Calendula Ayurvedic & Medical Hotel

I had high hopes for this Ayurveda retreat, but overall, it fell short and didn’t offer good value for the price. One of the disappointments was the accommodation. It was not communicated beforehand that we would be staying in an old, lower-quality building with broken shower and ants in the room, that felt more like a 2-3 star hotel—not the 4-star level that was implied or advertised. The food, while healthy, was very basic and repetitive, lacking variety and inspiration. Given the focus on nutrition in Ayurveda, I expected more attention to creativity and nourishment in the meals. The massage treatments were nearly identical every day and unfortunately did not help with the neck pain or discomfort I had hoped to relieve. There seemed to be little customization or adaptation to individual needs, which made the treatments feel more routine than therapeutic. The last day they made up for it and scheduled experienced physicians that helped relieve my tension. On a more positive note, the yoga classes and healing gymnastics were genuinely good and led by competent instructors. However, the overall daily schedule was too crowded, leaving little time to rest or reflect between activities. That said, the doctors on-site were a clear positive. They seemed knowledgeable, took the time to listen, and approached health in a genuinely holistic way. Their care and attention were appreciated, even if the rest of the experience didn’t meet expectations. However, my experience was overshadowed by the astronomical prices and the social atmosphere. The majority of guests were Russian, and as a Hungarian, I often felt like an outsider. It seemed that Russian guests were prioritized or favored, and this left me feeling like a second-class participant in the experience. In the end, I left disappointed, feeling that the retreat was overpriced, lacking in transparency, and not nearly as inclusive or high-quality as it claimed to be.

The clinic, location and staff is very good and nice. However, they have not the same quality of masseurs. They all come from the same place in India but they skills are on very different level. I do no know what kind of trainings they receive before starting at clinic if any. However, management should ensure that masseurs have approximately the same qualifications and quality level of massage and, if not, then each client shall receives the same proportion of better and weaker masseurs. So, if you are not among the "selected" guests to have the best ones, it can be quite an unpleasant experience having massages twice a day for two or three weeks. Another negative experience was literally pressure on clients to buy pills that the clinic itself produces at the end of the stay. These tablets are part of the treatment during the stay and there are really many of them. Usually at least 5 different types that you take constantly throughout the day. In the end, they want you to buy these ***** with you for home usage, but they are extremely expensive. One package costs about 100 Euros, so if you take 5 types it is quite high price. In my experience, I did not agree on the ***** in advance and they did not even tell me their price, but they bring the ***** with my name already printed on the boxes, which seems to me like very inappropriate manipulation. So my recommendation is that you check in advance and agree not only on the number of medications that you want to buy and take with you but definitely price, too.