Mountains beyond mountains:
A pristine day at Sleeping
Lady Mountain Retreat
Two years ago, Dorothy Randall left her
high-stress job as a meeting planner for Schering-Plough in
Kenilworth, N.J., to create a space for her peers to get away. She
opened Retreat Art Omi in Ghent, N.Y., a small nonprofit retreat
center that hosts meetings for groups of people who need to get out
from under the gun.
“Everyone who drives up the hill says suddenly all of the
tension is gone,” Randall notes.
Hundreds of simple, peaceful centers promise similar solace.
What’s more, companies without big meeting budgets will have no
trouble affording the low-tech, no-frills serenity such properties
offer.
“If you want the safe bet located just off a main artery, a
retreat center might not be for your group,” says Dawna Foreman,
co-founder of All About Retreats, a website that lists retreat
centers throughout the United States.
She adds, “If, on the other hand, you really want an
environment that is out of the box and many mental miles from the
lights and sounds of the city, a retreat might be just the right
thing.”
What to expect
A retreat center is a dedicated meeting venue in a natural setting.
If it’s not hours from a city, it should at least lack the sounds
of cars buzzing by on highways. And, unlike conference centers,
which might welcome leisure business to fill empty rooms, retreat
centers seldom are available for individual travelers. Some other
important criteria most retreat centers share:
Purposely small. Retreat centers vary in size,
but most have a modest number of guest accommodations on a large
plot of land. Often, a meeting group will rent out the whole
facility, though some centers host multiple groups at once.
Low-tech. At most properties, rooms don’t have
televisions or telephones. At a proper conference retreat facility,
A/V equipment and a business center with Internet access will be
available.
Serious about food. It might seem
counterintuitive, but often, the meals are gourmet, organic,
healthy and extremely inexpensive. Almost without exception, food
is served buffet-style, which makes it easy to accommodate special
diets.
“The food is the most important thing for our guests,” says
Randall. “You feed them well and they think you’re wonderful.”
Extremely affordable. Room prices for the most
basic of centers start at about $20 per night. The most expensive
rarely crawl above $100, and complete meeting packages (including
all meals and meeting facilities) usually are less than $200 per
person, per day, especially for double and triple occupancy.
Importantly, you get what you pay for, and most centers don’t hide
costs or add gratuities. Everything is laid out clearly at the
start; rarely are there surprises in the final bill.
For example, at Colombiere Conference Center in Clarkston,
Mich., a complete meeting package, including accommodations,
F&B and meeting space, starts at $49. A daylong meeting with
lunch costs just $16 per person.
The prices are low because there’s so little overhead. At
Retreat Art Omi, where the meeting package costs $135, “I don’t
have room service, I don’t have swimming pools, and I don’t have a
golf course,” says Randall. “What I have are very well-appointed,
simple rooms where people come to get away from the world.”
Morning view:
A simple, elegant room at
Retreat Art Omi in Ghent, N.Y.
How to find one
Because retreat centers don’t carry brand names and can’t afford
heavy advertising, it might be difficult to find the right one.
“Every center is so unique, so the standards are nonexistent in a
way,” says Dawna Foreman. “If a place has been in business for a
while, serving groups, that’s a plus.” Other tips to consider:
Search the web. Two trustworthy paid listings
are at www.allaboutretreats.com and www.retreatsonline.com. All About Retreats maps out
properties by region and screens out those that don’t measure up.
Retreats Online focuses mainly on Canadian facilities but includes
some U.S. retreats, too. It has separate pages specifically for
business retreats and those with meeting space. A third site, www.spiritsite.com/centers, lists more than 100
centers for spiritual and religious retreats.
Also look at the individual retreat center’s website, advises
Randall. The quality of the site often will correlate with the
quality of the property. “If they have a website, you can be pretty
sure they’re not in a farmhouse somewhere,” Randall says.
