Silence
Team Away Day: Getting Your Team Out of the Office
Short answer — A retreat venue gives a team a setting for genuine disconnection, shared meals, and a quality of silence that rests the mind. It does not replace a training day, group coaching, or a strategic decision-making session. What you get out of it depends largely on what you are looking for.
What you leave behind, not only what you find
Most corporate away days take place in out-of-town hotels, conference rooms hired by the day, or holiday cottages equipped with a projector. The setting changes, but the way of working stays the same: a packed agenda, a phone within reach, meetings that overrun.
Getting your team out of the office is not enough if the team brings the office along with it.
A retreat venue operates on a different logic. It is designed to slow things down, not to produce output. That is not a criticism; it is a useful clarification before you book. If your goal is to finalise a strategic plan over two days, a retreat venue is probably not the right choice. If your goal is to let your colleagues breathe, to rediscover a sense of presence with one another, and to return with a clearer head, then the setting can make a real difference.
What a venue like Casa Lotus Azul can offer a team
Casa Lotus Azul comprises two granite quintas in the Minho, twenty minutes from Braga and on the edge of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. One hectare of garden, a river below, mountains all around, no neighbours. This is not a conference centre. There is a large, light-filled hall with wide windows opening onto the garden, a table where everyone sits together, a garden where you can walk, sit, or simply do nothing.
What the venue offers in practical terms:
- Group accommodation at Quinta Lotus Azul, nine bedrooms in a renovated stone building, which keeps the team together without dispersing across several hotels or separate houses.
- Plant-based meals prepared from the kitchen garden, eaten together. Sharing a meal around a proper table, without getting up to collect a tray, changes the quality of informal exchanges.
- Physical quiet: no traffic, no urban background noise. For teams accustomed to open-plan offices, that silence alone is already a change of mode.
- A phone handed in on arrival and returned at the end, if the group chooses this option. This deserves a genuine discussion with participants beforehand: a 72-hour digital detox is not trivial for people who are not prepared for it.
What you should not expect from it
To be straightforward: a stay at a retreat venue does not resolve internal tensions within a team. It does not replace a team-building process led by an HR professional or an organisational coach. It does not produce deliverables.
If your team is dealing with a serious conflict between two members, if a difficult reorganisation has just been announced, if morale is very low for structural reasons, changing the scenery will not solve these problems. It may even make them more visible, because silence and slowing down bring to the surface what was submerged in the daily bustle.
That is not a flaw in the venue. It is simply a characteristic to factor into your decision.
Formats that work
The free-form restorative stay
A group of at least four people can stay at Casa Lotus Azul outside retreat dates from €130 per person per night, full board. No set programme. You organise your days as you see fit: a morning of collective work if you wish, free afternoons, shared meals.
This format suits small teams that need time together without a tight agenda. A leadership team of four to six people wanting to think through a project over two nights, without the pressure of a minute-by-minute schedule, will find a suitable setting here.
The stay with complimentary guided meditation
For groups arriving via the organiser package, a guided meditation is offered to the group. For colleagues who have never meditated, a single well-led session can be enough to give them a sense of what it feels like to sit still for twenty minutes without producing anything. It transforms no one. It opens a door.
Fabiana has been leading retreats for twenty-seven years, from Guadeloupe to Costa Rica before Portugal. She knows how to welcome beginners, sceptics, and tired people. She promises nothing and prescribes nothing.
The silent retreat for individuals within the team
A company can also invite its employees to take part individually in the "Return to Self" retreat: three days, two nights, €360 per person, all inclusive, a maximum of eight participants. This is not a team seminar. It is personal time that a company may choose to support.
Colleagues who are overstretched, going through a professional transition, or simply in need of perspective, may find in this format something that a corporate wellbeing day cannot give them. If one of them is going through a recent bereavement, a separation or a period of psychological fragility, it is best for them to speak to a health professional first. The article The Benefits of Silence: Three Days Without Speaking explores what three days without speaking can change, without promising anything.
The question of silence in a workplace context
The noble silence observed during the "Return to Self" retreat — participants do not speak to one another, but may address Fabiana in writing — is not a format suited to a conventional team seminar. A team that comes to work together needs to be able to talk.
That said, incorporating periods of silence into a seminar programme is an idea that more teams should consider. An hour of silent walking in the morning, a meal without an agenda, a morning with no scheduled meetings: these breathing spaces change the quality of what follows.
If you are curious to understand how silence affects people who encounter it, the article Your First Silent Retreat: 10 Fears, and the Reality can give you an idea of what your colleagues might experience if you include elements of silence in your programme.
