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Heartbreak Hotel is a three-night UK retreat for women going through breakups. - Guests are offered therapy sessions and yoga, and are given blankets and hot water bottles.
"Where do heartbroken people go? There's just nowhere for us out there." That was the question posed by Alice Haddon, founder of The Heartbreak Hotel, and her business partner, Ruth Field, before they launched the retreat in September, Field told Insider.
The Heartbreak Hotel is a three-night retreat that was launched in Norfolk on the east coast of England. It's exclusively for women who are experiencing heartbreak and loss, and costs £2,500, or around $3,255. That equates to around $1,085 per night.
While the name suggests that The Heartbreak Hotel is a physical place, Field explained that it's not a hotel but a retreat held at different locations throughout the year. The first retreat in November was held at Chaucer Barn, a 9-bedroom property in Norfolk, England.
During the retreat, guests are offered group therapy sessions from Haddon, who is a counseling psychologist with more than 25 years of experience, according to the Heartbreak Hotel website. Other activities included in the price of the retreat are yoga, walks on the beach, wild swimming, and plant-based meals from the company's "heartbreak chef," Field told Insider.
She added that guests are given hot water bottles, blankets, and notebooks to make them feel comforted and taken care of.
Haddon was inspired to create the retreat after her mother died during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, according to Field. She said it prompted Haddon to ask herself what people need the most when dealing with heartbreak and grief.
"She noticed how important it was to not have to make decisions, to have a blanket and a hot water bottle, and to be just taken care of," Field told Insider. "It's an experience that we don't often get as women because we're busy looking after others."
Field added that the retreat breaks the structure of traditional therapy, as they offer what she said is the equivalent of eight hours of therapy a day.
"Is therapy really suited to this sacred 50-minute session?" Field said. "This is a more profound healing experience, and guests doing it together have more empathy for each other."
Field told Insider that the retreat has been attended by those going through breakups, divorce, and loss, and that the attendees either discovered the retreat for themselves, or in some cases, it was gifted to them by a friend or relative. She said many women attend the retreat solo without knowing anyone beforehand.
The Library of Letters page on the retreat website shares anonymous reviews from former guests which give insight into what it's like to attend. While several people praised Haddon's therapy in their reviews, others spoke about a group exercise that involved writing a letter about heartbreak and betrayal.
"As instructed, I had written a letter of my betrayal and I read it out on the first night, whilst sat in front of a roaring log fire and with a warm 'cuppa' in my hands," the person wrote.
"I felt so lonely, unloved, desperately sad and upset. By the time I wrote the second letter to myself three nights later, I felt and looked a different woman," they added.
The company has two retreats lined up in 2022. The first retreat, titled "Moving Beyond Betrayal and Infidelity" will be held from June 10 to June 13, and the following retreat, titled "Healing your Heartbreak," will take place in September, according to the website. Both retreats will be held in Norfolk at locations that have not yet been announced.