Victoria Wills, with her unique and innovatory brand of boutique holism, has created at  Nubeginnings one of the best boot camps in England.  Although its holistic approach is now available elsewhere too, Nubeginnings was the first - and still is -the only proper boutique camp. No more than 10 guests at a time, who find on arrival that Westwell Hall's interior is indeed en plein boutique: artily placed single flowers, headed notepad by the bed, Egyptian cotton sheets, memory foam mattress, plush furnishings colour-matched, Rhodes to Heaven oils in the bathroom and so on. I have to say that my bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever slept in -  a considerable compliment from a hotel reviewer ; but also that the dark- wood floors, the bare- bulb chandeliers and the draughts whistling through the house do tilt the ambience into 'designer chic meets boarding school'.

Come to think of it, Victoria wouldn't make a bad Headmistress either. She has certain non-negotiable rules, and the rest are made of iron: no radio, no TV, no newspapers no condiments, no time for make-up and a contract co-signed with you at end, which she enforces by telephoning you every weekend for the next two months. They aim to fix you here and they have a high success rate in doing so. Aided by exercise, total detox, acupuncture, hypnotherapy and deep-tissue massage, Nubeginnings targets the subconscious causes of bad habits, exorcises those demons, clears your mind and calms you down. It certainly worked for me. One hour of Frank's massage, followed by one hour of Pete's hypnotherapy on a couch in a darkened room, made me feel the most relaxed I've ever felt - they could turn Woody Allen into the Dalai Lama. 

Specialist staff brought in from outside are generally excellent, from the fun local experts who take you coastal hiking right down to the cleaners who make up your room every day. There's no military posturing or shouting at people here, just a group of friendly civilians on first-name terms. Refreshingly - because others don't do it - the programme for the whole week is posted on the bulletin board, so we all know what we're doing when, and heartened to see that days start at 8am (not 6am), end at 4pm (not 9.30pm), with 4-5 hrs. your daily average of physical work. The weather, too, is better than you'd expect as Ifracombe has a warm micro-climate, exemplified by a palm tree beside a pine tree outside the dining room window. A well-oiled machine, Nubeginnings is constantly on the go, through every week of the year, with only December off. Nubeginnings 2, by the way, is scheduled for Cheshire in 2010. 

Not everything is perfect though. The sauna, for example, is naffly positioned in a corridor and miles away from any source of cold water afterwards. But that's a trifle. My principal and only unease really is the commercial aspect of Nubeginngs. A two-page list of optional extras hits you in the bedroom, none cheap- yet all priced to the 99p.Me thinks someone is trying to sell me something. There's also a link-up with a clothing company to promote the sale of sportswear to those size 14+. A  display of Camp Products dominates the entrance hall. Which all leads up to saying: why does Nubeginngs, the most expensive boot camp in England, need to be charging so much? Particularly as the camps are being run out straight out of Victoria's own home and they are happening every week, 11 months out of 12. "We know we are expensive" was as far as I got.

But then again, Nubeginnings could be well worth it: they are serious players on the boot camp scene, sincere in what they do, and the fresh-butterfly you is going to cost a lot less to maintain than the old chrysalis which from you emerged. 

• Accommodation:  Designer luxury in a Victorian mansion house overlooking Ilfracombe. All rooms are en-suite 
 
• Capacity: 10. Mixed M/F 
• Duration:  7 nts. ( 4pm Friday - Friday 10am ) 
• Cost:  2065 pounds (sgle) & 1755 pounds (sharing) 
 
• Price includes:  All food, lodging & activities which typically include: hill & coastal path hiking, a beach session, in-house gym work-outs plus Plyometrics, Boxing, Yoga, Pilates, Qigong, Cheerleading & a Hawk Walk, 3 massages, 2 hypnotherapy sessions, 1 Group Accupuncture session, I NLP goal setting with 2 months close support, saunas   at will & a healthy picnic lunch to take away.
• Evening Events: Every night on topics like Aromatherapy, Posture, Nutrition etc. Loads of optional extras, like La-Stone Massage, at c. 50 pounds/1hr. A shop for Camp Products is also available. 
 

5 STAR RATINGS 

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NuBeginnings Website.

Written by  Graeme Harwood.

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