HEAL AND BE WELL

The Algarve’s Longevity Health and Wellness Hotel offers rest, recuperation and how-to lessons in self-care

- BECKY AMBURY

There is nothing new about health tourism. Whether it’s the ancient Greeks packing up their robes and heading to the temples at Epidaurus, the healing centre of the classical world, or the fashion in the 18th century for taking the waters in Bath (having inherited them from the Romans), we have always craved a break from the daily grind for the good of our wellbeing.

Having recently stumbled into my forties, I am no exception. So when the opportunity came to sample a rejuvenating health programme at the Longevity Health and Wellness Hotel in Alvor on Portugal’s Algarve, I snapped it up before any younger colleagues got a sniff.

The Longevity group was founded ten years ago by chief executive Nazir Sacoor, an actuary who, while calculating the lifespan of insured parties, alighted on some factors that seemed to be crucial to reaching a good age. As such, other than the bathrobes, it’s not your typical fluffy spa getaway – Longevity means business when it comes to wellness. The group comprises three Algarve properties – the Alvor one is the flagship, which Sacoor describes as “a place where we can pull all our experience and expertise together to combat and reverse chronic inflammation – preventing disease before it happens and repairing where we already find it”.