Retreat Center

The Eisner Retreat Center

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Experience Camp Year Round

The Eisner Camp Retreat Center is available for rentals annually from late August until early June. Offering first-rate facilities that will help your group have a successful event in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts. Nestled conveniently in between New York City and Boston, the Eisner Retreat Center features a range of programs and facilities that help contribute to a successful event for your organization. The grounds include a pond, streams, ropes course, pool, waterfall and beautiful hiking trails on East Mountain, as well as a number of different climate-controlled living spaces, sports fields, and indoor facilities. It is conveniently located within the picturesque town of Great Barrington which offers many cultural events as well as outdoor fun including apple picking, downhill skiing, tubing, historical sights and an array of great local restaurants.

The retreat center has become home for many retreats and has also been used for local parties and functions, partial-day and one-day meetings, weddings and other celebrations.

Allow us the opportunity to serve your group and we will customize your event to meet your specific goals. Once you have been a guest at the Eisner Retreat Center, you will want to make this special place your second home!

Our Facilities

Set on 200 of our 600-acre property, we have many different playing courts and fields, two outdoor swimming pools, a high and low ropes course, and adventure area. We have a mix of restored original buildings as well as recently built cabins and retreat buildings, providing both a comfortable and camp feel for all. Nestled conveniently between New York City and Boston, Great Barrington is the perfect backdrop to any retreat or special event!

Manor House

This beautiful turn of the century Berkshire estate home contains more than 20 rooms of various sizes and many unique spaces to gather, meet and entertain. Built in 1904 and formerly the home of high society, the building maintains its historical character while including modern upgrades. Our historic Manor House affords the luxury of having sleeping accommodations and programing space under one roof. The housing rooms vary from private rooms to dorm style located on the second and third floors. The entirety of the first floor of Manor House is comprised of five rooms, ranging from small and intimate to large and majestic. The Tudor-Inspired library, working fireplace in the Great Room, and the old-world craftsmanship all add to the building’s character, beauty and utility. Making it a perfect setting for your event.

Kivie Kaplan Center

This building, named after civil rights activist Kivie Kaplan, offers a great retreat space to both sleep and meet. Our cozy Kaplan Center is perfect for guests that seek privacy in hotel-style accommodations. The building offers twelve rooms that comfortably sleep four people each and have en-suite bathrooms. With a large programming space on the lower level and lounge areas on the first and second floors, Kaplan Center offers a great combination of living and meeting space for your retreat.

Messinger Family Leadership Center

Newly built in 2015, our Messinger Family Leadership Center offers comfortable dorm style accommodations. The building has two levels that mirror each other. Each contains four dorm-style rooms with ten wooden bunkbeds and shared hallway bathrooms as well as two private rooms with en-suite bathrooms for group leaders and adult staff. The focal point of the building is a large, brightly lit common space with a fireplace. Perfect for everything from educational programs, meetings, to relaxing in the evenings.  

Hillside Cabins

We offer several winterized cabins, each with an open layout that features ten bunk beds. These nine modern cabins can house up to 186 people. Each containing full bathrooms with showers, toilets, and sinks. They are all well insulated and heated to provide toasty places to sleep over the winter months. Cabins work best for youth groups, both small and large! Three of the cabins offer a private room for chaperones or adults, one of which has a private bathroom and the remaining two share with the rest of the cabin. Groups staying in the cabins have a choice of the Merkaz or the Beit Am as their programming space, just a short walk away.

Beit Am

Our theatre is a great open programming space. Air conditioned and heated, the Beit Am tends to be our most popular gathering space. With the ability to house up to 1,000 people, including a stage, large-screen projector, and sound system, this space is very versatile, and can be used for any number of needs. It is perfect for movies, presentations, worship services and special events.

Merkaz HaSport

Our state-of-the-art gymnasium offers a full-length basketball court that can be separated into two smaller courts and can be easily converted to volleyball or tennis courts, or any other need for indoor space without a carpet. It also contains a fitness room with cardio and weight training equipment, as well as an aerobics room that can also be used for meetings. The building also includes full bathrooms and lockers.

Dining Hall

Our Dining Hall is located in the center of our housing and indoor facilities and where groups can enjoy a variety of delicious homemade foods. At capacity, our dining hall can fit more than 1,000 people and is both heated and air-conditioned. This allows the dining hall to be used for a variety of purposes: meals, meetings, activities, etc.

We are a kosher-style facility. Although not a kosher facility, we do not serve pork or shellfish or products containing them, and we do not permit such products on camp grounds. Whenever meat is served, a kosher and vegetarian option are also offered upon request, and a non-dairy dessert is served. We will also accommodate campers on special allergy or health-related diets. If you have any questions about dietary issues for your group, please let us know in advance so we can best fit your needs. In addition, we offer full-service catering packages as well.

Special Events

Eisner’s Retreat center provides the perfect backdrop for all occasions, with multiple indoor and outdoor spaces that can host small intimate events and meetings, to large galas, celebrations or trainings. Our retreat center is an ideal location if you are interested in creating your own event from the ground up, as Eisner’s facilities offer flexibility and a great deal of infrastructure you can use for the celebration. All of your guests have exclusive access to the grounds for days at a time to mix and match activities, such as ceremonies, dance parties, symposiums, meditation, workshops, color wars, and more!

Our facility is wonderfully suited for weddings. Think of it as a destination wedding without the really long airplane flight! With plenty of space and overnight accommodations for family members and guests to meet and mingle as well as kid-friendly, make your wedding celebration a memorable one.

To learn more about booking an event at The Eisner Retreat Center:

Contact: Meredith Smyth, Retreat Center Manager

msmyth@urj.org 

413-528-1652