Freedman Guest Experience & FAQ

Details for a particular retreat can be found on the page for that event.

General mealtimes are as follows – adjustments are made for holiday services and candle lighting times:

• Breakfast at 8:00 am ET
• Lunch at 12:00 pm ET
• Dinner at 6:00 pm ET or 7:30 pm ET on Fridays and Holidays

Prayer Services and Activities

• Holiday and Shabbat retreats offer various prayer options each morning.
• Educators and staff lead classes and activities throughout the day, with age-appropriate programming for kids

The weather in Falls Village, CT (06031) can fluctuate widely throughout the day – brisk mornings followed by warm and sunny afternoons.

In the event of inclement weather, outdoor activities may be rescheduled or canceled. Many outdoor activities go on as planned even if the weather isn’t ideal. Please check the forecast before coming on a retreat and pack accordingly!

Pets and emotional support animals are NOT permitted. We recommend Sand Road Animal Hospitalwhich offers pet boarding, located six miles away.

Trained service animals are allowed. All animals are required to behave in public and follow the directions of the handler. The handler must clean up after their service animals.

Wi-Fi internet is free and accessible in all buildings. We do not have any computers available for guest use; you may bring your own laptop or personal device and connect to the Wi-Fi.

Cell phone reception with Verizon tends to be excellent, and AT&T is also reliable. Coverage with Sprint and T Mobile is spotty.

All of our meals are served buffet style.

For most of our retreats, we serve meat, parve and dairy meals, with vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free options available. We can accommodate most consumption-based allergies as long as we are informed of those allergies at least 30 days prior to a retreat. We cannot accommodate any airborne allergies.

Isabella Freedman operates under the supervision of the Hartford Kashrut Commission. Our dairy equipment is not Cholov Yisroel.

We do not have medical staff on site during our retreats. In the case of a Medical Emergency, please call 9-1-1 first, then contact Guest Services. Staff at Isabella Freedman do not provide medical assistance.

If there is any kind of medical or facilities emergency during the day, please come find Guest Services staff. During the nighttime, please call 860-672-8226.

The closest Emergency Room is at Sharon Hospital, which is about twenty minutes away from campus. The address for Sharon Hospital is: 50 Hospital Road, Sharon, CT 06069.

Basic First Aid materials are located at the Guest Services area in the Main Building. A defibrillator is located in the closet of the Library in the Main Building.

In order to ensure the health and well-being of all our guests we have established some health protocols. As we all are aware, there are many illnesses circulating in recent months including Covid-19, Influenza, Norovirus, Strep and many other viruses. We hope that all guests arrive in good health and ask that you join us in acting to ensure the health and safety of the group throughout your stay at Isabella Freedman. To that end, we will ask all guests to monitor their own health throughout their stay and if you experience symptoms that may be contagious, we will ask you to wear a mask around others and isolate if needed to avoid spreading illness amongst our guests.

• Testing: We ask every participant to take a rapid test for Covid-19 on the morning of your arrival. Please label with the name and date of each person in your party and take a photo of each for verification upon arrival.
• Travel guidance: We recommend wearing a mask at all times during any public transportation or air travel.
• Masks: Pearlstone is currently mask optional. We have disposable masks available for those who need.

Symptomatic Individuals and Covid Diagnoses

• We require that anyone exhibiting symptoms such as sneezing or coughing wear a mask while taking food from the buffet, and request masks be worn when around others. Such individuals are invited to eat in the outdoor spaces.
• Guests who test positive will be required to isolate in their rooms. We may have private lodging in the unlikely event that someone needs to isolate from others in shared lodging. Meals will be brought to the guest’s room in these situations.
• We ask that anyone who recently had COVID (but now tests negative) wear a mask up to day 10 from first testing positive.
• Isabella Freedman will communicate if a guest or staff member has tested positive for Covid or has other infectious diseases so that individuals can make choices that align with their risk tolerance.

There is no refund for arriving late or departing early from any retreat. The refund amount is based on how far in advance we receive the cancelation request prior to the start date. For most retreats at Isabella Freedman, the cancellation policy is:

• 31 days or more – fully refundable less a $75 fee (for Pesach – 60 days prior)
• 15-30 days prior – 50% refundable (for Pesach – 30-59 days prior)
• 14 days or less – not refundable (for Pesach – 29 days or less)

If you are sick with a communicable disease such as Covid-19 and are unable to attend, you may receive a credit (less $75) valid through the end of the of the following calendar year towards a future retreat at either Isabella Freedman or Pearlstone. You must provide medical documentation attesting to your illness in order to receive this credit. We suggest obtaining insurance for such situations.

Isabella Freedman reserves the right to cancel any program at any time. This includes cancellations due to inclement weather if, in our judgment, we are unable to operate safely. In the event of such a cancellation, a full refund will be issued. If the retreat proceeds as scheduled, no refund will be offered.