Expect a monastery, not a hotel. Rooms are plain, silence is kept, and arrival days and length of stay may be fixed. Some houses ask a set rate and others a free-will offering.
In the United States, Christ in the Desert in New Mexico receives up to ten guests for self-directed retreats, arriving only on Tuesdays or Fridays for at least two nights, booked through its online form; meals are silent and a deeper quiet runs from Compline until after breakfast. St. Anselm's Abbey in Washington, D.C., receives guests inside the monastery for a day or several days for a free-will offering, by its online form or through the guestmaster. St. Martin's Abbey in Lacey, Washington, takes lay guests on private retreat for up to a week and expects them at the monks' liturgies and meals.
In Europe, Montserrat in Spain keeps a guesthouse inside the monastery for one or several days of silence and prayer, requested through the abbey's contact form. Subiaco in Italy has a guesthouse at the monastery of Santa Scolastica with rooms for one to five people and online booking. Fleury, at Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire in France, offers silent retreat stays, leaves the cost to each guest's means, and prefers an email to the guest brother. The monks of Norcia in Italy receive individuals and families through an overnight inquiry form.
Write early: Norcia warns that replies can take days or weeks. Non-Catholic guests are welcome at prayer but ordinarily do not receive Holy Communion. Spiritual direction or confession depends on whether a monk is available, so ask in advance. These details were read on each monastery's own website on October 10, 2026.