One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the ages can.
—“Trees” by William Wordsworth
The British poet William Wordsworth may never have run a family business. But if he had—and the family had been getting on one another’s nerves at the office—he might have invited them to get away for a weekend to absorb the silence of the woods, to deepen insights and soften souls. And if they were up against some really tough issues, they might have taken along a facilitator to keep the conversation flowing.
Of course, a vernal wood may not be everyone’s ideal locale for a family retreat. One consultant likes to take families facing succession problems to a seaside resort, believing that somehow discussing things while looking out over the ancient and eternal ocean inspires a longing to achieve generational continuity. Other families who have to put an end to entrenched personal rivalries might try a historic mansion that’s hosted landmark arbitration meetings.
The destination for a family retreat can be as humble as a campground in a state park, as rugged as a ranch, or as grand as a castle. If values or ethics are an issue, perhaps a stay near a religious mission would be appropriate. Leslie Dashew, a family business consultant in Atlanta who takes many clients on retreat, advises: “Pick the site that can best help you achieve your objectives. Then milk it for all its worth.”
To help you pick an appropriate site, we describe nine venues that welcome families on retreat. Of course, there are many others. The ones we have chosen offer a variety of environments, activities, and character, and are commonly used by consultants who organize retreats. They have meeting rooms and support services to accommodate the hard work. And they offer fine dining and wonderful diversions in gorgeous locales. Nothing eases tensions like being treated well, and after the work is done you can build some happy family memories. Ultimately, it is the joy of sharing that family business is all about.
Caneel Bay
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Legendary Cottage 7 was once the island home of the Rockefeller family. This secluded, five-bedroom building makes an inspiring spot for a small family to engage in quiet reflection, while the exquisite and newly renovated resort offers 171 guest rooms and cottages.
Developed by conservation-minded Laurence S. Rockefeller, Caneel Bay is surrounded by seven different private beaches set inside the 5,000-acre Virgin Islands National Park. There’s ample opportunity for swimming, boating, diving, hiking, and all manner of contemplation. Private outings and sports excursions can be arranged, including guided tours by resident marine biologists and naturalists. There are also 11 all-weather tennis courts.
The resort offers a newly instituted children’s program and baby-sitting. And while there are no formal meeting rooms, meetings can be held in one of the resort’s five dining rooms.
Double occupancy daily rates without meals range from summer lows of $250 a night to winter peak rates in Cottage 7 of $750 a night. Package rates available.
Caneel Bay, PO Box 720, Cruz Bay, St. John, U.S.V.I. 00831-0720. Phone: 800-928-8889.
The Cloister
Sea Island, Georgia
Calvin Coolidge was one of the early guests at this resort off the Georgia coast. Now families can meet under the very same roof that sheltered the man who said, “The business of America is business,” and enjoy a landscape that also nurtured business families such as the Cranes, Rockefellers, Morgans, Carnegies, and Goulds.
The resort offers the usual amenities: golf, fine dining, beaches, and great service. But for a truly unique setting, consider the Cloister’s private Lodge at Cabin Bluff, set inside a hunting preserve an hour from the main resort. The newly opened lodge and six adjoining cabins can accommodate up to 32 people for absolute privacy.
The lakeside lodge, fully equipped to operate as a conference center, has a main meeting room and two small break rooms. From October to March there is deer and small-game hunting; guided outings require advance notice. Groups can also take guided kayak trips through the tidal waterway. Saltwater and freshwater fishing excursions and guided trail rides are also available, as are more conventional activities like tennis, golf, and swimming. Guests are also free to use the facilities of the main 262-room Cloister resort.
Rates at Cabin Bluff begin at $18,000, inclusive, for three days and up to 16 people, with $150 additional per day, per person. If that’s a bit steep, you can stay at the main resort; double occupancy rates range from $124 per day mid-winter to $319 per day during the peak spring season. Package rates available.
The Cloister, Sea Island, GA 31561. Phone: 800-SEA-ISLAND.
The Homestead
Hot Springs, Virginia
This classic Georgian-style inn began welcoming guests before the Revolutionary War, and may help you reconnect to the founding values established by your family business’s forefathers. A National Historic Landmark situated on 16,000 acres, the Homestead’s setting combines traditional Southern formality—no jeans or bathing suits in the main hall—with the four-season natural splendor of the Allegheny Mountains.
Meeting rooms at the 521-room resort can accommodate groups from 10 to 1,000. In addition to swimming and tennis, the Homestead has three golf courses, including the top-rated Cascades Course. The shooting club features skeet, trap, and sporting clays. Seemingly endless trails provide ample space for hiking, biking, and horse or carriage rides. Of particular interest to families are special guided tours through the surrounding countryside on bikes, foot, or canoe. Special children’s programs and baby-sitting services are available.
Double occupancy rates range from winter lows of $125 per person to summer highs of $527. Group rates available.
The Homestead, PO Box 2000, Hot Springs, VA 24445. Phone: 800-838-1766.
Star Brand Ranch Executive Retreat
Kaufman, Texas
If you’d like a few extra ranch hands who know how to handle a family business and a discreet meeting, try the Star Brand Ranch Executive Retreat. Set within an 8,000-acre working cattle ranch near Dallas, this jewel can accommodate up to 40 people.
The conference center has two soundproof meeting rooms, board and dining rooms, and a parlor and club room with a view of the ranch. The 20-room guest house is rimmed by a rocking chair lined veranda. The three-meal-a-day catering is Southern style. Guests have access to ranch facilities, including tennis, swimming, and some of the best black bass fishing in Texas. Golf, skeet, and horseback riding are also available.
