A Luxury Fitness Retreat: Palais Namaskar in Morocco

Luxury and me don’t usually go together. However, I was able to spend a week in paradise and live out my childhood dream of being Princess Jasmine when I had the chance to stay at the beautiful Palais Namaskar hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. Palais Namaskar is part of the Oetker Collection and was one of the luxury retreats rumoured to be where George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin were heading to their honeymoon. They didn’t in the end, but George, if you’re reading this, I highly recommend it!

I wasn’t there to just lounge around by the pool however, oh no, I was there to get my booty whipped into shape by Palais Namaskar’s new 5 Day Performance health and fitness programme, in collaboration with Champion Spirit. This is going to be a long post, so grab yourself a Moroccan mint tea and I’ll tell you all about the ins and outs of a luxury retreat at Palais Namaskar.

Met at the airport by a man in a suit, we were taken to the car that awaited us. We drove through the hustle and bustle of Marrakech with our driver pointing out landmarks and tidbits of information which was a nice touch. Marrakech is busy, with lots happening and plenty of terracotta walls. Just 30 minutes drive from the airport and we’d reached Palais Namaskar which was a stark contrast to Marrakech; it was calm, grand and a sea of golds, greens and blues. A true oasis that looks better in person than it does in pictures. The four of us were taken to our very own palace, the Water Palace complete with our own private pool! After pinching ourselves several times and exploring the beauty of Palais Namaskar, it was time to settle down and get ready for an early morning workout. We were here to get fit after all!

The 5 Day Performance Workouts

The Champion Spirit programme is overseen by World Champion Thai Boxer Abdoulaye Fadiga and his team of trainers who specialise in different disciplines. The aim of the programme is to leave you feeling fitter, stronger and leaner. We spent between 2-3 hours working out at a time, but each time doing something different so the time flew by. We warmed up before each workout with dynamic movements and jogging several times around the perimeter of Palais Namaskar and cooled down afterwards with a deep stretch. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before – I do not enjoy running! In fact I tried to hide in the gym halfway through running around the perimeter but I was caught out, stealthy I am not. The actual workouts however I quite enjoyed and got stuck into. Here is a summary of the workouts we did across the 5 days.

Wild Soul Training – Williams Belle led this workout and taught us how to get in touch with our primal side and move like animals. I’ve done primal style training in the gym before but let me tell you, this was hard! Crawling across the floor on your hands and toes whilst keeping your knees off the floor and your bum down low is quite tricky! Williams made it look so easy, moving quickly and fluidly. I, however was rather clumsy but I thoroughly enjoyed this workout. It almost didn’t feel like a workout because it was fun but my quads soon started burning!

AF Boxing – I was surprised to find I was quite good at boxing! We practiced jabs, hooks, punches, ducks and kicks. With Abdoulaye being a World Champion Thai Boxer, the focus of the Champion Spirit was of course boxing so our session went on for quite a while, firstly learning the moves and technique as a group then partnering up to practice both attack and defence. I learnt that you should always jab with your left hand first (if you’re right handed) then follow with your right hand for a more powerful punch. Also, when kickboxing raise your knee to hip height first then extend your leg out for a kick (in one quick, swift movement). It was fun to practice spinning jump kicks (I’m sure there’s an actual name for this) and to realise that I could actually do it without getting dizzy or falling over.

AFM Circuit Training – We did two different types of circuits, one using our bodyweight and the other with weights. After trying to get out of running, I came into my element when the weights were brought out. Our bodyweight session consisted of several moves including what felt like a million squats in a fun group workout. It was like that waterfall drinking game but with squats – we stood in a circle and couldn’t stop squatting until the person to your right stopped. Our weighted workout had us sprinting, push ups, calf raises, v-sit ups, shoulder presses, bicep curls, squats with a ball throw and step ups. We repeated the circuit several times whilst encouraging each other to keep working hard.

Muscle Awakening – After each workout we had a muscle awakening session to cool down and get a deep stretch which I assume takes inspiration from yoga and pilates. We held different poses for a period of time, breathing deeper and deeper into the stretch. It was a nice way to cool down after constantly moving during boxing and circuit training. Boxing requires strength, agility, quick responses and cardiovascular fitness so each of the different workouts complimented each other quite nicely.

Mountain Biking – On one of the days during a bit of time off we decided to take the hotel’s mountain bikes out to explore the local area. Palais Namaskar is surrounded by plenty of dirt tracks which is great for mountain biking, but not wanting to get lost we mostly stuck to the roads. The next day we were taken out by one of the trainers who knew exactly where to take us across the dirt tracks. It was a really nice way to see a different side of Marrakech away from the centre, we saw children playing football, farmers travelling via donkeys and humble homes of the locals, not something you usually get to see when staying at a tourist resort.

The Food

As part of the 5 Day Performance programme you can choose to have specially prepared meals by Executive Chef Antoine Perray to enjoy optimal nutrition and results during your stay. Or you can choose your own meals from the hotel’s menu which has healthy meals marked with the ‘Earth and Health’ logo to help guide you to make good decisions. Or, you can do as I did and enjoy as many pastries as is humanly possible! Hey, I deserved it after all those workouts haha. I started out with the best intentions, but as the days went on the lure of the pastry and bread baskets got to me. That’s something I liked about this luxury retreat compared to others – the choice of what you eat is yours, you can be as healthy or as unhealthy as you please. You won’t be starved or feel like you are missing out as you are in control! All dishes prepared at Palais Namaskar are made with organic produce gathered either from the hotel’s own plantation on the grounds or from local producers.

The Spa

During our stay we were treated to a massage at the spa after a tough circuit session. On arrival we were warmly welcomed by the therapists and given cards to fill out with any concerns we had. Based on what we had ticked the therapists chose oils and explained the benefits and why they had chosen these. We then smelt each oil and picked the two we liked best. I liked this personal touch. I’ve been in spa rooms that resembled a room at the dentist before, but not at Palais Namaskar, oh no. Each spa room had a small wardrobe for you to put your clothes, a shower and bathroom, a very comfortable massage table and had a lovely smelling incense burning away. The room I was in had floor to ceiling windows looking out into a private courtyard, so I was able to gaze out at the sunlight bouncing off trees whilst I relaxed into my neck, back and shoulders massage. Time flew by and my massage was over far too quickly, I could’ve laid there all day! Afterwards we given cups of relaxing chamomile tea and off we went to lay in the sun – bliss!

Palais Namaskar and Marrakech

All I can say is Palais Namaskar is incredible. It really is a mini paradise, an oasis. It is the perfect luxury retreat to truly relax. The staff are friendly and helpful and the hotel itself is beautiful. The only criticism I would say is that it would be nice to have more choice at the evening meal but everything I ate was delicious. In between workouts, the hotel arranged for us to have a guide take us around the Marrakech Souk and give us a tour. I loved the hustle and bustle of the souk – nothing is a fixed price so you are able to haggle and barter. To some this can be intimidating, but having a guide with us meant we didn’t feel like we had to buy anything, so if you want a taste of bartering without the pressure, ask for a guide. It was great to see all the arts and crafts on sale and to even see carpets and lanterns being made. The Souk is a maze, I would’ve gotten lost if it wasn’t for our guide! I’d love to go back to Marrakech and stuck into the atmosphere and haggling!

Overall I had a wonderful time at Palais Namaskar, it was a dream. Thank you so much to Palais Namaskar who gifted me this trip to try out their 5 Day Performance Programme, it showed me a love for boxing that I never knew I had! My reviews and opinions are always honest, that is my promise to you.

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Have you tried boxing before? Or ever been on a fitness retreat before? Let me know in the comments below.

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