Suppose you had a friend who was looking to stage a conference in Europe in 2019. Suppose he was searching for a retreat center that would hold 200 people — rooms, food, meetings. But suppose he didn’t have the budget for a big-business hotel. Where would you send him? Shouldn’t an org like O.M., YWAM, or GEM or SOMEONE have a big enough retreat center in a place like Austria, Czech, or Poland? Where would you send him? (Please just click comment following the web or app version of this item. And, by the way, he thanks you profusely.)
It would only get you to 190 people, but Karimu is a great conference center in Germany. https://tagungszentrum-karimu.de/engl/
Not on mainland Europe, but very reasonable and could cater for 200 people easily.
https://www.quinta.org/
I have that identical question, so hopefully my responding here will allow me to see other responses!
Two years ago we had a gathering of about 125 people in Shengjin, Albania, using the Hotel Rafaelo. We held it in the off-season (late Oct), so prices were very good. It wasn’t luxury, but it was great for our purposes and a whole lot less than if we had done the same on the other side of the Adriatic!
With many charter flights from various airports in Europe, you might consider going to Turkey. Cheap flights, relatively cheap hotels with all meals included. Plenty of meeting rooms. Many organizations have had regional meetings there (near Izmir or Antalya mostly)
Turkey is a great place – amazing prices in Antalya in the off-season. But recent visa spat with the USA and ongoing tensions with EU makes me nervous to plan a big event very far out.
De Betteld has several lovely sites in Holland. I have been to several conferences in Zellham. Great staff to work with!!
https://www.betteld.nl/nl/betteld/
Here is an option in Germany that has enough capacity: http://www.cgw-rehe.de
And a few more, but they might also not quite hold 200: http://www.christlich-unterwegs.de/de/hotelsuche
What is the conference about?
Another great option is this one: https://glockenspitze.de/tagungshotel/
We have used this one repeatedly near Cologne, Germany (http://www.haus-hohegrete.de/)
We have used this place once near Berlin, Germany (http://www.jusev.de/jugendbegegnungsstaette)
We have used this place in Budapest, Hungary one time (http://www.csilleberc.eu/)
We have used this venue once near Budapest, Hungary (http://www.kollegium.szie.hu/en/student/introduction)
We have looked into using this Bible School in Lisbon, Portugal (http://www.meibad.org/)
We have used this youth hostel in Nuremberg, Germany several times (https://nuernberg.jugendherberge.de/jugendherbergen/nuernberg-253/portraet/)
This one in the Czech Republic looks quite nice but is limited to 85 beds. So we have not used it before as it is too small for our group (http://www.malenovice.com/)
I’ve heard about this one in the Netherlands but have no experience using it (http://www.dekroezedanne.nl/)
We used this venue many times until we outgrew it. Max. capacity is about 100 (http://www.ctsem.edu/)
Czech Republic – have not used this venue b/c the capacity is only 70-80 people, but it looks quite nice (http://immanuel.cz/en/)
Have not used this one yet in Czech Republic (http://townshend.cz/conference-center/)
Conference center in Czech Republic but no lodging (http://www.kc-greenpoint.cz/)
Jennifer H’s suggestion for Karimu is excellent.
Jaime’s of de Betteld is great and handles lots more.
You can also Google Flensungerhof and Rehe in Germany.
OM’s place holds about 80.
Wisla Poland has a place for 500.
EMDC is looking for a place that holds 700. Ideas?
Hey Steve. Could you give contact info for the OM place you mention here. Thanks!
AMG International hosts large conferences for mission organizations. While their facility near the Athens airport houses about 125, they have negotiated contracts with resorts which prove to be immensely reasonable for mission conferences. Of course, the added benefit is that you can include visits to biblical sites where the missionary Paul first planted churches in Greece. They coordinate registration through Greek Bible Tours (www.greekbibletours.com). Contact would be david@greekbibletours.com or 1-720-295-4658 (MST).
Wycliffe Germany runs an excellent facility the International Conference Center Kariumu. Check it out at https://tagungszentrum-karimu.de/engl/!
PROEM in Poland has an excellent facility.
http://nowa.proemzako.pl
Can highly recommend Immanuel and Malenovice here in CR — good to know about the others
Dears!
If Hungary is also an option, we have a castle that could hold up to 350 person. It is mostly for church conferences with 2 big and several (10+) meeting rooms, own kitchen prepared for different kind of diets, volleyball and basketball courts and private swimming pools (kid and adult).
Could you give contact details for this place, please?