You’re looking for a venue. The website looks good, the pictures are right, the atmosphere seems to fit. But what exactly is included? It doesn’t say that anywhere. You have to call to find out, and then it turns out that food is separate, bedding costs a surcharge, and the yoga mats you saw in the photo were actually from the previous group.
We do it differently. This article explains exactly what you get when you rent a retreat location at Yūgen Forest, what you arrange yourself, and what it costs. So you can decide if it’s a good fit before you pick up the phone.
What is included, and what is not
You arrive, we welcome your group and give a tour of the grounds. After that, the place is yours.
Renting a retreat location from Yūgen Forest is always all-inclusive: location use, overnight accommodations, all meals, campfire moments and materials are included. The facilitator arranges their own styling, decorating, placement of materials in the session room, checking in participants and lighting the campfire. Additional wellness is optional to add. All prices do not include VAT.
What that means in practice: you don’t have to think about beds, meals, coffee, firewood or meditation cushions. Those are there. What you do do is set up the space as your program requires. That is a conscious choice. It gives you freedom in your own rhythm, and less presence of our team during the sessions.
Yūgen regulates:
- Use of session and sleeping locations
- Overnight accommodation in cabins (off-grid) or glamping tents per two people, with beds made on arrival
- Keeping the sanitary facilities at the glamping site clean during your stay
- All meals including service and dishes
- Coffee, tea and fruit water all day
- Two campfire moments
- Yoga mats, mattresses and fitted sheets, meditation cushions, back-rests, blankets and pillows
- Firewood and gas heaters where needed
- Vases and flowers from the estate
- Tourist tax
De facilitator regelt:
- Checking participants into cabins or tents
- Lighting the campfire (explanation upon arrival)
- The styling and decoration of the session room
- The placement of mats, mattresses and other materials
- Locking the location via the key safe
- At check-out: participants pick up linen and leave it at the door
Wellness (sauna, hot-tub and cold plunge) is optional to add. We also have a beautiful singing bowls set that you can rent with it.
The locations: summer and winter
During the summer, from May through September, the Tipi and Castle Roggebot are available. The Tipi is a large, circular ceremony site that accommodates groups who wish to begin or end the day outdoors. The Slot is available year-round.
From October through April, the Castle is the only session venue, for groups of up to 20 people. That’s not a limitation. Winter is quieter. More intimate. Often more powerful. For silence retreats, truffle retreats or small groups that really want to get away, winter is the time of choice. The terrain is empty, the forest has a different voice, and the concentration in the group is different than in summer.
Research by Kaplan and Kaplan shows that contact with nature restores cognitive fatigue even outside the growing season. The gentle, casual attention that an outdoor environment demands gives the mind the space that intensive sessions extract. It works in August. It also works in December.
The food
Food is part of the program, not an interruption of it. What you taste here comes from the land you walk on. The kitchen works with the estate’s market garden and tailors the menu to the theme and rhythm of the retreat, in consultation with you, the facilitator.
The base is plant-based and nutritious. Light enough to keep the afternoon sharp, nutritious enough to carry the evening. Specific dietary needs, such as gluten-free or sugar-free or Ayurvedic, are negotiable. Research shows that plant-based, unprocessed foods have measurable effects on mental clarity and mood, exactly the kind of support participants need on a day when the demands are high.
For multi-day retreats, we also provide a landing nourishment after a ceremony: light, well-timed, tailored to what the group has just gone through.
Frequently Asked Questions
| What is the minimum group size? | 10 people. This is the minimum. Please contact us for availability and options. |
| Is catering always included? | Yes, always. Own catering or self-cooking is not possible. Food will be tailored to the theme and rhythm of the retreat, in consultation with the facilitator. |
| Can I rent the venue exclusively? | Yūgen Forest can host multiple groups at the same time. Thanks to the spread across the nature reserve, you won’t notice much. Fully exclusive use is possible upon request. |
| What does it cost? | From €165 p.p.p.d. (excluding VAT), all-in. Download the brochure for the full package overview, or request a customized quote. |
| Can I take a look in advance? | Yes. A tour of the natural estate is always available. We are happy to show you how the locations work for a retreat group. |
The location carries the program
Intimate, dedicated environments build something that large, commercial settings cannot: the feeling that the place is yours. That participants can drop in. That there is room for what wants to come. Not a reception desk with three other groups, not a lunch buffet you share with a team outing.
You have a powerful program. What you need is a place that carries it, and doesn’t get in the way.
- Download the brochure for the complete package overview
- Prefer to spar directly? Schedule a no-obligation consultation.
Want to read more? How to choose a retreat location that really suits your program?
