Five Elements Retreat – Booking Terms and Conditions

These terms apply to the Five Elements Retreat, Hinterthal, Austria, Friday 12 to Tuesday 16 March 2027 (4 nights). They cover booking, payment, travel arrangements, cancellation and complaints. Health screening, activity risks and consent are covered separately in the Participation Agreement and Disclaimer and the Confidential Health Questionnaire. Accepting these terms does not consent to any particular activity, to photography or to marketing.

1. Who you are booking with

Your package travel contract is with Retreat Yourself Limited, trading as The Retreat Standards Organisation (RSO). RSO is the package organiser. It takes your booking and payments and is responsible for properly delivering everything included in your package, including services delivered by the retreat team and suppliers. In these terms, “we” and “us” mean RSO and the retreat team acting on its behalf.

  • Package organiser: Retreat Yourself Limited, trading as The Retreat Standards Organisation, company number 13743020, 4 John Street, Warrington, Cheshire WA2 7UB. Email: info@retreatstandardsorganisation.com, phone: +44 161 706 1649. Contact: Jodie Salt and the RSO bookings team.

  • Your money: held in RSO’s client trust account and protected through the Travel Trust Association, reference X1019. Flights are not included, so ATOL protection does not apply.

  • Facilitators: Catherine (Cat) Paterson (breathwork and related practices) and Warren Swartz of Acacia Therapies (Qigong and related practices).

  • Host, chalet and snowshoeing: Tania Ryder, Mußbachstraße 2, Hinterthal, 5761 Maria Alm, Austria.

  • Programme questions: Cat Paterson, hello@catjpaterson.com, Mobile: 07941 386971.

  • During the retreat: Cat +44 7941 386971 · Warren +44 7815 939019 · Tania +43 676 382 3994.

2. Prices, booking and payment

The retreat is for adults aged 18 and over. All prices are per person, in pounds sterling, and include everything listed as included in section 3.

★★★ Premium – Nomad 1, 2 and 3 (doubles and an ensuite twin) Sharing £1,950 per person · Private £2,450 Payment plan, 50% on booking: £975 sharing / £1,225 private

★★ Comfort – Hirsch 2 and 5 (doubles) Sharing £1,800 per person · Private £2,250 Payment plan, 50% on booking: £900 sharing / £1,125 private

★ Cosy – Hirsch 3 and 4 (shared bathroom) Sharing £1,650 per person · Private £2,000 Payment plan, 50% on booking: £825 sharing / £1,000 private

  • Payment: We ask for full payment when you book. If you need a payment plan, pay 50% when you book and the remaining 50% by 11 January 2027 to guarantee your place. If you book after 11 January, you pay in full when you book.

  • How to pay: only through the payment link or bank details RSO provides. Never pay a facilitator or the host directly.

  • Confirmation: a reservation is not a confirmed booking. Your booking is confirmed when RSO sends a written confirmation after receiving your booking form and payment. If we can’t accept your booking, we will return your payment in full.

  • Late payment: if a payment-plan balance isn’t paid by 11 January, RSO will remind you and give you a reasonable chance to pay. If it is still unpaid 7 days later, we may treat your booking as cancelled by you, and section 6 applies.

  • Price: once your booking is confirmed, your price is fixed. We will not add surcharges.

3. What’s included

Included:

  • 4 nights at the chalet in your confirmed room

  • 3 meals a day, with tea, water and soft drinks

  • The full programme: Qigong, breathwork, meditation, gentle movement, reflection and guided walks

  • Snowshoeing with Tania, including snowshoe hire

  • Sauna, and an optional ice bath, where it can be offered safely (separate health questionnaire and disclaimer)

  • Final-night Qigong and supper at Hochmaisalm, including the lift there and back

  • The scheduled airport transfers in section 4

  • Local tourist tax (Ortstaxe)

Not included:

  • Flights and travel to Austria

  • Alcohol and any other drinks (you are welcome to bring your own)

  • Austrian Alpine Club membership and travel insurance (both required, see section 5)

  • Skiing, ski lessons, ski equipment hire and ski passes

  • Spa visits and treatments

  • Packed lunches and meals you buy away from the chalet

  • Extra nights and transport outside the scheduled transfers

  • Personal spending

Dietary, accessibility and other needs: please tell us before you book, so we can confirm what we can reasonably provide. A special request is only part of your booking once we have accepted it in writing.

The programme is a flexible guide. Sessions may move indoors, outdoors or to another time of day to suit the weather, snow and light.

4. Arrival, departure and airport transfers

  • Check-in is from 3:00 pm on Friday, 12 March, and check-out is by 9:00 am on Tuesday, 16 March.

  • Arrival transfer: one shared transfer leaves Salzburg Airport at 2:00 pm on 12 March 2027. We will recommend suitable flights and confirm the meeting point in your joining information.

  • Return transfer: leaves the chalet at 9:15 am on 16 March 2027, in time for flights leaving Salzburg from about 12:30 pm. If your flight leaves earlier, please make your own way to the airport.

  • Your flight details: send your flight numbers and times to us at least 2 weeks before the retreat (by 26 February 2027), and check that your flights fit the transfer times before you book them.

  • Delays: If your flight is delayed, tell us as soon as you know. The transfer can wait up to 20 minutes for guests who have landed and are on their way, but no longer. If you miss it, you will need to make your own way to the chalet at your own cost. Your travel insurance may cover this.

