Organic growth a Core focus

HAVING led Perth marketing group Core Marketing for a number of years, it seems somewhat ironic that Yvonne Renshaw doesn't signpost her new venture, Core Luxury Retreat, in Mundaring.

It's an approach Ms Renshaw admits seems contrary to standard business practice, but she is sticking to it.

"I know I really should, it's the logical thing to do. You would have thought to not have your brand out the front is sacrilege to someone like me," Ms Renshaw says.

"But I just don't want to. I don't want signs and advertising everywhere. I want the whole experience to be intimate and personal.

"That's the thing that sets us apart. That's the difference from going into a sterile hotel."

The branding Ms Renshaw is more focused on involves the retreat's strong affiliation with nature, with luxury living areas flowing effortlessly into the gentle bushland setting.

The natural theme reflects a commitment to healthy and sustainable living, not least in Ms Renshaw's one requirement of her guests - that they recycle their waste.

In return, they will be pampered from a menu heavily influenced by fresh, organic and local produce, and will be encouraged to relax and unwind with a range of activities in harmony with the surrounds.

"I call it healthy indulgence," Ms Renshaw says. "That sounds like a tautology, but my answer to a good life is balance. You can have healthy indulgence. You can indulge in the good things in life."

It is true; guests can stay up late into the night, gathering around the pool on summer nights before the pot-belly fires in winter, but the next morning they can replenish with a continental breakfast of fruit, pastries and yoghurts.

While Ms Renshaw is a nutrition enthusiast, she doesn't ask her guests to go without, providing full cream as well as light and organic versions of everything.

After a healthy breakfast, guests can work up their energies swimming in the pool, trekking in the surrounding bush, have a work out at the gym or a massage.

Likewise with her philosophy on signposting Core, Ms Renshaw has shunned traditional advertising since opening the retreat as a commercial venue on April 1 last year.

"I prefer to just let it happen through word of mouth," she says. "I'm happy to keep it low-key and let it grow at its own rate," she says.