Posted on

Pine Mountain Camp California

If you’re looking for a great glamping option for a group retreat or get-together, a peaceful place for an intimate wedding, a place that’s relaxing and allows guests to reconnect with nature, a place that not only provides tranquility and seclusion but also great recreational opportunities if a guest should be so inclined,
I have a couple of places to present to you. Each of these places is great for family gatherings, religious and corporate retreats, weddings, and both have had their share of high-powered celebrity guests. I would also consider both as exquisite glamping locations.

necker-island

If you have a minimum of 16 people in your group, may I suggest to you the ultimate glamping playground, with two private beaches, tennis courts, a wide selection of water-sports equipment, personal chefs, swimming pools, stunning views, spa treatments, and an aero-submarine that travels 100 feet below the ocean’s surface. The place, you may ask? It’s Richard Branson’s Necker Island, yours for a mere $62,000 per day. Yowza!

Icon Image

If however your family, group or business doesn’t have that kind of coin, then I have the perfect suggestion for you. It’s the Pine Mountain Camp near Lake Arrowhead, California, where you can have the entire property starting for a mere $1800 a night (2 night minimum) with all the seclusion, nature and recreational opportunities that forty acres of pristine wooded beauty perched high above a picturesque mountain lake can offer.

slide 2

In fact, for a true group outing experience, one that provides connection and rejuvenation, I have to say that Pine Mountain Camp is by far the better of the two.

necker_nymph_1000x420

I do not mean to suggest that you would not enjoy a stay at Necker Island, but it is more likely to cause group distraction than connection. A place that has it’s own submarine is not going to inspire me to “regroup with others” or “restore my inner resources.” I’ll be too busy playing Captain Nemo!

Dining

And how could you possibly “relax with a book” at a place that costs $62,000 a day? Wouldn’t you feel the pressure to do everything the place offers all at once? Sounds like a vacation that requires a vacation from vacation- we’ve all had one of those. So, relax. There’s no risk of that kind of stress with a group stay at Pine Mountain Camp.

slide 8

The Pine Mountain Camp website makes the claim, “Be in nature, within luxury accommodations,” which succinctly sums up the essence of glamping. Guests enjoy “wireless internet and flat-panel TVs” at a resort set deep in the heart of the San Bernardino National Forest, and can instantly step away to smell the mountain pine and feel the breeze.

slide 7

Remember, it’s not just a retreat- it’s a resort. Hiking, biking, boating, swimming, water-skiing, fly fishing, hot springs, there’s plenty to do in the summer, and you can even catch a movie nearby or shop if you can believe that! I’d like to be here for one of the weekly summer concerts at Lake Arrowhead Village.

ponderosa winter

With activities like skiing and sledding, wintertime group outings are a great option, too.

slide 5

Stay in the luxurious Ponderosa Lodge, which sleeps 13 with a main floor master suite, a bunk-room for 6, and 2 upstairs private bedrooms.

slide 4

The lodge has a fully appointed kitchen (cooking classes available with advance reservation!) and a cozy, spacious central living area set with a warm and inviting stone hearth fireplace.

tipi

If you want to get away from the group a bit, you can always opt for one of the two “enchanting” cabins, or even “brave” the tepee. It’s a pretty cool tepee, on an elevated deck, with 2 futons inside and is nicely appointed with a nearby eating area and restroom. The tepee is described as a “Lakota-Sioux design, but with more durable and weather-resistant fabrics.” Kids dig the tepee, and you might, too.

other 5

I’ve been to plenty of lodges, and many of them are way too “lodgy,” over crammed with deer and moose antlers and woodland tchotchkes in every possible space. While the lodge décor here isn’t subtle, it isn’t over the top, either.

other 1

I don’t want my lodge to be subtle. A place like this has to be confident in it’s identity, and Pine Mountain Camp understands it’s character, a beautiful woodland retreat perched above Lake Arrowhead nestled in 40 wooded acres and the décor strikes the right balance. (Thank you, Pine Mountain Camp).

other 6

I’m sorry, Necker Island, I didn’t mean to bash you. I’m sure you’re amazing but you helped me make my point- for a place for groups to get their glamping rejuvenation on, Pine Mountain Camp is the place to be. I do hope, however, that Glamping.com will send me to review you someday. Wish me luck!

