Meet

THE TEAM

Almeji 2025

manolo and mari

Hotel Almeji owners, Manolo and Mari, are Benadalid locals – ‘Benalizos’ – and have been married for over thirty years.  They possess a deeply-ingrained passion for the village, the local area and country life. Their desire has always been to open up their hotel, village and surrounding land so that other’s may enjoy it too.

paul

Business partner and friend of Manolo and Mari for over thirty years, Paul is an English businessman and entrepreneur with over 40-years’ life experience in Andalusia.   It has been Paul’s brainchild and desire to realise the vision of Manolo and Mari and develop the hotel into a centre to host retreats and groups.

Sue

A retired teacher and friend of Paul’s, Sue has lived in southern Spain for 35 years where she was Headteacher of an International School.   In her retirement Sue retrained as a fitness specialist for seniors and runs various Tai Chi groups on the coast.  She has been heavily involved in wellbeing and retreat programmes both as a participant and organiser.  Almeji is lucky to benefit from her knowlege and experience.

fran

Adopted ‘Benaliza’ with 20 years in the village, Fran has lived in the region for 30 years where she has lived, worked and brought up her family.  Her background is in business administration and worked for many years as a PA.  Fran brings all her skills and local knowledge to her role as administrator and marketing manager of Almeji and is the main point of contact for both prospective and participating attendees. Also, contact Fran (info@almeji.com) if you are interested in hosting your own course or retreat with us.

dominic

Dominic is a relative newcomer to the village.  He spent 20 years as a RE teacher in the UK, including various boarding and pastoral roles, and with a special interest in the spiritual and personal development of students and staff.   He came to Benadalid having recently retrained as a massage therapist and helps facilitate and host group gatherings and retreats.

CLARE

Head Chef Clare has been a dedicated vegetarian for 35 years.  She lives in Southern Spain where she has been working as a vegetarian chef in retreat centres for nearly twenty years.  She is a qualified Natural Nutritional Therapist and produces tantalising menus and dishes for our retreat programme.