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Subscribe to RSSConsumer correspondent Janice Lieberman tries out a new trend called glamping that adds a little bit of glamour to camping, offering beautiful cabins and amenities like pools, massages and facials.
Sitting by her tent at the Resort at Paws Up in Greenough, Mont., earlier this week, Ashley MontBlanc took in a view that stretched from the adjacent Blackfoot River to the peaks of the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
The fact that her campsite came with a butler and camp chef didn’t hurt, either. “I’ve done quite a bit of camping in my time,” said the New York–based public relations executive, “but here, they really kick it up a notch.”
Experiences like MontBlanc’s are increasingly common these days as more resorts offer upscale alternatives to traditional camping. It’s called “glamping,” short for glamorous camping, and it’s striking a chord with travelers who want to experience nature without forgoing their creature comforts.
Although imprecise, the term generally applies to commercial camping options that involve accommodations with wood floors, premium bedding and “en-suite” amenities, such as rugs, wood stoves and propane lighting. Tents, yurts, tepees, even tree houses, have all been pressed into service to attract would-be glampers.
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“The idea originated with upscale African safaris,” said David Troya, who maintains a glamping directory at GlampingHub.com, “but it’s been growing exponentially in the U.S. and Canada.”
One reason for that may be that most glamping-style accommodations in North America rent for $50 to $200 per night vs. the $500 or more you’ll pay for those swish digs on the savannah.
Still, gentrification is definitely making its mark on the domestic glamping scene. This year, Lakedale Resort in Washington state’s San Juan Islands opened the flaps on its Canvas Cottage, which features a pillow-top king bed, electricity and a private bathroom.
Rates start at $279 per night, but you can enhance your stay further by ordering “grab and go” meals from the resort’s sister property, The Bluff restaurant. For $39 per person, you can choose a protein (for example, marinated steak with bourbon-shallot butter or brined bone-in pork chop), plus a starch and a vegetable.
Regardless of the specific amenities at particular resorts, glamping fans also maintain that the activity offers a way for non-campers to experience the outdoors and even, perhaps, a tool that couples can use to foster stronger bonds.
“I’ve camped all my life,” said Troya. “I don’t mind roughing it, but my fiancée does.”
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Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.
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$280 a night, plus $40 for your steak dinner.
People, this is not camping.
I have to admit to being a fan of the yurts in WA and OR State campgrounds. Those go for around $40 a night, but no pillowtops or steaks with bourbon-shallot butter though. We just "rough-it" despite that.
too expensive. i can grill my own filet mignon over a campfire I started myself and have it turn out just as good....
It's not camping, if you're not actually camping. Even if you label it "glamping".... just pathetic.
PEOPLE!!! Camping is defined as residing or lodging somewhere temporarily or irregularly! Who decided that you had to stay in 5 x 2 x 2 accommodations, eat half burn half cold beans out of a can, sleep in a 30 in. X 60 in. bag and pee in the bushes to be camping!! Why should you have to sacrafice comfort and amenities to commune with nature?! We camped every summer for 7 years straight and GLAMPING beats camping any day of the week!!!
probably the vast majority of these people have no idea how to pick a decent camp site, set up a tent and rain flap, make a fire without logs, matches, and newspaper from the ranger, or cook over a real fire.
I suspect roughing it for most of them is having the TV remote control break.
Spent enough time growing up in tents (don't touch the side when it's raining), converted vans (whose foot is this in my face?), and whatever else we could come up with (it's a waterproof tarp, it'll keep the rain of...mostly). Now I camp using a trailer thank you very much, but even I shake my head at this nonsense.
This is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. But please stay in your hotel in the woods. The rest of us will keep to our roughing it traditions. I'm glad you'll be the first ones eaten in the impending Zombie invasion though.
The Zombies DO tend to go where the easy meat is don't they.
I guess it's their "mind's eye" version of experiencing the outdoors and camping. Perfect for New Yorkers I guess. These people are pathetic.
HAHAHAHA. Camping?
Wow...............
David!
Brother I am so proud of you! This is amazing! Congratulations, and I'm with Lindsay on this one - Glamping all the way :) See you soon, Lee
What a complete and total CROCK! Almost on a par with the ranches in many places that charge hunters $10,000 for a "trophy hunt" and then take them out to the corral to shoot a hobbled animal.
Gotta hand it to the people selling these services though. They've certainly figured out a great way to spend the least to separate their clueless victims from their cash.
As P.T. Barnum said... "There's a sucker born every minute!"
PEOPLE!!! Camping is defined as residing or lodging somewhere temporarily or irregularly! Who decided that you had to stay in 5 x 2 x 2 accommodations, eat half burn half cold beans out of a can, sleep in a 30 in. X 60 in. bag and pee in the bushes to be camping!! Why should you have to sacrafice comfort and amenities to commune with nature?! We camped every summer for 7 years straight and GLAMPING beats camping any day of the week!!!
So when I stay at a luxury hotel in downtown Chicago for one night, I'm camping because it's only a temporary stay? I don't think so.
Oh Kathie Lee and Hoda..........
You can't camp or glamp without Outdoor Wino !!! Wines especially for the outdoors, I take them camping and kayaking and fishing, and hiking. Why would I want to be out and about without my wine?? You too!!?
www.outdoorwino.com
Zombies are people too. :)
These people (NYers) thought they were "glamping" when they all moved to New Jersey. After they f**ked that up, now they want to spread out and do it all over the U.S.