If you’re comparing Surf Office with Châteauform, you’re probably weighing two very different approaches to team events.
Châteauform’ is known for its countryside seminar venues in France. Surf Office is known for one thing only: planning world-class company retreats.
Both options can work, but depending on your goals, team setup and budget, one may fit significantly better than the other.
Below, we break down the key differences so you can make the right call for your team.
#1 We’re not tied to specific venues
Châteauform' offers a set collection of properties, most of them countryside châteaux or campus-style venues. That can be charming, but it also limits your options. You’re essentially choosing from their catalogue and adapting your retreat to what’s available, rather than starting from what your team actually needs.
Surf Office isn’t tied to any specific venue or brand. We work with a large, global database of carefully vetted hotels, villas, apartments, resorts, glamping sites, and other unique venues. We also offer historic venues and castles in destinations where Châteauform' doesn’t operate, such as Portugal and the UK.
You tell us your team’s reality — budget, dates, flights, company culture, goals — and we find the location and venue that actually fit. No catalogue constraints and no compromises.
#2 We know our clientele inside and out
Châteauform’ was built to serve traditional, onsite organizations. If your team is distributed across cultures and time zones, their approach may not fully align with your rhythm, culture or expectations.
Surf Office specializes in working with tech companies and startups. This is our niche, and we’ve become very good at serving our clients’ needs.
Our team is made up of nomads, expats and locals with ties to more than 200 destinations. We’re on the ground, we speak the language and we understand the culture. That lived, local knowledge is our unfair advantage.
#3 Company offsites are our bread and butter
Châteauform’ spans multiple categories: seminars, training programs, leadership development, hosted meetings and more. Retreats are part of their offering, not their speciality. Surf Office is built exclusively for company retreats. Nothing else.
Because we focus on a single service, our processes, technology, partners and team expertise are all optimized for offsites. We run hundreds of retreats every year across dozens of destinations, consistently earning 5-star reviews.
If your goal is a retreat (not a seminar), the difference in focus matters.
#4 We leave hospitality to the pros
Because Châteauform’ handles hospitality in-house the experience can vary, especially for teams expecting a hotel-level stay. Some reviews mention inflexibility, limited amenities and a less modern feel.
Surf Office takes a different approach: We spend thousands of hours vetting hotels worldwide and accept only the top 3% into our partner network. Mystery stays, site visits, Wi-Fi testing, vibe checks — everything is assessed before we ever propose a venue.
If a venue doesn’t deliver consistent hospitality, we don’t onboard it.
If it does, we build long-term partnerships to secure better pricing and better conditions for your team.
#5 Event planning is our superpower
Châteauform' works well for structured, on-site events. Surf Office is a better fit if you want end-to-end support in designing and delivering a memorable company retreat.
With Surf Office, you are matched with a dedicated retreat advisor and retreat planner who guide you from first intro call to final goodbyes. Everyone on our team has several years of event experience. Many have worked both agency-side and in-house, so they know exactly where things usually go wrong and how to prevent it.
“Our team had an amazing experience working with Surf Office. From the very first conversation, their team was incredibly communicative, organized, and attentive to every detail. They made the entire retreat-planning process smooth and stress-free from venue coordination to activities and logistics, everything was handled with care and professionalism. What really stood out was their responsiveness and ability to anticipate our needs before we even mentioned them. It’s clear they truly understand what makes a company retreat successful. If you’re looking for a partner who combines efficiency, great communication, and genuine hospitality, look no further than Surf Office. We couldn’t recommend them more!” - Ierusha, Sr Executive Assistant
#6 Flexible pricing that actually feels flexible
Châteauform' is known for its all-inclusive packages. That can be convenient, but it also means less flexibility if you want to shape the experience around your team and your budget.
Surf Office works across a wide price spectrum. We can design everything from a cost-efficient retreat with shared apartments near Lisbon, to a premium offsite in an all-inclusive resort in Ibiza. Because we bring repeat business, we negotiate better rates and more favourable conditions than most companies can secure on their own.
For many of our Paris-based clients, a retreat in Spain or Portugal ends up costing roughly the same as a Châteauform’ event in the French countryside, while giving you far more choice in setting and style.
Final thoughts
Châteauform’ is a strong option if you want a traditional, campus-style venue in a structured environment.
But if your team is looking for:
- more destination flexibility
- better value for money
- hospitality that matches your vibe
- support from experts who live and breathe offsites
… Surf Office is likely the better partner.
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