but only if it’s enjoyable. I tried guided bike rides to the nearby coast and back, music and laughter workshops and daily group “games”, with a sweetly encouraging personal trainer, which left me in hysterics over a medicine ball. The spa itself is straight out of a fairy tale: all creamy white turrets and candlelit corridors; if this was a design movement, they’d call it modern medieval. Here, I took an olfactory test devised by Italian psycho-aromatherapist Luca Fortuna – a kind of essential oil “reading” that indicated which treatments I would benefit from. My nurturing massages and luxurious body scrubs were performed with love and care by beaming therapists – one of mine spoke no English and I certainly don’t speak Italian, but after two treatments with her, I felt she knew and understood everything. She held my hand as we said goodbye, looked me right in the (slightly teary) eye and drew me in for a hug. I really did feel happy.’ Alexandra Friend
RED NOTE The fashion and homes boutique will break your heart or your bank balance: floaty frocks, gorgeous crockery and pretty baskets (that are just about affordable).
Vair Spa’s three-night Happiness Break at Borgo Egnazia is available from £1,850 including full-board accommodation, consultations, fitness classes, Art Of Laughter lab and spa treatments (vairspa.borgoegnazia.it/happy-eng.php)