If you are considering organizing a company retreat with your team members but are unsure about the destination, you might have questions such as the following:
- Is it better to choose a city or somewhere near the beach or the mountains?
- Should I pick a hotel, a holiday rental, rural accommodation, or a co-living space?
- What facilities will we need?
- How do I find a location that is good value for money?
The answer to all these questions is: it depends.
Your decision will depend on what you want to achieve during your company retreat. A hackathon, where – apart from accommodation – you only need a large room with computers, is not the same as a retreat focused on team-building activities, which might require large outdoor spaces.
Therefore, the first step is to set a list of objectives for the retreat and start your search based on them.
Whatever your objectives, we can give you some general recommendations for choosing the best location to hold a company retreat. Let’s take a closer look …
What Location to Choose to Hold a Company Retreat
When you think about a retreat, what’s the first image that comes to mind? That is, when you think of a personal retreat. Let’s do a mental exercise together:
It’s very likely that you will have imagined somewhere nice, far from the usual hustle and bustle, maybe a resort or a small coastal village, a cottage in the mountains that allows you to go for an early stroll in the crisp morning air …
Very few people think of a big city with busy streets, lots of people and unbearable traffic. And that’s because that is precisely the kind of environment you already experience on a day-to-day basis. However, the point of a retreat is to escape, even if it’s just for a moment. We want to relax for a bit and experience something new.
The same is true for a company retreat; so the first conclusion we can draw is that the ideal destination needs to be quiet, pleasant, and beautiful.
It obviously needs to have the right facilities too, such as high-speed Internet, security, and easy access. But we’ll look more closely at this a bit later on.
Hotel, Holiday Rental, Rural Accommodation, or Co-living Space?
When choosing a location for your company retreat, consider the following: Would you like a space that has been expressly designed for a retreat? In that case, you can rule out hotels, holiday rentals, and rural accommodation. Even so, let’s analyze each option separately:
Should I hold a company retreat at a hotel?
Pros:
- Separate rooms where your team members can feel at ease
- Rooms that can be rented to carry out activities
- Likely to have a good Internet connection
- Many have a 24h reception
Cons:
- You have to share the hotel with people who are there for other reasons: leisure, business, family holidays, etc.
- Even if it is a beach hotel with outdoor spaces to hold team-building activities or to relax … can you imagine doing that surrounded by families with kids?
- A city hotel is also far from ideal because, although it might be better suited to business trips, team members will feel they are working and not on a retreat.
Should I hold a company retreat at a holiday rental or rural accommodation?
Pros:
- You have more room and freedom if you rent a large house with a garden and a pool that only the team can use.
- You have common areas where to carry out joint activities.
Cons:
- You won’t have as much privacy, as the rooms will probably not have en-suite bathrooms, but one single bathroom (at the most, two) to be shared by all the occupants.
- You probably won’t have anyone to recommend you activities you can do outside the holiday rental. You might be able to ask the owner, but it won’t be the same as the service you get at a hotel, where they tend to give you better advice.
- If the holiday rental or rural accommodation is too far away from a city centre, it’s highly unlikely that you will have high-quality Internet and food shopping might prove difficult without private transport.
- You probably won’t have dedicated rooms to carry out more work-related activities. Would you work in the living room? Where would you put your laptops? What happens if you need a projector?
Should I hold a company retreat at a co-living space?
What if we told you that there is a place that combines all the best features of a hotel and a holiday rental, and is ideal for holding a company retreat?
Co-living spaces are the ideal location for a company retreat, as they tend to have
- separate rooms with en-suite bathrooms;
- rooms equipped with anything you might need to carry out work-related or team-building activities;
- a good Internet connection;
- reception staff who provide personalized attention;
- common areas to carry out activities together: kitchen, dining room, terrace, living room, etc.;
- easy access by different means of transport;
and, most importantly, these are dedicated spaces for the exclusive use of remote workers, digital nomads, or a company’s team members during a company retreat. Co-living spaces mean no hotel guests, no families, and no children to interrupt the team’s rest or activities.
Moreover, their philosophy suits perfectly that of a company retreat: to relax while you work, to promote interaction, to improve interpersonal relations, and to encourage creativity …
… And that’s exactly what you need!
Obviously, there can be disadvantages too, but that will depend on the type of co-living space that you choose. That’s why you should look out for the following:
- Make sure that the co-living space is located in an area with good access to amenities: restaurants, cafes, buses, small shops, and supermarkets.
- Check whether the area has a good Internet connection and that the co-living space’s broadband is sufficient.
- Inquire as to whether they have rooms suitable for the activities you would like to carry out.
- Find a co-living space with beautiful views. After all, they do say that beauty encourages creativity. 🙂
- If possible, consider a location with good weather – not too cold and not too hot, for the perfect experience.
But what about the price?
This will depend on your budget, but if you are already convinced that a co-living space is your preferred choice, you are very likely to find favorable group rates. Furthermore, there are very affordable options within the EU offering Western living standards.
In fact, at Repeople, we manage several co-living spaces in Gran Canaria where you and your team members can have a rewarding experience in an idyllic environment. With an average temperature of 25°C throughout the year, Gran Canaria has a dream climate, is less than three hours away from many European capitals, and has hundreds of activities and attractions on offer.
If you would like to find out more, email us at we@repeople.co We look forward to helping you organize your next retreat.