Stay local. There’s no reason to put attendees
on a plane when retreat centers of every kind can be found all over
the country. Choose one within a few hours’ drive; after all,
silence nearby feels as good as silence anywhere.
Get references. It might seem obvious, but
especially with retreat centers, ask for two or three references
from groups similar to your own. Talking with peers who have been
there can mean just as much as all the site inspecting in the
world.
Document your needs. Before heading out for a
site inspection (which is utterly essential in the unregulated
industry of retreats), make a thorough list of everything the
meeting will require, and make sure the venue can accommodate those
needs. Centers that specialize in conferences should have most of
the basics, but it’s always wise to check.
Among items worth asking about:
" Digital projector and screen
" Internet access
" Ropes course
" Heat and air conditioning
" Single-occupancy rooms
" Comfortable beds
" Private bathrooms
" Telephones in the rooms
Test for comfort. When inspecting the center,
treat the accommodations as though they’re an apartment you’re
planning to rent. Turn the knobs on the faucets and lie down on the
beds. Most centers are modern and comfortable, but be careful to
avoid the few that are too Spartan for city dwellers.
Consider religious affiliations. Be aware that
some centers, though amenable to secular retreats, are run by
religious organizations and might not allow alcohol on the
premises. These centers also might enforce quiet after a certain
hour, which would preclude late-night parties. In addition, notes
Foreman, religious iconography at some centers could discomfort
some. Keep in mind that the content of the meeting should not clash
with the religion’s credos.
Religious retreat centers do have their benefits, most notably
in terms of cost. For instance, at Shady Lakes Ranch, a retreat
center with a religious bent in Cleburne, Texas, nightly prices for
nonprofits and church groups start at $24 per night, and meals are
$21 per day. Prices for corporations are higher but still quite
reasonable.
Taste the food. Find out if dietary needs are
accommodated, such as low-carb, gluten-free, vegan or kosher. If
you want to bring in a caterer for a special meal, it won’t be
frowned upon, but ask if the caterer can use the center’s kitchen
for prep work; often the answer is no.
Sunshine and shadow:
Overlooking the courtyard at
the Kennolyn Conference Center
Planning the visit
Some retreat centers are so like traditional conference centers
that planning will be a snap. Purchase a complete meeting package
and work out the itinerary, then focus your energies on meeting
content.
However, logistics can be trickier at centers that will appeal
to the lowest-budget meetings. These venues might not have adequate
A/V, and you might need to hire local suppliers for any activities
beyond volleyball and hiking. Most properties, however, will be
flexible if outside equipment or personnel need to be brought
in.
Beyond meeting rooms. Finding enough meeting
space at the most rustic of retreats can take some creativity.
Indoor and outdoor areas that can double as meeting spaces might
not have conveniences like projection screens or climate control.
Yet, unique settings can enhance the experience; it might even be
fun to brainstorm in a barn or along a scenic riverbank.
Meal planning. The F&B component at any
retreat center will be simplified due to limited choices. At the
Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat in Leavenworth, Wash., for example,
the chef prepares whatever inspires him, based on available
ingredients, and customizes only for special requests.
An off-site meal might be arranged, perhaps at a restaurant in
town, if the group wants a change of scenery or menu. Then again,
groups rarely take a night off at Kennolyn Conference Center in
Soquel, Calif., even though the place is five minutes from Santa
Cruz. “Once you get up here, you don’t want to leave,” says April
Estrada, meeting and retreat sales manager.
Prepping the group. “I’ve only seen one group
go south here in the entire time I’ve been here,” says Sarah
Reynolds, director of sales and marketing for Sleeping Lady
Mountain Retreat. “The attendees came in suits and high heels, as
though they were going to be in a downtown mega-hotel.”
Had the meeting planner emphasized to attendees that the
conference would be held in a rustic setting, Reynolds explains,
everyone would have been prepared for the retreat. Especially if a
retreat represents a change of pace for a meeting, attendees should
be told what to expect and what to pack.