From Cascade mountain cabins to Puget Sound beachside digs, here’s an overview of unique Seattle-accessible resorts for your next corporate retreat.
Oh-so-Washington team-building opportunities abound throughout the area, whether you’re creating rapport while rappelling or building camaraderie while assembling a whale skeleton. And the distraction-free setting can unleash creative wins for your business.
Overnight guest rooms come in different configurations and styles, ranging from quad-accommodating dormitories to double-occupancy suites — with a few yurts in the mix as well. Rates listed are what overnight per-person group rates start at (not including meeting space or fun lunch breaks), unless otherwise noted.
Affordable corporate retreats in Washington state
Fort Worden LifeLong Learning Center. Your team can dream of the fiscal year’s profits in cottages, dormitories and Victorian homes at this decommissioned historic military base. One the largest event spaces in Washington state, this Port Townsend-area resort can accommodate up to 900 people in 27 indoor venues, including a chapel, former balloon hangar and Art Deco theater. Team-building options include assembling a whale skeleton, enjoying sunset yoga on a Salish Sea beach or catching a live music performance. 396 beds. $55 and up.
Pack Forest Conference Center. Set amid Douglas firs on Mount Rainier’s western slope, this rustic getaway offers low-key cabins and dorm-style sleeping spaces. Seven meeting rooms can seat up to 200 people; team-building options include forest-ecologist-guided walks through old-growth trees — the facility is owned by the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. $50 and up, including lodging and meeting space.
Corporate off-site retreats near Seattle
Willows Lodge. A mere 18 miles from Seattle, you’ll find spacious rooms and multiple meeting venues at this Eastside retreat destination. Build your team with improv workshops, on outdoor challenges at the adjacent Adventura’s Aerial Adventure Park or with a tasting-room scavenger hunt in the 35 wine tasting rooms within walking distance. The on-site restaurant, Barking Frog, offers memorable company dinners, such as a garden BBQ buffet with cedar-plank salmon. 84 rooms. $219 and up.
IslandWood. It’s Like going to summer camp all over again, but much nicer. After all, organic linens swathe the bunk beds in each of IslandWood’s four fireplace-warmed lodges. Set on Bainbridge Island, the nonprofit-run retreat features nine meeting rooms nestled within a 250-acre campus. To build co-worker connections, cross a suspension bridge, climb up an 118-foot-tall forest canopy tower or craft an appetizer using freshly harvested greens grown on-site. 52 rooms. $213 and up, including single lodging and three meals; costs reduced with shared rooms. 52 rooms.
Cedarbrook Lodge. Just south of Seattle (near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport), you’ll find an event space with 16 light-filled indoor meeting rooms and lushly landscaped outdoor areas. Unique team-building activities include microgreen growing, a competitive cocktail-mixology course and making mozzarella with a cheesemonger. Don’t miss the resort’s complimentary offerings, which include airport shuttles, breakfast and 24-hour Haagen-Dazs and housemade malt balls. 167 guest rooms. $159 and up.
Washington state mountain retreats
Alta Crystal Resort.This cozy resort is best for a tight-knit corporate off-site, with space for up to 25 people. In the daytime, enjoy the year-round heated pool and hot tub, snowshoe tours and discounted ski lift and gondola tickets for Crystal Mountain. In the evening, roast s’mores and saw some logs in kitchen-equipped cottages and real log cabins. $179, including lodging and meeting space.
Sleeping Lady.This classic mountain resort near Leavenworth welcomes large companies or small businesses, working with groups ranging from five to 190 people, with nine meeting spaces, the Kingfisher Restaurant and a year-round hot tub. Set off on customized outdoor adventures, rappel from cliffs with Northwest Mountain School and bird-watch on walks with a wildlife biologist. 58 rooms; $195 and up (per person, double occupancy) includes lodging, three gourmet meals, meeting venue, two beverage breaks and all meeting supplies.
Washington state waterside retreats
Alderbrook Resort. Located along the saltwater Hood Canal, this resort can accommodate up to 200 people who can confer among the resort’s 10 meeting rooms — or aboard the 54-foot private yacht, The Lady Alderbrook, which acts as a floating meeting space. Enjoy laid-back group activities such as foraging-focused brunches in the Gathering Grove, a woodland dining venue within the resort’s old-growth nature trails. 93 rooms. $159 and up.
Lakedale Resort. Stay in lodge-style rooms and log cabins or go “glamping” in canvas-sided cabins, cottages, yurts — even a vintage Airstream trailer. The San Juan Island resort is best for smaller gatherings, with two on-site event spaces comfortably accommodating up to 75. Retreat participants can explore the resort’s trail-lined campus or go on off-venue adventures such as kayaking local waters or ziplining through treetops. $199 and up.
Lake Quinault Lodge. Built in 1926, the Olympic Peninsula retreat destination is on the National Register of Historic Places and offers two event spaces. Enjoy team-building options such as geotracking competitions, interpretive hikes to one of the largest spruce trees in the world and knowledge competitions led by the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. 91 rooms. $129 and up.
Semiahmoo Resort.About two hours north of Seattle and 30 minutes from Bellingham, this casual northwest Washington beach resort and spa sits on a scenic spit of land that juts into Semiahmoo Bay. Activities include yoga classes, golf, paint-and-sip sessions, culinary competitions, kayak and paddleboard rentals, pickleball, whale-watching tours, beach games (summer only) and more. 196 rooms. $129 and up.