Our terms

01Who we are

Libélula Retreat Center is operated by HR Property Management (Essex) Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 13588353. Registered office: 1386 London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 2UJ, United Kingdom. When these terms say "we", that's who we mean.

Libélula itself, the retreat center and the land, is in Carara, Costa Rica. Our Costa Rican company, HR Property CR Limitada, runs it day to day.

To reach us, write to reservations@libelularetreatcenter.com.

02What these terms cover

These terms cover what you book with us, on this website, by email or on a call: our retreats, the extras you add to them, and hiring the whole venue.

If you booked through our founding campaign, that booking follows the campaign's own terms, including how it's paid. The deposit and monthly payments below are for retreats booked on this website.

03Booking a retreat

Every booking starts with a free call with Kene or Maisie. We talk about you, your retreat and your health, so we both know it's a fit.

We don't take a deposit until we've spoken and know it's a fit. After the call, a deposit of 30% secures your place. The rest is due 14 days before your retreat.

Paying in parts

You can pay in up to three monthly payments by card, with no interest. They're charged automatically, and everything is paid 14 days before your retreat. If you need something different, talk to us.

If a payment is missed and we can't sort it out together within 7 days, we can release your place. Everything you paid, deposit included, becomes credit for 24 months.

Prices are in US dollars. Your price depends on your retreat and your cabin. If we show a clearly wrong price by mistake, we tell you, and you choose to pay the right price or cancel for a full refund.

A place for someone who can't afford it

Every retreat includes a place for someone who feels deeply called to the work but cannot afford it. To ask about it, write to us at reservations@libelularetreatcenter.com.

04What's included, and what's extra

What each retreat includes is on its own page.

Flights, travel insurance, and treatments beyond the ones your retreat includes are paid separately.

We can arrange a private transfer from the airport, at $120 per car each way. If your flight lands close to another guest's, you can share the car and split the price.

Excursions, transfers and treatments by other providers are their services, under their terms. We choose them with care, but we aren't responsible for what they do.

05Changing your dates or your retreat

To change your dates or your retreat, write to us at least 45 days before your dates. It's free. If the new one costs more, you pay the difference. We move you if we have space, and the decision is ours.

Less than 45 days before your dates, a change counts as a cancellation (section 6), and we move you only if we have space.

06If your plans change: our Flexible Cancellation Policy

If you can't come, what you've paid becomes credit for a future retreat. How much depends on how early you tell us.

• Your credit includes your deposit and lasts 24 months from the day you cancel.
• Use it on any future retreat, or give it to a friend or loved one. Credit can be given, but not sold.
• We give credit, never cash.
• If you dispute a payment with your bank, any credit linked to it is paused until the dispute ends.

The 14-day right to cancel

Our retreats and venue hire are leisure services on fixed dates, so the 14-day right to cancel online purchases doesn't apply to them. This cancellation policy applies instead.

Someone else in your place

If you can't come, someone else can take your place at no extra cost. They have their own call with us first, like every guest.

Getting ready for your retreat

Some retreats ask you to prepare before you arrive. We explain how on your call, before we take a deposit. If you can't follow it, the same table applies.

07If we cancel or move a retreat

If we need to cancel or move a retreat, we tell you as early as we can.

• If we cancel it, you get a full refund within 14 days. If you prefer, you can choose new dates or a credit instead.
• If we move it to other dates, you choose the new dates or a 24-month credit, for the full value of what you paid.

If something outside anyone's control stops a retreat, like a natural disaster, a severe storm or flood, an epidemic, a government order, a border closure or official advice not to travel to Costa Rica, what you paid becomes credit, and it never expires.

08Health, safety and responsibility

Before we confirm your place, we ask about any health condition we should know about. Tell us everything that matters, so we can look after you well. If a retreat isn't right for you now, we tell you on your call, before you pay anything.

Every part of the programme is optional. If you're tired or unwell, you can rest.

Our medical policy explains how we look after you before, during and after your retreat.

Libélula is a working rainforest. Uneven trails, wet rocks, pools, waterfalls, insects, animals, falling fruit and branches, heat and weather are part of being here. Snakes, spiders, scorpions and other wildlife live here, and stings and bites can happen. We take reasonable care of the land, but we can't remove these natural risks. You take part knowing them, and you look after yourself on the land: follow our team's safety guidance, wear closed shoes on the trails and use a torch at night.