  • Early arrival or extra nights must be agreed and paid for separately with the provider.

5. Conditions of booking

By booking, you agree that:

  • You will complete the Confidential Health Questionnaire and sign the Participation Agreement and Disclaimer within 7 days of booking.

  • You will hold an Austrian Alpine Club membership valid for 2027. Its insurance covers rescue and repatriation. Adult membership (ages 28–64) is £68 a year, through the UK section at alpenverein.at/britannia.

  • You will hold your own travel insurance from the day you book, covering cancellation, curtailment, emergency medical treatment, repatriation, and the activities you plan to do. Check any pre-existing conditions and winter-sports exclusions with your insurer.

  • If you are a UK resident, you will bring a valid GHIC or EHIC.

  • You are responsible for your passport, any visa or travel authorisation, and meeting entry requirements. RSO will give you general destination and travel information before you book.

You need both kinds of insurance. 

The Alpine Club cover is excellent for rescue and repatriation, but it does not include cancellation and caps medical treatment abroad at €10,000. We may ask to see proof of both before the retreat. Insurance does not replace our own legal responsibilities.

Health and suitability. Please tell us about any significant health conditions when you book. If, after reviewing your questionnaire, we decide the retreat as a whole is not safe for you, we will discuss it with you first. If we then cancel your place, we will refund you in full, unless you withheld information we asked for at booking.

6. If you cancel

Email your cancellation to RSO at info@retreatstandardsorganisation.com, copying Cat at hello@catjpaterson.com. It takes effect on the day RSO receives it. If you don’t get an acknowledgement, please follow up.

  • Cancel on or before 11 January 2027: you lose 50% of the price. We refund any amount you paid above 50%.

  • Cancel from 12 January 2027: you lose 100% of the price, unless your place is transferred or resold (below).

  • If we resell your place, we will refund what you have paid, minus a £25 admin fee and any bank charges. We will try to resell your place as a goodwill gesture, but we can’t guarantee it.

  • Refunds are paid without undue delay, and within 14 days where the law requires.

  • Extraordinary circumstances: you may cancel without charge if unavoidable and extraordinary events at or near Hinterthal significantly affect the retreat or your travel there, for example, if the UK government advises against travel to the area. You will get a full refund within 14 days.

  • Illness, a change of plans, missing the transfer or leaving early does not entitle you to a refund. This is what your travel insurance is for. Your statutory rights are not affected.

7. Transferring your place

You may pass your booking to someone else who meets the conditions in section 5. Tell RSO in writing as early as possible, and at least 7 days before the retreat. The new guest must accept these terms and complete their own health questionnaire and participation agreement. You and they together are responsible for any unpaid balance, a £25 admin fee and any bank charges. We make no profit on a transfer.

8. If we change or cancel

  • Minimum numbers: the retreat needs at least 8 paying guests. If we don’t reach that, we will tell you by 31 January 2027 and refund everything you have paid within 14 days, with no deductions.

  • Small changes: we may change the order, timing or place of sessions, or offer a similar alternative, because of weather, snow, lift operations or safety. Snow conditions and particular routes can’t be guaranteed.

  • Facilitators: if Cat or Warren can’t attend, we will tell you promptly about any replacement.

  • Significant changes: if we have to change something important, such as the dates, the accommodation or a lead facilitator, we will tell you as soon as possible and explain your options. You can accept the change or cancel for a full refund.

  • If we cancel, you will receive a full refund within 14 days. We won’t offer a voucher instead unless you agree. If we cancel because of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, we won’t pay extra compensation.

  • Flights and other travel: these are booked separately and are not part of your package. We recommend flexible or refundable tickets.

9. Taking part and behaviour

Every practice is optional: you can decline, pause or stop at any time. Choosing not to join a session doesn’t reduce the price. Please read the activity information before you book and tell us about any suitability or access needs in advance.

Please respect other guests, the team, the chalet and its neighbours, and follow safety instructions. No recreational drugs. If someone’s behaviour puts others at risk or seriously disrupts the retreat, we may ask them to leave. Any money kept will reflect our reasonable losses and the law.

10. Complaints, privacy and our responsibilities

Problems and complaints. 

Tell a member of the team straight away if something is wrong, so we can put it right during the retreat. Send complaints, payment queries, and refund requests to RSO at info@retreatstandardsorganisation.com. RSO handles all complaints and disputes. Please write within 28 days of the retreat ending; reporting later doesn’t remove your rights.

Your information. 

Your details are handled under RSOs and the facilitators’ privacy notices, which you will receive before we collect them. Health information goes only through the private method in the health questionnaire. Photography and filming are optional and need your separate consent on the Photography and Video Consent form.

Our responsibility. 

RSO is responsible for the proper performance of your package and for the help the law requires. We are not responsible for any problem caused by you, by someone unconnected with the retreat, or by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. Nothing in these terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be excluded by law. Your statutory rights, including under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, are not affected.

Law. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. This does not take away any rights you have under the law of the country where you live.

Booking acceptance

When you book through RSO’s booking form, you confirm: “I have read the Five Elements Retreat Booking Terms (version 1.0), my booking details and the pre-booking information, and I agree to these terms. I understand that consent to activities and to photography is given separately.”