Hot Bikram Retreats 

BUYER BEWARE...
BAD, BAD NEWS!!

Paid $3500 USD to attained the new company’s retreat free spirit yoga retreats 2020 Tulum MX. Never heard from Christine Mueller the trip organizer only when she wanted to get my money released from bookyogaretreats.com and then got an email the day before the trip saying the trip was canceled. I asked about my refund or if I can stay at the hotel that she supposedly paid for and I never heard from her again. I booked through bookyogaretreats.com and they have been less than helpful. This was a complete scam.

DO NOT BOOK ANYTHING WITH THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU ARE OKAY WITH LOSING YOUR MONEY.
This company has recently (2019) changed their name to Free Spirit Yoga Retreats but is still under the same management/ownership of Christiane Mueller (Germany)and Sandra Derr (England).
In August 2019 this company, advertised a yoga retreat in Ibiza Spain happening May 2020. To obtain the desired room booking, I prepaid the full amount of almost 2,000 euros as requested.
By March of 2020, with Covid 19 shutting down all international travel, there had been no formal communication from FSYR about the retreat. I attempted contact by email- no response. I called the phone number on the booking form- the male answering denied any relationship with FSYR. I resorted to Facebook messenger to Christiane. Over the next 5 months I asked repeatedly for confirmation the retreat was cancelled and requested a refund. All I received back were vague assurances "your spot is saved and your money too". After several more requests to respond to my queries via email (like a legitimate company would), Christiane has ceased to respond.
Now this company is offering yoga retreats coming up in December 2020 and several in 2021: HIGHLY RECOMMEND -DO NOT BOOK ANYTHING WITH THIS COMPANY! If you really want to chance it, be aware: they have re-done their Terms and Conditions: read all the way to the bottom of the form, print out and keep any and all correspondence and DO NOT CORRESPOND UNLESS BY EMAIL.
Btw- I had attended 2 other of their retreats. The experience was okay, not great, but there are few Hot 26/2 retreats to choose from. The yoga taught by locals, and accomodations, were good. However, I experienced several prejudicial comments from Christiane at both retreats and for the most part avoided her, as did most guests.
As she and her business partner state on their bios, they are shrewd business people who know their way around social media. By using an Online Booking Form without any way to actually contact them they can easily avoid responses to customers trying to resolution.
I could not find any reviews on Trip Advisor. I also tried looking up Tripaneer and came up empty.
Final note: look for your hot 26/2 yoga elsewhere.

Well - I wonder why there are not more reviews here on this site....Maybe because they were not very positive and then being deleted? This might be deleted as well, but I give it a try! My experience was far from good. I should have listened to my intuition already from the beginning when I almost booked my flight ticket at a wrong day due to a wrong date stated on the web: hotbikramretreats.com. And then it continued from there...

- Impossible to get in touch with Christiane (who organise these retreats) before the retrat actually started. We had an email just 10 hours before the flight departure to Marrocco after trying to reach her a couple of weeks before

- I was supposed to be picked up in the airport. I didnt and had to arrange transfer by myself with help from the hotel

- We were suppose to have bikram classes in a hot room. The room was small - not everyone could have a proper yogamat - and the temperature never came above 24 degrees!

- I have asked for a receipt of my payment 1000 times - first down at the retreat and then back home. Keep getting the most incredible explanations and excuses (as experienced also before and under the retreat)

- One positive thing - the teacher who was in charge - Fiona Mcnamara - and her assistant were great and they did what they could under the circumstances

As a bikram teacher I have been on several bikram retreast as well as organized retreats myself. This is embarrasing and not worth the money. I would never recommend Christiane as an organizer or her company behind.