SHA Spain scores 4.3 out of 5 from 246 Google reviews. SHA Mexico scores 4.5 from 170. Comparatively, an average beach resort scores better, and many clients look at little else before they book.
It is the wrong comparison. We book SHA Spain and SHA Mexico, and we also book the clinics people choose instead. So we have no reason to talk you into either one, and no reason to talk you out of it.
Why a medical clinic does not score like a resort
A review measures the distance between what someone expected and what happened. At a beach resort those two things sit close together. At a medical clinic they can sit a long way apart.
A real medical retreat is not a pleasant week from beginning to end. Detox has physical effects. You eat less than you are used to, and somewhere around day three most guests feel worse before they feel better. That is the protocol doing its work. It does not read well on a review form.
Then there is who writes reviews at all. Guests who leave SHA having genuinely changed something tend to send us an email and post nothing. The people most motivated to write are often the ones who booked a holiday and found a clinic.
None of that makes the criticism wrong. Most of it is accurate, and we recognise nearly all of it from our own clients. So here is each point we hear most often, and what is actually true.
What guests criticise, and what is true
- Noise from the building works at SHA Spain. Real, and it does not reach every room category. Ask us which ones sit away from the work before you choose, and we will tell you what is quiet for your dates.
- The daily agenda is only settled when you arrive. True. Treatments can be moved once it is set, and there is room to rearrange. If you want a say in it, tell us your priorities before you travel and we will pass them to the medical team.
- The menus are narrow. There are three of them, matching three levels. The standard menu is already detoxifying, the second is lighter, and the third is a fasting-mimicking menu built for weight loss. You can swap dishes between them, with one limit: nothing from a menu carrying more calories than you agreed with your doctor. The dishes change at every meal, so a week does not repeat itself.
- Service is not always consistent. True, unfortunately, and it shows mostly in the busiest weeks of the year. The team is large and the standard moves between individuals. SHA cares a great deal about the experience it delivers, which is why it stands out on the occasions it slips.
- The gym is small for the size of the clinic. True in busy periods. If training through the week matters to you, ask us which weeks are quieter.
- Some consultations feel like a sale, especially in Mexico. Part of the schedule opens up other areas of the clinic, aesthetics in particular. It can feel like an upsell, and it happens at many properties. Tell us and we will have those consultations left off your schedule.
- Lab results arrive late. Some panels go out to third-party laboratories and the wait belongs to them. At SHA Mexico, open since 2024, some operations are also still settling.
- Nobody follows up after you leave. Common across the sector. When you book with us and you want it, we chase the follow-up for you, and we stay out of the medical exchange itself.
- The rooms in Mexico feel humid. It is the Caribbean. The air conditioning clears it quickly.
- Seaweed on the beach in Mexico. It arrives some weeks and not others, and the cause is warming seas across the whole region. SHA Mexico clears the beach every day when it happens, which is most of what any property can do.
If one of those would spoil the week for you, tell us which one. We will point you at a clinic where it is not a factor.
The complaint worth taking seriously
One piece of criticism sits apart from the comfort points. A guest spent a week on a program built around weight loss when weight loss was not his goal. He found the food designed for somebody else and left hungry. Operationally nothing failed. He was on the wrong program.
That is the mistake we exist to prevent. SHA runs seven programs and they are not interchangeable. The food, the treatments and the medical attention all follow the one you are on. That is why Detox and Optimal Weight and Advanced Longevity produce such different weeks.
Before you book, tell us what you actually want out of the week. If it is not weight, say so plainly, because the kitchen takes its instructions from your program.
Book SHA if
- You want integrative medicine with real diagnostics behind it, and you accept being a guest at a clinic for the week.
- Your goal is detox, weight, longevity or executive health, and you want it measured before and after.
- You want the food to be part of the treatment instead of a reward at the end of the day.
- You are ready for a few uncomfortable days in the middle of the stay.
Do not book SHA if
- You want a holiday with treatments attached. Tell us and we will book a resort with a serious spa instead.
