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Glamping on the Rise: Travel + Leisure Lists 20 Glamping Properties Among 70 Best New Hotels in the World

It’s official: glamping has arrived, landing on the 2014 Travel + Leisure “It List” in no small fashion. With only the “coolest new hotels that are changing the travel landscape” making the list, glamping makes its mark with 20 properties (nearly 30%) that feature glamping as their primary accommodation, nestled among urban trendsetters, scene makers, and Next-Gen business hotels. The best glamping spots easily keep pace with the “hip,” “swank,” and “luxurious” newcomers, bringing with them “experiential travel” to round out a list that prides itself on recognizing the most exciting changes in the travel landscape.

1000-7_000 Mahali Mzuri

From jungle to savanna, and snow-topped mountains to tropical islands, choices are what is cool about glamping. Glamping accommodations that made the T+L list were safari lodges, beach resorts, and “remote outposts.”  It List safari lodge choices range from the traditional, such as Chinzombo in Zambia that offers “stylish austerity and unforgettable wildlife encounters”  to Richard Branson’s Mahali Mzuri in Kenya that T+L refers to as a “futuristic riff on the classic East African lodge,” with tents resembling  “spaceships.”

022_Villa Three At Night_original Chinzombo Camp

Beach resorts on the list span the globe from great escapes in the Caribbean like Eden Roc in Dominican Republic and The Cove Eleuthera Resort and Spa to sublime island resorts like Australia’s Bedarra Island Resort, Hawaii’s modern, renovated Andaz Maui Villas, and the decadent Cheval Blanc Randheli in the Maldives.

Not surprisingly, several “remote outposts” are listed, such as Cresto Ranch and Outlook Lodge, both in Colorado.  What may initially come as a surprise however is a property in the United Arab Emirates, Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Al Sahel Villa Resort, until you learn that it is set amid “savanna-like grasslands of Sir Bani Yas Island’s famed Arabian Wildlife Park,” a welcome surprise indeed.

Bathhouse_at_duskDunton Hot Springs and Cresto Ranch

What may not come as a surprise are the price tags. To be the best in the world often means the most expensive, and glamping by Travel + Leisure standards can be pretty pricey, with 14 of their glamping choices (70%) costing guests $500 or more a night. Five properties in the more reasonable range of $350-500 were Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel, Selfoss, Iceland, the culturally rich Anantara Xishuangbanna Resort and Spa in China, and It List five time winner Hotel Escondido in Mexico. One bargain made the list Outlook Lodge of Colorado Springs, Colorado, costing less than $200 a night. Regardless of price however, a discerning traveler on the lookout for a new experience will find that it really is no surprise that glamping is on the rise.

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Glamping Ahoy! – UK Shipbuilders Bring Glamping Pods Ashore

Landlubbers need not fear the tumultuous seas to enjoy a night aboard a ship now that English boat builder John Knight has employed his craftsmen to build glamping pods. A recent downturn in traditional boatbuilding got Knight, who directs a campground Waveney River Centre near Lowestoft, United Kingdom, thinking of a new way to use his boatbuilding skills.

pod interior

Great care is taken in the crafting of his cabins, using authentic boatbuilding materials like sustainable larch and pine right down to the wool insulation, which ensures a warm and pleasant slumber. The boat shaped cabins are so popular that Knight plans to add more of these ship-shape pods to create a cluster at the River Centre.

lodge deck

He notes that unlike other pods that don’t take advantage of a boat’s true design, his glamping pods make “the most of the available space, raising the level of the double bed and creating storage space.” The 14ft x 10ft pods are furnished with a full size double bed above two single beds (4″ mattresses linens not included), FreeView TV, LED lights, a double socket and loads of storage space, certainly providing a level of comfort that Ernest Shackleton would approve of.

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As well as marketing the pods to other resorts, he believes the public at large will be interested in buying the “boat houses” for other purposes such as garden studios, unique sheds or guest accommodation, and so is offering them for sale online at myescapepod.co.uk for £11,500 including VAT (value added tax). It’s believed that should the demand for traditional boatbuilding continue to wane, crafting these glamping pods will help preserve the art.

lodge interior

Tourists can find these pods at Waveney River Center at Burgh St Peter, near Beccles, just over 100 miles northeast of London, near the city of Lowestoft on the North Sea, which is the most easterly point in the United Kingdom.

lodge

If the glamping pods are booked, guests can choose to stay in one of their luxury lodges. The marina has a fleet of boats from which to choose to rent, and the Knights are expanding their on-site pub and adding a new menu with locally-sourced food.

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Glamping Gone Overland

The word “safari” conjures images of adventurous sun-drenched days on the African savanna followed by warm evenings spent telling tall tales over fine food and wine by torchlight. It’s the original glamping, and a safari at its imagined best is an expedition that advances to a new location each evening, making the journey and destination one. Today the discerning glamper can take advantage of this style of travel in Africa and beyond, all part of a growing trend commonly referred to as overlanding.

Ciquibul Forest BZE

One company that offers the overlanding travel experience is No Limit Expeditions. Operated by James and Angela Brown of Colorado (now based in Guatemala), No Limit offers several exotic glamping expeditions that employ the classic safari vehicle, the Land Rover Defender, taking glampers to far flung destinations otherwise unreachable, and spare no effort in providing all the trappings of glamorous camping.

CAMP UAX 2

Expeditions typically begin in a luxury lodge (such as one of Coppola’s fine Central American resorts like La Lancha, Blancaneaux, or Turtle Inn), then take clients deep into the jungle on trips such as “Rainforests & Ruins,” where No Limit sets the scene at a gloriously secluded Maya ruin, where travelers imbibe on exquisite wines and dine on gourmet victuals. James is both a trained chef and sommelier, and after clients enjoy their feast amid the ruins, they may play the role of raconteur while enjoying a hand rolled cigar (personally blended by James himself). “It’s fantastic to sit in the jungle drinking this really nice aged rum while smoking a premium hand rolled cigar,” Angela relates. When slumber calls, travelers retire to a South African safari tent replete with the comforts afforded a British nobleman gone far afield.

Campmore tent

The Browns have seen their business expand with the outfitting of additional Land Rovers, and the addition of Lesotho-native Graham Jackson as a guide.  They’ve branched out to include new destinations (Baja California and Expedition Africa), and a new excursion to stretch the imagination of the glamper- an amazing island-hopping sailing voyage, “Rainforest and Reef,” blending land and sea exploration. “Glamping goes with our travel philosophy,” says Angela. “We like to go to these far, out of the way places, but we want to be able to do it in a nice style. Not roughing it- we want to bring the finer aspects with us along the journey.”

Deck @ La Lancha 2

Its expedition companies like this that get you to places that you could otherwise not reach, and treat you like royalty when you get there. Having an amazing Maya ruin or Caribbean island all to yourself? Now that’s adventure and luxury. Now that’s glamping.

PHOTO CREDITS: All photos courtesy of Ben Edmonson except  “Deck @ La Lancha” photo, courtesy Kerry Devine.