Retreat I go to in July runs Friday to Sunday, Thursday and Monday are considered travel days for those who live a distance. We stay at motels, sew as long as we want in the large workroom of a nearby quilt shop. We usually have breakfast at our motel and then to go the shop, some gals go out for lunch and some order in, one year dinners were catered by a local chef and were served in a large room upstairs of the quilt's workshop., last year everyone went to a nearby restaurant. There is one gal who arranges for the workroom at the quilt shop and we make our own motel reservations. Everyone brings their machines, extension cords, sewing supplies (threads, rulers rotary cutters, etc.), a project or two to work one and drinks and snacks to share. We have an annual challenge, this year's we each picked 3 crayons and our quilts must feature the 3 colors. Everyone has a trick or techinque to share with others.
I've been at a really big retreat which included our motel room, meals, large conference room set up as a workroom, nationally know quilt teacher who gave us lots of quilt gifts, a special project and trips to local quilt shops. We had the option of bringing our own machines or renting one. Of course, this was more expensive but really was fun and instructive at the same time.