What’s on your glamping bucket list?
If you’re a seasoned traveler, or aspiring to be one, chances are you probably have some sort of “Top 10” checklist of places we want to go and things we’d like to do. But how about where you want to stay? One of the beauties of glamping is that the accommodations are sometimes just as much a part of the experience as the destination itself.
Going on safari? The luxurious tented camps included in most of the world’s premiere African itineraries are often as unforgettable as the game viewing. Visiting the South Pacific? Walking out to your own private over-water bungalow quickly makes you forget about the seventeen-hours (or more) it took to get there.
Whether you want to admit it or not, most of us have likely logged onto TripAdvisor at one point or another to check out their reviews and get more information about accommodations that most interest us. Here at Glamping.com, we require a high TripAdvisor rating for any properties listed on the site, so we take people’s feedback quite seriously.
Last week, TripAdvisor released its 2014 Travelers’ Choice Awards. Broken out into eight different categories, the website compiled a list of the top 25 ranked hotels, destinations, beaches, and restaurants as rated by their millions of real travelers. Some of the top honors included:
The Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina, Switzerland in the Best Hotel category; Akademie Street Boutique Hotel and Guesthouse in Franschhoek, South Africa for Best Small Hotel; The Bindon Bottom B&B in West Lulworth, UK was ranked highest among B&Bs and Inns; The Maison Lameloise in Cagny, France for Favorite Restaurant ; Iberostar’s Grand Hotel Paraiso in Mexico topped the list of Resorts; and Paris came in #1 among all destinations.
What struck us most about these Awards was the fact that six properties in the Hotels categories offered glamping to its guests. Ranging from lavishly decorated Bedouin suites to over-water bungalows, the properties included were:
It’s encouraging to see glamping so strongly represented in these awards. Traditionally thought of only as luxurious tents, this confirms that glamping has become a growing global trend that provides discerning travelers with non-traditional accommodations that bring them closer to a destination’s natural surroundings in a unique and upscale way. Therefore, it’s no surprise to see more “glamourous” tree houses, yurts, and igloos popping up all across the globe.
Maybe next year, the tree houses of the Silky Oaks Lodge in Australia, and igloos of the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finland, with their glass roofs looking out at the Aurora Borealis, will crack the Top 25.
Better yet, maybe we’ll even see an entire category dedicated to glamping!
