3 things I got wrong planning our group stay
- Jul 9
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 16
3 things I got wrong planning our group stay
We posted something on Instagram recently that struck a chord — a group of twelve friends, one shared house, and by Saturday morning three of them were ready to drive home. It's the kind of story every group trip organiser recognises, so we've turned it into something more useful than a caption: three honest lessons for anyone booking a big group trip this summer.
1. I underestimated the need for space
Twelve people in one house sounds fun until hour fourteen. Someone always wants quiet when someone else wants noise, and there's no door to close on it.
What changes everything is having your own lodge to retreat to — same site, same firepit, but your own door to close when you need it. That option doesn't exist in a shared house, and it's the single biggest difference between a group weekend that works and one that doesn't.
2. I planned too much, too tightly
A full itinerary — activities, meals, a group walk — looks good on paper. By Saturday afternoon, half the group had abandoned it and were just sitting around the firepit talking.
The best group trips leave room for that to happen naturally, rather than scheduling it out. Plan the anchors — one dinner, one activity, one evening thing — and leave the rest of the weekend open.
3. I didn't know about the pizza oven moment
Nobody expected the pizza oven to be the highlight. Making your own pizzas around a fire turned into three hours of laughing and eating — the kind of thing that sounds small in a booking description and ends up being the moment everyone talks about.
It's a reminder that the best group weekends aren't always about the big-ticket activity. Sometimes it's the low-key, hands-on thing — cooking together, sitting around a fire — that people remember.
The best group trips give people space to come together on their own terms, not because the schedule says so
That's the thread running through all three lessons. Distributed space, a loose plan, and something simple to do together beats a packed itinerary in a single shared house almost every time.
If you're planning a group trip this summer, our group stays checklist goes into this in more detail — including what to look for before you book anywhere.
Email Alison directly: info@thefirssuffolk.co.uk
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