Great team building naturally occurs when a group of business colleagues plan and stay together under one roof.
WE OFFER AT NO CHARGE
- Free consult with a team-building expert
- Extra-large HDTVs for all-team viewing
- Ultra-fast high-speed Wi-Fi
- Large conference room tables
- Catering and team activity resources
- Coffee and more
WE SUPPLY FOR A REASONABLE FEE
- Expert meeting facilitator
- Team-building consultant
- Professional meeting designer
- Whiteboards, markers and erasers
- Flip chart easels, pads and markers
- Steel-on-Steel Kitchen Challenge (team building)
- Early check-in and late check-out
- Special mid-week, one-night pricing
Timothy Canyon View Villa
5006 Timothy Circle, Austin, TX 78734
- Sleeps 26 in 13 separate beds.
- 7 bedrooms; 4 baths.
- Large table sits 12. Bar sits 4.
- Outdoor seating for 30; large gas BBQ grill.
- Large, private, heated pool with water volleyball capability.
- 25 min. to downtown; 3 min. to Lake Travis.
- Features: Views of McCormick Mountain canyon; gourmet kitchen; huge outdoor deck; large pool-side outdoor patio area; air mattresses available; parking for up to 12 cars.
Fort Smith Estate
14309 Fort Smith Trail, Austin, TX 78734
- Sleeps 21 in 12 separate beds.
- 7 bedrooms; 3 baths.
- Large table sits 11. Bar sits 4.
- Outdoor seating for 30; large gas BBQ grill.
- Large, private, heated pool with water volleyball capability.
- 25 min. to downtown; 5 min. to Lake Travis.
- Features: Close to both Lake Austin and Lake Travis; yard has horseshoes and disc Frisbee; large outdoor patio area; air mattresses available; parking for up to 12 cars.
Lake Travis White Dove Estate
2300 White Dove Pass, Austin, TX 78734
- Sleeps 23 in 14 separate beds.
- 7 bedrooms; 5 baths.
- Large table sits 12. Bar sits 4.
- Outdoor seating for 30; large gas BBQ grill.
- 8-person hot tub.
- 25 min. to downtown; 5 min. to Lake Travis.
- Features: Panoramic views of Lake Travis; gourmet kitchen; koi pond; air mattresses available; parking for up to 12 cars.
Parakeet Lake Travis Estate
15205 Parakeet Street, Austin, TX 78734
- Sleeps 32 in 17 separate beds.
- 9 bedrooms; 5 baths.
- Large table sits 12; flexible configuration.
- Outdoor seating for 30; large gas BBQ grill.
- Large, private, heated lap pool with water volleyball capability.
- 25 min. to downtown; 5 min. to Lake Travis.
- Features: Built-in 6’x4’ whiteboard; classroom flex space; large outdoor deck; lap pool; air mattresses available; parking for up to 30 cars; close to many golf courses in Lakeway; very private.
Watumba Lake Travis Estate
15403 Watumba Road, Austin, TX 78734
- Sleeps 35 in 20 separate beds.
- 9 bedrooms; 4 baths.
- Large table sits 12. Bar sits 4.
- Outdoor seating for 30; two large gas BBQ grills.
- Private, (soon-to-be) heated pool.
- 25 min. to downtown; 3 min. to Lake Travis.
- Features: Panoramic views of Lake Travis; gourmet kitchen; huge outdoor deck; air mattresses available; parking for up to 30 cars; very private.
How It Got Started
Our firm was known for our team-building expertise. After facilitating executive retreats or offsite planning meetings, we would take our teams “out to dinner,” or at least that’s what we would tell them. Instead, we would delight them by showing up at a cooking school, where we had rented the kitchen and a chef for a “surprise team challenge.”
What Happened?
Our group had to put together a three-course meal, without any guidance, while sorting through a pile of food in the center of the kitchen. The chef was simply there to help with use of equipment. These turned out to be transformational events that teams still talk about decades later. Teamwork was positively impacted, deeper relationships formed, and as teams enjoyed the meals they prepared, the processing of “what we learned about ourselves” was always positive and priceless.
What Is the Offering?
Today, we do these kitchen challenges in estates we own and operate on Lake Travis, just 25 minutes from either downtown Austin, Texas or Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. These custom-tailored, newly remodeled homes have perfectly sized kitchens to give your team the challenge needed, and the meeting and sleeping accommodations to make housing a whole team practical and economical. It is fun, fast, and exciting as you and your team race the clock in preparing a delicious meal. SOLID’s Steel-on-Steel Kitchen Challenge pits your team against the clock. Assisted by a world-class chef (optional) in a gourmet kitchen stocked with plenty of surprises, you will race to produce a delicious gourmet meal, inviting communication, cooperation and cohesiveness. Your team will never be the same! You will have one and a half hours to produce a meal your entire team will enjoy together. Ingredients are provided in large quantities without any recipes or instructions. Upon completion, your group can judge its own meal, or we can supply judges—your choice. Challenges arise immediately. Who does what? What needs to be done first? Who will do the actual cooking? After stretching your team to the max, a three-course meal will emerge from the chaos. All this occurs as you are enjoying hors d’oeuvres and fine wine (recommended but not necessary.) This is team building at its finest! Companies rent one of our Lake Travis homes for team building, hosting an offsite strategic or operational planning session. Each member will have their own bed in one of our seven- to nine-bedroom homes. Just housing everyone together under one roof builds stronger teams. Throw in a Steel-on-Steel Kitchen Challenge as a way of sharing a meal together, and you have the perfect recipe for a memorable and transformational event.
Do I Need to Hire SOLID for the Kitchen Challenge?
No. You can do the kitchen challenge on your own. We will provide a free consult to help you get started. But you can hire us for a nominal fee, and we will help you pull off a highly memorable and effective team-building event.
Do I Need to Hire SOLID to Rent a Home?
No. You can simply rent the home, as many companies do, and it is yours to do with as you like. You might just want to house your group or team at one or more of our properties, and have your off-site or on-site meeting elsewhere. Financially, you come out way better renting our homes than you do putting your employees up in hotels. And the team building that occurs naturally is worth its weight in gold.
Kitchen Challenge












Offsite Meeting Rooms



Team Building




Daniel Mueller
Daniel Mueller provides coaching for leaders at every level. A pioneer of the executive leadership coaching industry, he is passionately dedicated to helping executives become more effective in every aspect of their personal and professional lives…READ MORE