Posted on

GMC Uses Glamping in Marketing Campaign for the 2014 GMC Sierra

In a marketing campaign for the 2014 Sierra Truck, GMC invited lifestyle and automotive writers and editors to experience glamping. Their mission was to have the editors of national magazines experience the lifestyle of owning a GMC Sierra. It was reported that, editors from the Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, Huffington Post and Car and Driver were in attendance.

Screen shot 2014-05-23 at 1.35.30 PM

GMC’s special guests were greeted with the new Sierra trucks and then attended GMC Trailering Academy to learn how to safely tow their weekend accommodations, vintage Airstream trailers. After the safety course, guests drove the Sierra trucks with Airstreams in tow to the GMC Base Camp at El Capitan Beach – an already popular spot for glamping (See El Capitan Canyon).

Screen shot 2014-05-23 at 1.31.49 PM

Once there, guests experience luxury camping in a rugged setting. The area at El Capitan Beach was transformed into a luxurious lounge in true glamping style. Guests enjoyed a gourmet dinner, mixed cocktails, hammocks and rocking chairs, games, and roasted marshmallows. Guests drove the trucks to explore nearby Solvang, Fess Parker Winery, and downtown Santa Barbara.

Screen shot 2014-05-23 at 1.33.43 PM

It’s worth mentioning, if you’re looking for the same type of experience, the Santa Barbara Auto Camp there are also plenty of options other places for Airstream glamping.

Posted on

Glamping Reviews: El Capitan, Santa Barbara, CA

When I’m in the mood to escape on a California getaway, a glitzy resort on a bluff overlooking the beach is not what comes to mind. Instead I look for a setting where nature provides most of the entertainment and all of the relaxation. No, I don’t mean camping.  My solution is a glamping experience at El Capitan Canyon resort near Santa Barbara.

I visited the eco-friendly property on a sunny October weekend when the weather was perfect for hiking the canyon, biking on one of El Capitan’s complimentary beach cruiser bikes or joining an adventure company’s Pacific Ocean kayaking excursion. Children were back in school, which meant I had the peaceful spot 20 miles north of Santa Barbara all to myself—except for a couple of other smart boomer travelers who know that traveling in the shoulder season is the way to escape the crowds.

Boomer travel tip: If you don’t mind the crowds, grooving to one of the Saturday summer concerts (free for overnight guests) is a fun way to rock out in nature. Of course you’d want to start the evening at the Canyon BBQ (extra fee).

el-capitan-bedroom

Glamping options at El Capitan Canyon include cabins, luxury tents and yurts. For this visit, I chose one of the cedar cabins that sit in a meadow that’s fringed with oak and sycamore trees. At night, I slept with the windows cracked open dreaming to the accompaniment of croaking frogs and the gurgling waters of Capitan Creek. Equipped with a front porch for relaxing, a wood burning stove for warming up the October chill (should have closed those windows) and a kitchenette with an all-important coffee maker, the cabin had everything that I needed for a relaxing getaway.

In the mornings, I sat on the front porch with a hot cup of coffee watching the wildlife walk by. At night, I returned to the same comfy spot to gaze at the stars. In between, a world of adventures waited for me to say yes. I couldn’t resist the lure of a first-time ocean kayaking experience at Refugio State Park with Santa Barbara Adventure Company. The experience included a guide, instructions, waterproof gear and kayaks. All I had to provide was the courage to try something new.

kayking

After paddling in the Pacific for an hour or so, lunch on the deck at El Capitan’s Canyon Market and Deli seemed extra tasty. I fueled up on a BBQ chicken salad with organic greens from the canyon’s garden, before heading to my favorite chair on the cabin’s porch for reading and, yes, I admit it, a nap. Doesn’t fun in nature make you sleepy?

It wouldn’t be a California getaway without wine tasting. On a drive through the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County—about an hour from El Capitan—I admired the rolling, grassy hills and vineyards where row after row of grapevines seemed to disappear into the horizon. Sanford Winery lured me into the tasting room with its particularly stunning location, vineyard tours and flights of wine tasting.

sanford-winery

After a sophisticating afternoon, I returned to El Capitan to cook dinner over the open firepit in front of my cabin.  Canyon Market and Deli’s “Cabin Service” provided food delivery as well as everything else that I needed for a campfire dinner, including the s’mores.

Later, I sat on the porch, glass of pinot noir from Sanford Winery in hand, listening to the frogs croak as the wind whispered through the canyon. Those folks at the ritzy resort on the bluff don’t know what they’re missing. I’ll choose glamping at El Capitan Canyon every time.