Presidents and sports legends have stayed at Star Brand Ranch, but the folks who run this family-owned business won’t say who. This doesn’t surprise guests who’ve stayed there. They say the service is extraordinary for both helpfulness and discretion.
Rates are $235 per person, single occupancy; $195 per, double occupancy.
Star Brand Ranch Executive Retreat, PO Box 660, Kaufman, TX 75142. Phone: 214-932-2714.
Miraval
Catalina, Arizona
Vogue recently named Miraval “the spa of the moment.” Set in the pristine Santa Catalina Mountains outside Tucson, the resort provides leisure activities aimed at stress reduction that are nicely geared for family groups: from yoga, meditation, and t’ai chi workshops to desert trail rides and confidence courses requiring group participation. Each guest also has access to a personal guide who helps design a fitness program, which can include traditional resort activities. Private group programs can be easily arranged, too.
Meeting rooms at Miraval can accommodate 8 to 120. The programs are generally not geared for children under 18. Per person double occupancy rates in the 106 casita-style rooms range from $370 per night July through September to $1,020 October through May. Group packages available.
Miraval, 5000 E. Via Estancia Miraval, Catalina, AZ 85739. Phone: 800-232-3969.
Enchantment Resort
Sedona, Arizona
The magnificent red-rocked Boynton Canyon offers privacy in an area rich with prehistoric Indian ruins and natural beauty. Enchantment’s 112 guest rooms range from spacious studios with private decks and outdoor grills to two-bedroom haciendas with full kitchens and living rooms large enough to accommodate small gatherings. Meeting rooms on the property can hold 20 to 100.
Standing at the base of the remarkable cliff dwellings, built by the Anasazi Indians as early as the year 1100, can jog a family’s memories of the values and sensibilities of its own ancestors, and perhaps rekindle a sense of communal mission. For the explorer, Enchantment also offers a wide variety of jeep tours and guided hikes around the striking mesas. A star-gazing deck can carry a sense of discovery well into the night. Tennis, golf, swimming, and horseback riding are also available.
The resort offers a children’s program and evening baby-sitting services. Daily rates range from $195 per person single or double occupancy in studios to $595 for the largest hacienda. Package rates require a 10-room, two-night minimum.
Enchantment Resort, 525 Boynton Canyon Rd., Sedona, AZ 86336. Phone: 520-282-2900.
El Encanto
Santa Barbara, California
Once a watering hole for movie stars during Hollywood’s Golden Age—Hedy Lamarr is said to have come for a weekend and stayed for years—El Encanto is so romantic silver-haired couples are often seen smooching in the lobby.
The 83 cottages and garden villas are set on 10 secluded acres of cultivated landscape, complete with lily pond and strategically set gliding benches. Views open to the Pacific Ocean and the red-tiled roofs of Santa Barbara.
Meeting rooms can accommodate from 18 to 60. The inn has a pool and tennis courts, and is within walking distance of Mission Santa Barbara, the 200-year-old Spanish religious stronghold. Off-grounds activities include golf, hiking, biking, wide sandy beaches, and ample sightseeing by land or water. You might even catch a glimpse of a whale.
Room rates start at $180 and go to $1,150 for the two-bedroom Presidential Villa. Group rates available.
El Encanto, 1900 Lasuen Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93103. Phone: 800-346-7039.
Essex House
New York City
Manhattan does not conform with every person’s idea of getting away from it all. But for families who share an interest in culture—or shopping—New York might be the place to convene. Essex House, which overlooks Central Park, is around the block from Carnegie Hall and minutes from Broadway, the Museum of Modern Art, and Lincoln Center. And the 595-room hotel is trying to be more family-friendly, with a new children’s menu, and toys for the little ones.
Essex House’s extensive meeting facilities are also prime for go-go families who want to hammer out business goals. There are even boardrooms where you can stage meetings of a dozen directors to 375 shareholders. A fully equipped business center is available on an hourly or daily basis for executives who can’t quite get away from it all.
Rates vary from $295 single occupancy to $2,500 for the presidential suite. Group packages available.
Essex House, 160 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019. Phone: 212-247-0300.
Mohonk Mountain House
New Paltz, New York
If family members are ready to fight, sue, or disown each other, then try Mohonk Mountain House, a National Historic Landmark that has a history of fostering arbitration. Founded by twin brothers, Mohonk has been run by the same Quaker family for 128 years. Its history of hosting meetings began in 1895 with the first of 30 Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration. The rambling 273-room Victorian building, overlooing a glacial lake, is filled with nooks and alcoves and has rocker-lined balconies and verandas that invite conversation and down-to-earth reflection. In summer, members of the Smiley family conduct morning prayers and meditations, which can’t hurt.
Meeting rooms accommodate from 10 to 275. The resort has 85 miles of wooded paths and trails dotted with 128 gazebos. In addition to hiking, swimming, golf, tennis, and boating—with ice-skating and cross-country skiing in winter—Mohonk offers a rock-climbing ropes course designed to promote group cooperation. A children’s program runs days and evenings.
Per person rates range from $109 to $380 daily. Package rates available.
Mohonk Mountain House, Lake Mohonk, New Paltz, NY 12561. Phone: 800-772-6646.
Marcia Stamell is completing a book about her 17,000 mile journey around America.