Embria Village Review: An Honest Look at Retreat Centre in Finland

Embria Village is a historical building that used to be a so-called “emäntäkoulu”, aka a Finnish home economics school. 

So the first impression for me felt like an inspiring place to study, workshop and enjoy the nature, as Embria Village is located in the middle of nature. 

This also makes the place really silent and you can really do workshops outdoors with only bird sounds, and sleep completely undisturbed. 

The common areas are traditional Finnish; really functional but not too fancy.

The yoga hall was especially nice, a big hall where you could have either daylight, or dimmed candlelight set up for evening practices. 

For meals there is a small but functional canteen where the staff serves meals according to the wishes of the retreat. 

What makes Embria Village interesting and functional, is that it has been renovated, having basically 24 comfortable hotel rooms. 

I really liked the newly renovated room at Embria Village. It was like a hotel room and you could even adjust the lights to any kind of setting you like. The quality of beds and pillows was clearly something they have considered when setting up a great retreat venue, as rest is an important part of a retreat.

Embria Village offers following room options:

-4 Premium 1-bedroom modern apartments

-12 Luxury twin & double modern rooms

-8 Economy twin rooms with shared bathrooms, in the style of the 80s

As mentioned, Embria Village is located in a really calm surroundings. It’s like a hidden gem in the forest.

The lake of Saimaa is not right there though, but it’s like a 20-minute walk away from Embria Village.

The garden has loads of space for yoga or other kinds of workshops on the grass and there are forest paths nearby for walks.

As the lake is not right at the yard of Embria Village, they do have bicycles at the place so that you can easily access the nearby areas.

The staff caters for the retreat organisers the kinds of menus desired.

As we were having a biohacking retreat, we got to enjoy healthy, tasty, local dishes.

As usually on a retreat, the meals included a buffet style breakfast, lunch and dinner, and access for coffee, tea and dried fruits anytime.

Personally I really liked the healthy Finnish cuisine that consisted, for example, of berries, porridge, eggs, salmon soup, rye bread and greens.

I really liked the meals and the staff was really helpful if guests had different dietary requirements.

Embria Village has three indoor dining rooms for shared meals and connection, plus a big BBQ gazebo for summer dinners. Last evening we actually had a fantastic barbequed fish by the outdoor barbeque gazebo.

Let’s start from the most important: yoga hall.

The yoga hall indoors was big with natural light coming in, and an option to choose smaller lights and candles for an evening session. There were newly bought yoga mats.

This big room works well also for workshops and masterminds, as they also had chairs to use at the room. Simply this kind of big, 4-metre high indoor space enables many kinds of events.

Outdoors the yoga area would basically be a grass field, which is really nice on a sunny day.

But at least right now there isn't an outdoor yoga platform.

Other wellness amenities at Embria Village are sauna and hot tub outdoors.

Sauna is nice indoor sauna which is electric. Within the sauna complex you have showers, but also a bucket on the ceiling where you can pour cold water for a nice refresh.

Outdoors is a cedar barrel for a great bathing in the nature. This is a typical Finnish experience called palju in Finnish.

Overall, all facilities are well-maintained and really clean and comfortable.

Of course the vibe is made by the people, but I would say the welcome to Embria Village was nice; checking in at the reception, getting a room and showing where to get coffee or tea.

The staff members were helpful and always ready to answer if we had any questions.

The event I participated in was international, and I would say the place offered nice locations for chats and coffee talks, and in general had a good retreat atmosphere.

As the vibe of the place is a bit school-like, I think it fits best for workshops and trainings; ideal for example for yoga teacher training.

This fits also well for company offsites, as the rooms are basically hotel rooms and areas are multifunctional for both working, brainstorming and relaxing.

I would say one of the best things was the meals; how they had managed to make meals fitting for biohacking retreat, while utilizing local ingredients (we had berries from the backyard).

Also the hot tub is great.

We also had a smoke sauna experience next to the Saimaa lake organised for us which was definitely a highlight of the trip.

This is what they do coordinate at Embria Village as well for your group, and you should definitely choose this to be part of the experience.

Smoke sauna is quite special Finnish experience and differs quite a lot from a regular sauna, especially when it's combined with Lake Saimaa for a refreshing dip.

As mentioned, the place has a little bit school-like atmosphere. I don’t see this as a bad thing, I just find it right now more fitting for trainings, workshops, brainstorms and company events than for intimate retreats.

When it comes to accessibility and mobility issues, the venue can offer day events for people with mobility issues, but rooms don't have a specific facilities for this.

Please note there are no stores right nearby the place, and it is not next to lake either (though both of these can be reached by bike easily).

Embria Village is located in the Lappeenranta area of South Karelia, in Eastern Finland.

The venue offers privacy and silence while remaining relatively easy to reach from nearby cities.

The nearest airport is Helsinki-Vantaa (HEL). From Helsinki, it's about a 2.5 to 3-hour journey by car or train.

Getting there: I travelled by train to Joutseno station, and we had driver waiting for us to pick us up to the Embria Village.

Local transport: You will definitely need a car/bike to get around. There are no shops or restaurants within walking distance. The property is located on a quiet road (Rantatie 354, 54100 Joutseno), away from main roads.

Parking: Yes, there is on-site parking available for guests.

Embria Village is ideal if you:

-Want peace, quiet, and nature

-Enjoy communal dining and connecting with others

-Don't mind a remote location

-Value simplicity and calm over luxury

-Want to organise a training in Finland that is within reasonable distance from Helsinki

It might not be for you if you:

-Need constant access to shops and restaurants

-Require luxury spa treatments

-Want an intimate, romantic retreat idyll

For retreat organisers Embria Village is ideal for:

-Small to medium groups (up to 20 recommended, 48 max)

-Wellness workshops, facilitator training, corporate off-sites

-Organisers who want great meals organised by the team

-Those wanting an authentic connection to Finnish nature