The Rise of Private Wellness Retreats in Costa Rica

It wasn’t too long ago that bespoke travel experiences like wellness retreats followed a fairly predictable formula. You signed up for a set program, joined a group of strangers, followed a strict and often packed schedule, and hoped to come home a little more rested than you left. For plenty of people, that model might still work, but most are now after something that feels altogether much more personal. That desire has been fueling one of the fastest-growing movements in luxury travel: the rise of private wellness retreats in Costa Rica, where a small group takes over an entire estate and builds the week around rest, rejuvenation, fun, and connection.

We saw it firsthand this past May, when we hosted our first-ever retreat at The Point Luxury Villa. It was a beautiful week of movement, nourishing food, long conversations, and a good amount of downtime. Like the first of anything, there were things to learn and refine, yet one thing was crystal clear: many desire slower and more intentional ways to travel. And they’re increasingly choosing to create those experiences themselves.

WHY WELLNESS IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A PASSING TREND

For a long time, wellness was a part you added on, like a side dish set next to the main course. These days, it has become the main course itself. A massage on the third afternoon or a yoga class if the resort happened to offer one used to be the extent of it; now the practices people once treated as indulgences are the reason for the whole trip.

Mind you, it isn’t only professional facilitators behind this emerging trend. Groups of friends are swapping their usual vacations for a week of movement and good food together, and even extended families are asking for fewer days of sightseeing and more time to rest properly.

The numbers back up our own findings. McKinsey’s Future of Wellness research puts the global market at over two trillion dollars, with younger travelers leading it. In the US, Gen Z and millennials already account for more than 41 percent of all wellness spending, which makes us think they’re figuring life out a lot earlier than many of us did.

WHY COSTA RICA IS LEADING THE WAY

There are plenty of beautiful places in the world, but Costa Rica seems like it was created with this in mind. Last year, Forbes named Guanacaste, the province we call home, one of only six best places to travel anywhere in 2026, and the single experience it pointed to was a sunset catamaran sail from Tamarindo. We run that exact sail, so it was a lovely thing to see in print. It helps that the nearest airport, Liberia, is a short drive away, with direct flights from much of North America.

We’ve also written before about why Costa Rica is one of the world’s top wellness destinations, and the short of it is that the country’s dreamy setting does much of the work for you.

HOW CAN A PRIVATE VILLA CHANGE THE RETREAT?

Most retreats take place at resorts or dedicated retreat centers, where you share the grounds with other guests, and the calm tends to break the moment the next group arrives. A private villa removes that conveyor-belt feeling, because the estate belongs to one group and no one else. You’re never pulled out of a quiet morning by a loud crowd waltzing through the pool area, and a session can run long without anyone needing the space back.

This kind of privacy gives everyone room to breathe. At an ultra-luxury villa like ours, your guests can linger over a long shared feast and then drift apart, staying close without being on top of one another and finding solitude without ever feeling isolated or antisocial. The Point sits where two of Tamarindo’s quietest beaches meet, with seven suites that keep your whole group together.

WHAT WE LEARNED HOSTING OUR FIRST RETREAT

This past May, we hosted our first wellness retreat at The Point. We called it The Art of Being, a women’s retreat built for guests traveling on their own or with a close friend, timed right around Mother’s Day. Our retreat was led by two Los Angeles facilitators, Jessica Stone and Sophie Jaffe, who have spent years working with women on movement and the nervous system. Their calm carried the week, which made all the difference, since several guests had never been on a retreat before.

The days were structured enough to keep the intent, but with plenty of flexibility: two daily guided sessions, and stretches in-between where guests were free to do as they pleased. A morning might open with breathwork and intuitive movement before easing into yoga or reiki, and the early evenings left room for a sound bath or some journaling. One full day was left completely free for rest, and one afternoon the whole group boarded a catamaran for a sunset sail along the coast. A cacao ceremony brought the retreat to a perfect close.

What we keep coming back to, though, are experiences retold by our guests. One of them, Meghan, wrote about a morning when the keypad on the main house would not let her in for breakfast. She entered the code again and again as it kept blinking red, until a small voice told her to simply push. The door swung open. It had been unlocked the whole time. She read it as a sign that “the doors are already open”, that she had spent so long waiting to feel worthy of the dream when all she had to do was walk through.

INSIDER TIPS FOR RETREAT HOSTS

One of the biggest lessons from that first week was that people value balance far more than a packed schedule. If you’re planning a retreat of your own, a few things worth keeping in mind:

• Protect free time. The unscheduled time between sessions did as much for the group as the guided practices, so build it in on purpose instead of filling it. You might be surprised to learn that group activities grow naturally at this time, but you won’t need to lead them.
• Make every session optional. Guests who skipped a morning to sleep in or sit by the water never felt they were missing out, and that make everyone relaxed and at ease.
• Prioritize wholesome, good food. Meals cooked in-house from local produce turned into a cherished part of the day, and they cost less than most hosts expect.
• Keep it all in one place. When the rooms, the practice space, and the meals share one property, you spend the week with your guests instead of arranging logistics.

WHO PRIVATE RETREATS ARE FOR, AND WHY THEY WORK

Part of the reason why wellness retreats in Costa Rica are evolving so fast is that they no longer fit a single mold. Travelers want to spend real time together without having to manage every detail themselves. A lot of the hosts we talk to are building retreats specifically for women, one of the fastest-growing corners of the whole movement.

That is where having the place to yourself makes all the difference. At The Point, you bring the vision, whether that’s yoga, movement, creativity, or simply rest, and we help make it real. We can also connect you with local practitioners if you don’t have your own facilitator in mind. Our Concierge works with you before you arrive, and once you’re here, our Butler and villa team handle the day-to-day so you can stay with your guests. These are the bespoke travel experiences we love hosting, and no two of them look the same. Maybe that’s what bespoke travel experiences really come down to: the space for people to slow down and share something that can’t be repeated anywhere else.

If you’ve been thinking about hosting a retreat of your own, we’d love to help you bring it to life. Contact our Concierge today and let’s start imagining what your week at The Point could look like.