I need some help coming up with cool ideas for our next company retreat. Will take place next ~May. We are a completely remote company with employees from all over the country so this is a big deal for us annually, and we want to do it well.

Parameters:

$500 per person per night hotel + food/drinks (3 nights total)
Some place on site to have meetings for ~35 people

Total budget all in (no flights): 50-55k

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Anybody have any ideas or experience in this area?

Is there a destination in mind? As a travel advisor there are a lot of options that would fit your criteria. If you need direction and help planning please reach out as my contact info is in my signature

Good luck with people all over the country coming in do you want more Central US ? Or one coast and let the others beotch?

Beach ? Mountains? Desert ?

I booked a company out of Houston (fellow Texager) last month for a company trip for June to Cancun.

There are lots of places you can look at if you are willing to travel outside of the country (Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic). I've done group cruises too.

In the US I would look at some of your nicer resorts. In Texas I really like the JW Marriott in San Antonio. JW Marriott on Marco Island (Florida) has amazing reviews and my clients have loved it.

There are some nice resorts in Puerto Rico if you want something a little different. Depending on the time of the year, Colorado could be a great option.

JW Marriott Starr Pass - Tucson

Gaylord Nashville

Just two places that immediately came to mind.

The Broadmoor.

We do something similar, but 2x per year. Most of us reside in Houston, but plenty of directors live out of state.

The Omni in Nashville has been the best so far. Everything was great (rooms, meeting rooms, Broadway, Printers Alley, restaurants, etc.).

The Broadmoor Hotels in Phoenix and Colorado Springs are nice options too.

We are doing our SKO next week here: https://www.skamania.com/

I haven't been, but our leadership went out last month and came back talking about how amazing it is. Lot's of good team building activities (golf, archery, ropes course, etc), great accommodations including meeting space. We will have 40+ together.

Not sure on budget unfortunately. Fly into Portland and drive ~45 minutes.

I would think Vegas would pique most people's interest, or Something like Cabo/Cancun.
Or the CO Rockies somewhere, but might want to do June to get past of mud season, or Gaylord Rockies if May is a must.

These destinations are easily accessible by a short flight from most areas of the US.

Howdy - I work in this industry and put on large-scale events for a Major League Baseball team here in Texas. I'd be happy to speak with you and provide some feedback on options available. You would absolutely be able to put on this event and fall under the parameters you laid out.
The venue and surrounding area would provide all that you need for the 3 nights - hotels, entertainment district, sports, food, drinks, etc. That way it is easier for all guests attending from out of the state.

Let me know if you're interested - gig 'em ags!

We used to do a family retreat at Lost Pines and it would fit all needs.

As for company-only retreat, we went all over. Some were great at the time but would suck now. Probably rank:

Banff -- Fairmont Banff Springs
Playa Del Carmen -- pick one of the nice AI
New Orleans
Charleston
Key West
San Diego
DC
Rapid City, SD
Buena Vista, CO

Would not recommend now, though nice at the time:

Chicago
San Francisco -- could still do wine country I guess
Portland
Seattle

Hilton Los Cabos

Casa Santo Domingo in Antigua, Guatemala. Beautiful place in a beautiful city.

Personally, I'd pause before throwing a company gathering with that many people outside of the US. No matter what, there will be passport issues, additional stress/drama with folks who have never traveled international before, and possibly increased liability considerations on the company itself. If it's a "work" event and someone gets seriously injured, what would normally amount to a workers comp claim turns into emergency international medical evac on the company's nickel, etc.

The company I booked out of the country (for a Texager) bought high level insurance for everyone.

Not saying a workman's comp couldn't come into play, but what I sold them has high emergency evac on it, as well as other coverage. It's primary so this means you file with them first and not your regular insurance. Most travel insurance is secondary, which means you file first with your insurance and then with them for what wasn't covered.

Sure, there are mitigations but ultimately it's up to how much additional risk and/or complications are willing to be dealt with. I'm probably overly analytical on these things because part of my day job is to tell people their ideas are stupid because they could expose the company to unbounded risk.

Actuary or lawyer?

Engineering director

akaggie05 said:

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Engineering director

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Fancy actuary. Got it!

I have people skills dammit!

akaggie05 said:

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Engineering director

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Quote:

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I have people skills dammit!

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...does not compute...

I kid! I kid!