- Choosing what you eat each day matters to you.
- Gut health is the whole reason you are going. Mayr medicine is built around it and SHA is not.
- Training hard every day matters more to you than the medicine.
The original, in L’Albir
SHA Spain
L'Albir, Alicante, Spain
Serenity Ways exclusive perks
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Chef Welcome Amenity
- 100 EUR spa credit (not valid for medical therapies)
- Early Check-In / Late Check-Out, subject to availability
Rebalance & Energize
From €5,100
4 nights · 1 guest · cheapest room
Where our clients go instead
No rankings here, because these clinics are not competing for the same week. Each one answers a different question.
One thing to hold on to as you read them. Every price below is for the program only and the room is charged on top, which is how SHA prices too. The number to compare against is SHA Spain’s Detox and Optimal Weight, from €4,500 for 7 nights. Our prices page shows what each one comes to once a room is added.
- VIVAMAYR Maria Wörth, Austria, PURE from €2,951 for 7 nights. Where Mayr medicine started, and the deepest digestive work we recommend. Prefer SHA if your goals are spread across weight, energy and ageing. Prefer VIVAMAYR if digestion is the reason you are going.
- Lanserhof Sylt, Germany, Lanserhof Classic from €2,980 for 7 nights. The newest Lanserhof, in the dunes on the North Sea, with a diagnostic department built around the Mayr protocol. Prefer SHA if you want sun and a wider medical range. Prefer Lanserhof Sylt if you want Mayr discipline and the numbers that come with it.
- Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy, Regenerate from €4,500 for 7 nights, the same money as SHA’s detox week. Prefer SHA if you want the sea and the SHA method. Prefer Palazzo Fiuggi if you want Italy, and a diagnostic ladder above it that runs to €10,500 for the fullest longevity program.
- Chenot Palace Weggis, Switzerland, Advanced Detox from CHF 5,500 for 7 nights. The Chenot Method, applied tightly. Prefer SHA if you want variety in the day. Prefer Chenot if you want one protocol run without deviation.
- Villa Eden, Italy, Remise en Forme from €2,950 for 7 days. The most flexible of the five, with real programs from three days. Prefer SHA if you want the full clinical apparatus. Prefer Villa Eden if a whole week is more than you want to commit.
We recommend all five. Tell us your goal and your dates and we will tell you which one fits, including the times when the answer is SHA.
SHA Mexico or SHA Spain
SHA Mexico scores slightly higher on Google than Spain, 4.5 against 4.3. The method is identical and the program list is identical. The operation is younger, which is where the late lab results and the padded schedule come from.
Clients who want the real SHA experience and can travel anywhere choose Spain. Mexico earns its place when the flight decides it, which for North American clients it usually does, and when you want the Caribbean and a newer property. Our full side by side comparison goes through rooms, facilities and prices.
SHA Mexico was also the first clinic of its kind anywhere in the Americas. Whatever the criticism above, it is still the only place we know where integrative medicine of this depth sits inside a luxury beachside resort. That combination did not exist before 2024.
For what each program costs at both locations, see our SHA price breakdown or the live rates on our prices page. If you are weighing SHA against Austria, we also compare it with Lanserhof.
The Caribbean one, open since 2024
SHA Mexico
Cancun, Riviera Maya, Mexico
Serenity Ways exclusive perks
- Upgrade to higher room category, subject to availability
- Chef welcome amenity
- $100 USD wellness credit for additional wellness or spa treatments
- Early check-in, late check-out, subject to availability
Rebalance & Energize
From $2,540
2 nights · 1 guest · cheapest room
Victoire’s take
The 4.3 is the most honest number on this page. One guest gave SHA five stars and wrote that the psychologist was the only part she really liked. Another gave it three and spent the whole review on the menu. Both were at the same clinic in the same season.
An average of experiences that different does not tell you much on its own. That is why we ask what you want out of the week before we recommend anything. I always recommend the place which is the best for my clients, and sometimes this is different from what they had in mind initially.
