Guide · Offsite · Teams up to 10

Company retreat in the Swiss Alps: how to plan an offsite that actually moves something

A good offsite is not a seminar with a view. It is two days of focused work in a place that pulls the team out of its routine – and an evening when nobody looks at the clock. This checklist helps you plan, with real numbers for a house in Laax.

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As of October 2026·7-minute read

1. The goal first – then the venue

The most common weakness of offsites: the venue gets booked first and the purpose is decided later. Do it the other way round. Three typical goals that call for different formats:

Strategy and decisions (annual planning, priorities, big directional questions): 2–3 days, a small team, long uninterrupted blocks, a place without distraction.
Team and trust (new team, merger, conflict): 2 days, lots of shared time outside the agenda – cooking, walking, being outdoors.
Focused work (finish a project in a week, workation): 4–5 days, normal working days, good internet, quiet corners.

For all three: a house where the team is on its own beats a seminar room in a hotel – because the important conversations happen at the table after dinner, not at 9 am in front of the flipchart.

2. The venue: the conditions that really count

Reachable: at most two hours from the office, otherwise travel eats the first day. Laax is about 1¾ hours from Zurich, 40 minutes from Chur, also by public transport (train to Chur, PostBus to Laax).
One big table: the workshop table matters more than the projector. Ten people have to sit and write at it.
A second room: for small groups, phone calls, breaks. Living room plus kitchen is enough.
Internet that holds: video calls with head office, screen sharing, ten laptops at once.
Sleeping without debate: single rooms for everyone are rare in houses – agree in advance who shares. Five bedrooms and four bathrooms work for ten if that is said beforehand.
Outdoors: terrace, garden, a path at the door. The best break is a walk in pairs.

Casa Campanula living room with leather sofa and valley view

3. Agenda for a retreat with two nights

Day 1 – arrive by noon, lunch together (catering or home-cooked). 1.30–5 pm: review and vision at the big table, phones in the drawer. 5 pm: outside – winter hiking trail, Il Spir, Lake Cauma. 7 pm: cook, eat, an evening without agenda.

Day 2 – 8.30 am breakfast. 9 am–noon work in two groups (living room, kitchen). Noon lunch. 1.30–4 pm bring it together, prepare decisions. From 4 pm: the rest of a ski day, a trail, or Therme Vals. Evening: fondue – yes, it bonds.

Day 3 – 9–11 am: decisions, owners, dates. Check-out by 10 am is our rule; on weekdays we can talk about a later departure. Noon lunch in the village, drive home.

The rule that works: head in the morning, mountains in the afternoon, table in the evening. Plan three workshop blocks a day and you have a tired team by day two.

4. Food: cooking yourselves is part of the programme

Catering for ten is possible in mountain villages, but expensive and often unnecessary. The better option: two people per meal form the cooking team, the shopping is done on day one (Coop in Flims, Volg and bakery in Laax), dinner is an agenda item. A fondue or raclette set for ten is ready at Casa Campanula, tableware and wine glasses for everyone too. For an evening out: Tegia Larnags on the mountain (rösti, fondue) or Ustria Lags by the Laax lake.

Kitchen with large wooden table – workshop table and dining table in one

5. Budget per head – a realistic example

For a team of ten at Casa Campanula, spring or autumn, Monday to Friday (4 nights):

House, 4 nights, incl. final cleaning, Wi-Fi, parking (booked direct)	CHF 2'992	CHF 299 p. p.
Home-cooked food, 4 days, approx. CHF 35 p. p./day	CHF 1'400	CHF 140 p. p.
One dinner out, approx. CHF 60 p. p.	CHF 600	CHF 60 p. p.
Activity (ski day pass or bike pass or thermal baths), approx. CHF 70 p. p.	CHF 700	CHF 70 p. p.
Total (excluding travel)	CHF 5'692	CHF 569 p. p.

For comparison: a seminar hotel with single rooms, seminar package and dinner usually comes to CHF 250–400 per person and night in Graubünden. A two-day retreat (2 nights, low season) at the house costs CHF 1'428 – CHF 143 per person for the accommodation.

Guide prices as of October 2026; the booking calculator shows the binding price. Invoice to the company possible.

6. The mistakes we see teams make

Too much agenda. Three topics for two days is enough. The fourth comes up after dinner by itself.
No decision block. A retreat without recorded decisions and owners was an outing.
Hotel reflex. Single rooms, buffet, seminar room: comfortable, but the conversations stay on the surface.
Phones on the table. One drawer, one ritual, two hours of quiet.
Booked late. Weekdays in the low season the house is often free; weekends and holiday periods are gone months ahead.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about a retreat at the house

Can we rent the house for daytime workshops only?

We rent with overnight stays, from two nights. An offsite with at least one night is what makes the difference anyway.

How many people fit at the table?

Ten at the big dining table; a second table in the kitchen serves small groups. The living room with sofa is the second working space.

Is there an invoice for the accounts?

Yes, an invoice to the company with all the details.

Dates, team size, topic – we work out the rest with you

Send us a non-binding request. We answer personally, usually within a few hours, and tell you honestly what is possible.