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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (November 2026). They will be updated if Coming Home Center submits its own information.

Coming Home Center: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Deventer, Netherlands

Coming Home Center (also “ComingHome” and “Sanne & Bertrand”) is a Dutch organizer that holds two-ceremony ayahuasca weekends at a private estate near Deventer and at a farm venue in Diemen near Amsterdam, along with synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, synthetic mescaline, San Pedro and psilocybin sessions and week-long retreats in Portugal, for up to nine guests per weekend from €640 plus a separate €10 medicine payment, per its Retreat Guru page. Guests rate it 4.94 from 19 reviews on BookRetreats. Against that, ayahuasca is illegal in the Netherlands, its facilitators give first names only with no company shown, it publishes no contraindications, medical staff or emergency plan, and one review contains leftover AI-prompt text.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: A private estate close to Deventer station, Overijssel, Netherlands, whose address is sent a week before, and a renovated farm in Diemen near Amsterdam; Portugal retreats are held at a rented alpaca farm hotel near Grândola, per its listings.
• Approach: Two ayahuasca ceremonies per weekend with rapé, connected breathwork and sharing circles; a four-day intensive adds San Pedro, and other dates offer synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, synthetic mescaline and psilocybin. The facilitators say they are not shamans or therapists.
• Suitable For: Adults in Europe wanting a short, non-traditional ceremony weekend who accept the legal risk and screen themselves. Not suitable for people taking antidepressants or with heart or psychiatric conditions.
• Costs: €640 to €740 for an ayahuasca weekend and €1,065 for the four-day intensive, each plus €10 paid directly for medicine; Portugal’s seven-day retreat is €2,540 plus €100 for medicine, per its Portugal program page. Retreat Guru allows a deposit refund until a day before, while BookRetreats refunds the $139 deposit only 30 or more days out.
• Overall Assessment: Small groups, an intake call and consistently warm reviews, offset by illegal medicines, anonymous operators, no published medical safeguards and review-integrity problems. Directory evaluation: C.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

BookRetreats shows 4.94 from 19 reviews (18 five-star, one four-star) from October 2025 to October 2026, per its organizer page, and Retreat Guru shows 5.0. Guests praise warm, knowledgeable hosts, a safe space, the setting and the food; one five-star 5-MeO-DMT review found other participants’ noise hard at a vulnerable moment. One BookRetreats review begins “Here is a natural, well-written version you can use for the form”, one review appears on both an ayahuasca and a San Pedro listing, and the same review pool is shown across different medicines. No reviews of 3 stars or lower were found, and none on Google, Tripadvisor or Trustpilot. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English and Dutch-language news for reports involving Coming Home Center and its facilitators Joost, Sanne, Bertrand and Senta.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and fraud: None found.
• Legal action: None found.

The facilitators publish no surnames, which limits this search.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with this center, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Who runs it. Joost, a former Amsterdam builder turned holistic counselor who moved to Deventer to create the space, is described by a reviewer as the owner, per his profile. Sanne leads ceremonies and says she has drunk ayahuasca since 2014 and trained as a facilitator at Proceswerk in Groningen, per her profile; Bertrand cites close to 100 ceremonies and harm-reduction training from ICEERS, per his profile (both unverified). No lineage is claimed, and no surnames, company or registration number are published.

Screening and medical support. Guests complete an intake form and video call, and an information document on contraindications is mentioned but not published. No medical staff or emergency protocol is described. The seven-day Portugal program schedules synthetic 5-MeO-DMT on days six and seven after three ayahuasca ceremonies, without stating the gap. Deventer’s hospital is in the same town; the estate’s distance from it is not published.

Listings. Group limits (six to 14), bedroom counts, the venue for the December 2026 weekend and refund terms differ between platforms, and Retreat Guru lists a spa and pool while the text says the sauna is still being built.

Status. Operating since at least August 2025, with dates listed from December 2026 to July 2027.

Legal context. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that ayahuasca falls under the hard-drugs law, per DutchNews, and in February 2025 an unrelated organizer was convicted of preparing and supplying ayahuasca at a retreat in Eersel, per the Oost-Brabant court. Pure mescaline is also illegal, per Drug Science.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Following ayahuasca with 5-MeO-DMT, a serotonergic drug, without a published gap or screening is a serious concern. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes it dangerous with SSRIs and other serotonergic drugs and that it is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

“Sacred psychedelic plant medicine from South America”, with no source or brewer named. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: A green estate near Deventer with a hexagonal ceremony room, fireplace and natural swimming pond, per its listings.
• Rooms: Shared rooms for two to four people; bring bedding or rent it for €10.
• Style: Modern, non-traditional ceremonies with breathwork and synthetic medicines, run by a Dutch team.

Practical guidance: Travel by train to Deventer or Diemen-Zuid for pickup; airport transfers are not included.

Should You Book?

Consider the legal risk first. Ask in writing for the facilitators’ full names and company, the contraindication document, who on site is trained in first aid, the emergency plan, the gap between ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT in Portugal and which refund terms apply. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Coming Home began listing retreats in August 2025 and has since added Diemen, Ruurlo and Portugal dates. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing and plan any change with your own doctor. After you return: Use the follow-up call offered and arrange support from a qualified therapist at home. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Dates are listed on Retreat Guru and BookRetreats. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed November 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.