Libélula is remote, and it isn't a medical facility. We have an emergency plan to get you quickly to the nearest hospital. Any first-aid help on site is our best effort, never guaranteed.

We strongly recommend travel insurance with medical cover, emergency evacuation and trip cancellation. Your medical costs, transport and evacuation are yours.

You accept the risks that come with this kind of experience. Your retreat agreement explains them.

Your safety depends on what you tell us. If you leave out, or give us wrong information about, your health, medication, supplements or substance use, or don't follow the preparation we agree, we aren't responsible for harm that results from it, to the extent the law allows. If you don't follow our team's safety guidance, or go where we've told you it isn't safe, you're responsible for what results, to the extent the law allows.

Please look after your belongings. We aren't responsible for loss of or damage to your belongings, cash or valuables, unless it's caused by our negligence.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our responsibility to you for anything about your retreat is limited to what you paid for it. We aren't responsible for indirect losses, like lost earnings, flights or other travel costs, or for events outside our control. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn't allow us to limit.

09Your screening and retreat agreement

Before your retreat, you complete our Medical & Safety Screening and sign our retreat agreement. The agreement explains what to expect, what we ask of you, and what you can expect from us. In it, you agree to:

• share all medications, supplements, recreational substances and health conditions, and follow the preparation guidelines we give you;
• tell a facilitator straight away if you feel physically or psychologically unwell;
• follow our facilitators' guidance, and stay on the land unless we've arranged otherwise;
• not drink alcohol or take recreational drugs during the retreat;
• treat everyone with respect, and keep what others share confidential;
• not take photos, video or audio during ceremonies;
• keep any adrenaline auto-injector or inhaler you need with you, and tell us about it in your screening;
• not take plant medicines, rapé or sananga home;
• cover the reasonable cost of anything you damage beyond normal wear and tear.

Your participation is voluntary. You can decline any ceremony or activity at any time. We don't guarantee specific outcomes or results.

In a medical emergency, we contact emergency services and your emergency contact, and share the medical information responders need. Medical, transport and evacuation costs are yours, which is why we recommend travel insurance.

Facilitators and our team never have romantic or sexual contact with guests, during a retreat or the integration time after it.

Our facilitators can decide at any time that you shouldn't take part in a ceremony or activity, or continue the retreat, for your safety or the group's. If the reason is information you didn't share, or your conduct, we don't refund what you paid. For any other reason, the days you miss become credit. If you choose to leave early, we don't refund what you paid.

10Hiring the whole venue

When you hire Libélula for your own retreat, we agree the dates, the price and what's included with you, in writing.

• The minimum stay is 3 nights.
• Included: the whole land, every space, your cabins, cleaning, and cooking by our kitchen team. Meals are quoted separately, based on your group's menu.
• Add-ons: facilitation by our team, treatments, excursions and airport transfers, at an extra cost.
• Your own facilitators are welcome. Ceremonies with plant medicine are held only by our team, and no one else may bring or serve plant medicine.
• As the organiser, you're responsible for your own facilitators and their conduct, you carry your own liability insurance, and you make sure every guest completes the forms we require.
• Children are welcome only when we agree it in writing, never during plant medicine ceremonies. A parent or guardian supervises them at all times, especially near the pools, the waterfalls and the river.
• If your retreat includes plant medicine, every guest completes our Medical & Safety Screening and signs our retreat agreement (section 9). For a retreat without plant medicine, what guests sign is much simpler, and we agree it with you.
• To hold your dates, you pay 30% when you sign. The rest is due 60 days before you arrive.

If your group needs to cancel, it depends on how much notice you give us:

Your credit lasts 24 months from the day you cancel. If we cancel your booking, you get a full refund within 14 days. Your written agreement comes first. These terms cover anything it doesn't.

11Our website and blog

The words, photos and videos on this site are ours or our guests'. Ask us before you use them.

When you comment on our blog, your name and your comment are public. We can remove any comment.

12The law, complaints and changes

These terms follow the law of England and Wales. You keep the consumer rights you have where you live.

If something goes wrong, write to reservations@libelularetreatcenter.com. We'd like the chance to put it right. If we can't agree, you can go to the courts of England and Wales, or to the courts where you live.

If we change these terms, we update the date below. What you already booked keeps the terms you agreed to.

How we look after your details is in our privacy policy.

Last updated: 16 October 2026.