La Donaira

About

Finca La Donaira offers a new order of luxury experience where nature reigns supreme. It is an eco-retreat, organic farm and equestrian centre with Lusitano horse breeding. However, it is not just a retreat but an ecological and gastronomic project that fuses tradition with innovation to create a modern utopia. More than 100 years old, the restored farmhouse integrates nature in each of its spaces and nine exclusively designed rooms. Intimacy and comfort, with state-of-the-art facilities including a spa, a spring-fed natural swimming pool and an endless list of bespoke activities ranging from horse riding, wine tasting, bee bed meditation, paragliding and wellness to music festival celebrations, weddings, mountain marathons and health retreats. The simple and forgotten luxury of enjoying time and the environment is the transforming effect we at La Donaira want to give our guests. The simplicity of a gastronomy from the land, based on flavours of origin, are the notes that sound in our kitchen, where the Swedish chef Fredrik Andersson -a Michelin star for Mistral in Stockholm- and his team remind us of the privilege of being alive and aware. We have been working since our inception to be self-sufficient and sustainable so that everything served and tasted by guests comes from the organic garden or local ecological partners. Andersson designs concept menus based on what has been gathered on the farm that morning, using ingredients in their truest form to create delicate flavours layered with skill and meaning. You taste home-grown products such as natural wine, extra virgin olive oil, honey, almond milk or eggs from free-range hens. Spend the evening in good company, with conversations around the table that continue late into the night under starry skies, with a glass or two of good biodynamic wine. In line with our philosophy of valuing the land, unique experiences have been designed, such as tastings of natural and biodynamic wines in remarkable places such as in the greenhouse or under a hundred-year-old holm oak tree with views of the Sierra de Grazalema. In addition, every year, programmes are created to leave a mark, such as the Health Reset Program, a health retreat based on ‘Evolutionary Medicine’, a discipline that aims to change behaviours and habits that improve health and quality of life. Your guides around the farm and mindfulness teachers will be the Andalusian donkey, an endangered breed to which we owe more than we can imagine. And our medicinal garden - with more than 350 varieties of species and inspired by the living apothecaries of the monasteries - serves as a pharmacy and is home to one of the only four bee beds in the world. Here you can enjoy one of the most extraordinary nature connection experiences on the estate: meditation to the buzzing of these insects. La Donaira is a home away from home. Guests wake to the sound of birdsong or can enjoy a swim in the infinity pool with the more than 50 mares living in the wild with their foals as a backdrop. They can choose from equestrian activities designed for beginners and advanced riders, learn about natural horsemanship with our horse whisperer, go for rides or do grounding, a way of connecting with the horse through breathing exercises. You can visit the farm and organic vegetable gardens, be a farmer for a few days, collect the eggs you can eat, and go hiking, trekking and cycling. Or simply lie in the shade of a 700-year-old holm oak tree and enjoy the peace and views of the Andalusian pastures. It is a place where the five senses are developed, cared for and delighted at an altitude of 1,000 metres during the four seasons of the year, thanks to the pleasant temperatures maintained on the estate. The organic farm and the eco-retreat are the seed from which all the events sprout, focused on finding a better and more sustainable way of living. Projects such as La Dehesa Biodinámica seek to bring our philosophy closer to all audiences based on experiential agrotourism. Accessible but wild, with extensive meadows, oak forests and rocky peaks where birds of prey nest, it is the natural setting for weddings, unusual concerts or an eco-marathon through the mountains. Everything, from the soil to the bees, is designed as a harmonious collaboration between humans, animals and nature. La Donaira is constantly exploring ways that inspire a dialogue between design and intelligent architecture, the arts, archaeology, nature, agriculture in the modern age and our role in the natural world and the future it holds for us.