Why the 24-Hour Retreat Is Becoming the New Executive Meeting
Executive Meetings. Made Personal.
Not every meeting needs three days away.
As organisations balance tighter budgets, busy calendars and the need for meaningful face-to-face connection, many are rethinking how they bring teams together. While traditional retreats and conferences continue to have their place, there is growing demand for a format that delivers the benefits of an overnight stay without the time commitment and complexity of a multi-day event.
For Executive Assistants and Personal Assistants, it’s a familiar challenge. How do you create enough space for strategic thinking, collaboration and relationship building while remaining practical for approvals, budgets and diaries?
Increasingly, the answer is the 24-hour retreat.
Leadership and governance experts have long recognised the value of stepping away from day-to-day operational demands to create dedicated space for strategic thinking, alignment and decision-making. The Australian Institute of Company Directors identifies retreats as an important opportunity for leaders to focus on longer-term priorities and strengthen communication beyond the pressures of daily business.
More meaningful than a day meeting. Easier than a traditional retreat.
Making Every Hour Count
When teams gather for a day meeting, the agenda often competes with emails, deadlines and the pressure to return to the office.
An overnight format changes the dynamic.
The value of an overnight meeting isn’t the extra night. It’s what happens because of it.
Some of the most important discussions don’t happen during the meeting itself. They happen over dinner, during an evening walk or at breakfast the following morning. Ideas evolve, relationships strengthen and teams connect in ways that simply aren’t possible between back-to-back appointments.
Imagine concluding an afternoon strategy session at Peppers Soul Surfers Paradise before continuing conversations over dinner at the newly opened Valentina, overlooking the coastline as the day’s discussions continue into the evening. Or gathering at Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour, where a leadership meeting is complemented by dinner at two-hatted Flaminia, with front-row views of one of the world’s most iconic harbours. At Mantra Mooloolaba Beach, teams can step from the meeting room into the vibrant beachfront precinct, including the newly opened Pavilion Mooloolaba, creating another opportunity to connect, celebrate success and continue conversations beyond the formal agenda.
That’s the difference between simply meeting and making every hour count.
A Simpler Way to Plan
Executive Meetings. Made Personal. is Accor’s new executive meeting concept, available across selected Pullman, Peppers, Art Series, The Sebel and Mantra properties.
Designed specifically for leadership sessions, strategy workshops, executive meetings and small-scale retreats, the Executive Meeting Package combines one night’s accommodation, buffet breakfast, a full day and half day of conferencing, and standard in-house AV into a single packaged per-person rate.
Hosted across iconic city and coastal destinations, the package makes it easier for teams to meet closer to home while still delivering the benefits traditionally associated with larger retreats.
The package brings together accommodation, buffet breakfast, conferencing and built-in AV into a single per-person rate, giving planners a clear cost from the outset while retaining the flexibility to personalise the experience.
Across Accor’s apartment-led portfolio, delegates also benefit from the additional space and comfort of apartment-style accommodation. Unlike a traditional hotel room, apartment-style accommodation gives delegates room to work, meet informally and unwind, helping extend the value of the overnight stay beyond the formal agenda.
And because every team is different, the package can easily be enhanced with private dining, team-building activities or wellness experiences, transforming a simple overnight meeting into a high-impact retreat.
Rewarding the Planner
Through Accor’s Let’s Make It ALL Meeting Planner promotion, contract signatories can earn 2X ALL Meeting Planner Reward points on new eligible meetings and events contracted and held by 31 December 2026.
Points can be redeemed for future stays, events and experiences, creating value long after the meeting concludes.
Start Planning Your 24-Hour Retreat
Whether you’re planning a leadership session, strategy workshop or team gathering, Accor’s Executive Meeting Package makes it easy to create meaningful experiences that maximise every hour together.
Contact conference-GCAU@accor.com or visit Accor Events Offer Page to discover participating properties and start planning your next executive meeting.
