Island View Retreat
A Lakefront Offsite Your Team Will Actually Remember
Conference-room offsites produce conference-room thinking. Island View Retreat puts a team of up to 16 on a private lakefront property with a great room for full-group sessions, a screened porch and deck for breakouts, and a beach, dock, and fire pit for the unstructured hours where the real alignment happens. Three hours from Toronto, two from Ottawa — far enough to feel away, close enough for a Tuesday-to-Thursday.
Who It's For
Startups and small companies, leadership teams, and remote-first teams that meet in person a few times a year. Groups that want planning sessions in the morning, something genuinely fun in the afternoon, and one property where the whole team cooks, talks, and stays together — instead of scattering to hotel rooms at 5pm.
Why Big Gull Lake
Sessions and Breakouts, Built In
The great room hosts the full team; the screened porch, deck bar, and picnic table each take a breakout group. Four separate work zones without booking a single meeting room.
The Whole Team Under One Roof
16 real beds across 5 bedrooms and a waterfront bunkie. The conversations that justify an offsite happen at breakfast and around the fire — not in a hotel lobby at checkout.
Team Building That Isn't Cringe
A fishing derby off the dock, canoe races to the islands, a paddleboard learning curve everyone laughs through — the equipment is included and nobody has to do a trust fall.
Midweek Rates Work in Your Favour
Shoulder-season and midweek stays start at $600/night for the entire property — a two-night offsite for 12 can cost less than one hotel conference package.
Honest Connectivity
WiFi (10 Mbps) handles docs, email, and a hybrid check-in call. It's an offsite for thinking and talking — not for sixteen simultaneous video streams, and that's rather the point.
What You Can Do Here
Morning Sessions
Full-group planning in the great room or on the screened porch with coffee and the lake as the backdrop.
Fishing Derby
Walleye, bass, pike, and perch off the dock — split into teams, tally the catch, settle it over dinner.
Paddle Expeditions
Two canoes, two kayaks, and two paddleboards included; Big Gull Lake's 30+ islands make a natural team destination.
Boat Rental Upgrade
Camp's Bay Marina next door rents fishing boats and pontoons ($99–$219/day) if the team wants a full lake tour.
BBQ & Fire Pit
A Weber BBQ dinner cooked by the founders, then the fire pit under dark skies — the agenda item nobody skips.
Solo Recharge
Introverts get a dock, a beach, and 1.2 acres of room to breathe between sessions — an underrated offsite feature.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people can an offsite host?
Up to 16 overnight guests in real beds across 5 bedrooms and a waterfront bunkie — 2 queens, 5 doubles, and 2 singles. For teams pairing up in doubles, 10–12 is the comfortable sweet spot.
Is the WiFi good enough to work?
WiFi runs at 10 Mbps — solid for documents, email, planning tools, and a hybrid call, but not for the whole team on simultaneous video meetings. Most teams schedule the offsite to be heads-together time and lean into it.
What does a team offsite cost?
Shoulder-season and midweek stays start at $600/night for the whole property with a 3-night minimum; summer peak is $6,850/week. A three-night offsite for 12 people can land around $150 per person — including the venue, breakout spaces, and all activities.
Where can breakout groups work?
Four distinct zones: the great room, the screened porch (seats 8), the deck bar (seats 4), and the deck picnic table (seats 8) — plus the dock and beach for walking one-on-ones.
How do teams handle meals?
Most teams cook together — the full kitchen with dishwasher and Weber BBQ handle 16 easily, and shared cooking is quietly the best team-building on the agenda. Dining capacity is 28, so everyone eats at once.
How far is it from the office?
About 3 hours from Toronto, 2 hours from Ottawa, and 1.5 hours from Kingston. Teams typically arrive by lunch on day one and are back in the city by early evening on the last day.