After Isabel “Izzy” van Zuilen quit drinking, she wanted more women friends. This led to starting her own retreat company, Sobertopia, to offer luxe alcohol-free experiences to women.
Izzy held her first retreat in 2022 and has been doing them twice per summer since. I joined one of her Malaga retreats last month in June. Here’s what it was like.
Villa Ada
“I do different houses every year because I like to look around new places,” she told me as we sat on a twin bed in my ocean-facing room. “Especially if the same people come, it’s nice to have a new environment. But last year I booked this house, and I loved it so much and everybody loved it so I just decided to stay with the same one this year.”
Villa Ada was a winner. It’s on a long strip of beach and villas in Rincón de la Victoria, about half an hour from the city of Malaga. Walk out the front door and into the Mediterranean Sea in less than a minute. Or stay on the villa grounds, lazing around on cushy patio furniture cooling off on a unicorn floatie in the pool.
With eight bedrooms, most of the participants had their own room. My favorite parts were all the outdoor areas, and the gorgeous tile accents everywhere.
My Sobertopia retreat peeps
Sobertopia emphasizes discretion. We all signed a confidentiality form before the retreat. So I’m only telling you general stats here.
Our group of women ranged in age from early thirties to early sixties. Most participants were from the UK and Europe. A few Americans also made the long journey, combining the retreat with other stops in Europe. Most were in recovery or at least quit because they felt they had a problem with alcohol. A couple were sober-curious. Four of the participants had been on at least one Sobertopia retreat before.
In case you haven’t heard, women solo travel—including people coming alone to groups—is trending. And Izzy is noticing this, too. “There’s quite a few ladies that travel for the first time by themselves,” she told me. “They love the connection and how easy it is to connect during such a short time.”
What do you do on a Sobertopia retreat?
Izzy balanced wellness activities like yoga, sound healing (with the excellent Leonie Schuurman) and a journaling workshop, with fun. And everything is optional. While most of us participated in the padel tennis lesson and the shopping trip to Malaga, a few chose pool or beach time.
And there was so much NA drinking! Izzy is up to date on the latest nonalcoholic beverages. I must have sampled more NA drinks in four days than I had in my lifetime up till then. It was like a nonstop NA open bar, and we ladies knocked back a lot of drinks. There always seemed to be a cooler of canned mocktails and/or an open bottle of NA champagne in the ice bucket. One night we tried Seagram’s alcohol-free gin with different flavors of tonic.
Everybody also signed up for a massage with Lori Sjollema, our onsite yoga teacher and massage therapist. We kept Lori busy!
Izzy said her retreat activities vary depending on the site. There could be a hike or a Wim Hof cold water immersion workshop. But she always offers yoga and massage.
Food and drink
Bethany Ghersie has been Izzy’s personal chef for all her Spain retreats. She makes gorgeous, nutritious food, and cheerfully catered to the vegans (me!), gluten-free, and other challenging eaters. Breakfast favorites included chia pudding and avocado toast. For dinner we might find a giant paella. We had a vegan berry birthday cake the first night to celebrate two guests’ birthdays.
Want to go on a Sobertopia retreat?
Last year, Izzy moved from Spain to San Francisco. She’s just announced her first San Francisco retreat! It’s November 21-23, 2025. Check the Sobertopia site for details.