The figures for a group
| Format | Price | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Free-form stay (group) | From €130 / person / night, full board | Minimum 4 people, outside retreat dates |
| Organiser package | €4,480 for 8 people, 5 days / 4 nights | Hall hire, nights and meals included; meditation complimentary |
| "Return to Self" retreat (individual) | €360 / person, all inclusive | 3 days / 2 nights, max 8 participants |
For the organiser package, the arithmetic is straightforward: €4,480 for eight people comes to €560 per participant. For comparison, organisers who resell this type of stay generally offer it at between €850 and €1,200 per participant. Special conditions for the organiser are available on request.
To compare these prices with what other venues offer, the article How Much Do Retreat Venues Charge? The Real Price Grid gives a broad overview of the market.
How to prepare for the stay
A successful group stay begins before arrival. A few practical points:
Clarify the collective intention. Why is this team going away together? If everyone has a different answer to that question, the stay will feel unfocused. It is worth spending fifteen minutes in a meeting, before you leave, to align expectations.
Brief people on the setting. A retreat venue operates differently from a hotel. Meals are plant-based and eaten together. If some colleagues have specific dietary requirements, that is something to sort out in advance. The retreat venue booking checklist is useful for anticipating this kind of practical detail.
Decide together what to do with phones. This point often sparks debate. Some colleagues have genuine family commitments that make handing in a phone impossible. It is better to discuss this openly than to impose a rule that breeds resentment. The level of disconnection is decided with you: a complete break, or connection maintained for working sessions. A contact number remains reachable for family members during silent retreats; this is a precaution that can be adapted for group stays.
Leave unplanned time. The temptation is to fill every hour. That is precisely what prevents the setting from having its effect. The garden, the river, the surrounding mountains: these elements serve no purpose if the programme is as packed as an ordinary week in the office.
What Fabiana has observed over twenty-seven years
Fabiana has led retreats in very different contexts, from Guadeloupe to Costa Rica, before settling in Portugal. What she observes, stay after stay, probably applies to teams too: the people who take something away are not those who had the best working sessions. They are the ones who were willing to slow down long enough to notice something.
That something is difficult to name. It is not a revelation, not a transformation. It is more a recovered lightness, a capacity to listen that returns when the background noise has fallen silent. For colleagues who work in high-pressure environments, that lightness has real practical value.
What the venue does not do for you
Casa Lotus Azul is not a team-building provider. There is no team cohesion facilitator, no non-violent communication workshop, no high ropes course. If you need those things, you will need to bring them with you, with an outside facilitator you have sourced independently.
The venue provides the setting, the meals, the accommodation, and — if you wish — a guided meditation. The rest depends on you, your team, and what you have decided together before arriving.
That is both a limitation and a quality. Here, no one manages your team for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is the venue suitable for people who have never meditated? Yes. The guided meditation offered to groups is accessible to beginners. Fabiana always adapts her approach to the people present. There is nothing to master before you arrive.
Can we organise a seminar with presentations and a projector? The large, light-filled hall can accommodate a working group. For equipment, such as a projector, it is best to check via WhatsApp, before booking, what is available on site.
How many people can the venue accommodate? The Quinta Lotus Azul has nine bedrooms. The organiser package is designed for eight people. For a different group size, tell us about your project: exclusive use of the venue is planned together with you.
Can meals be adapted to specific dietary requirements? The cuisine is plant-based and prepared from the kitchen garden; meals can be vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free on request. For any particular dietary need — allergy, intolerance — this should be raised in advance, during the initial exchange with Fabiana.
Is handing in phones compulsory for group stays? No. That rule applies to silent retreats. For group stays, the group itself decides what it wishes to do. Fabiana can advise you according to the intention of your stay.
How does arrival work for a group? As with individual retreats, an exchange takes place before the visit, most often via WhatsApp. For groups on the organiser package, arrival is scheduled at 3 pm before dinner, and departure at 2 pm after lunch.
Is the venue accessible from Braga or Porto? Casa Lotus Azul is twenty minutes from Braga and about an hour from Porto airport. The easiest way is to come by car; if the group is arriving by plane, train or bus, let us know: we will advise you on the best route and can help arrange a transfer.
Can special conditions be obtained for the organiser? Yes. Organiser conditions are available on request, to be discussed directly via WhatsApp.
For any questions about availability, formats, or prices, write to Fabiana on WhatsApp at +351 912 823 422. That is the most direct way to get a precise answer for your situation.
This article is informative and does not replace medical advice. In case of recent bereavement, a painful separation or psychological fragility, please speak to a health professional before booking.
Also worth reading
Filling Your Retreat: What Actually WorksOur “Return to Self” retreat
Three days in noble silence, in a group of no more than eight, in the heart of the Minho. €360 per person, all inclusive.
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