The past decade’s most prominent trend for camping facilities, according to the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds, is the addition of technology and comfort. A recent survey of 1,000 camping sites commissioned by the ARVC found that 90 percent had upgraded with amenities, such as cable and phone hookups, fitness facilities, remodeled restrooms and increased electrical amperage. Some of these new campground-hotel hybrids feature gourmet eateries, or at the very least prestocked refrigerators filled with snacks and grillable foods. There’s even a wireless Internet provider, TengoInternet, that caters solely to the camping industry.
Admittedly, “luxe camping” is seen as “camping lite” by experienced outdoors enthusiasts. Its pampering won’t appeal to purists who take pride in the labor required to rough it, or who crave the minimalism and solitude of backpacking. But for every die-hard survivalist, more and more Americans are camping in style. Busy professionals appreciate more time to unwind away from it all and less time wrestling with tent poles. Families would rather spend their vacation time hiking or reconnecting around a crackling fire than cleaning up a campsite. Luxe camping becomes an obvious choice for nature-lovers past the age where sleeping on the ground is comfortable.
Photo from Longitude 131.
Adding some comforts of home also creates a friendly way for new campers to get acquainted with a rewarding pastime. A die-hard city slicker, for instance, could fathom—and even enjoy—a long weekend in the woods if the woods also provided wireless Internet, cell-phone reception, gourmet coffee and a spa a short hike away.
Photo from Longitude 131.
DELUXE DESTINATIONS
Truly deluxe camping resorts
present a high-end contrast to the stereotypical commercial campground’s dingy camping cabins, dank bathhouses and snacks purchased out of the registration office’s vending machine. Luxury outposts, like Clayoquot Wilderness Resort on Canada’s
Vancouver Island, offer campers a first-class passport back to nature. Founded on the values of environmental tourism, reverence for the local ecosystem and personal service, the resort is a favorite location for anglers, spa-lovers, honeymooners, businessmen and women attending corporate retreats and brides and grooms planning destination weddings. Guests of the four-star eco-resort stay in a 21st-century “great camp,” a getaway style favored by well-to-do travelers of the late 1800s. A cluster of 23 double-occupancy or family-size antique-appointed white canvas tents surround the resort’s hub, a timber
cookhouse complete with open kitchen, stone fireplace and indoor lounge. Larger tents nearby offer intimacy and privacy for dining and spa treatments, or a chance to connect with others in a hot tub or festive games tent, which also houses an Internet café. Although any bathhouse at Clayoquot would surely be showered in opulence, the resort’s developers instead included private bath facilities in each guest tent complete with electric outlets serviced by off-site generators. Remote-control wood-burning stoves and daily coffee delivery add to the camp’s comforts.
CAMPING IN STYLE AROUND THE WORLD
Would-be campers can make reservations for rustic-but-luxurious getaways down the West Coast or across the globe. Although these and other deluxe accommodations can technically be considered camping, rates are naturally higher than those of the average state park drive-in site. Expect to pay hotel prices
ranging from a very modest $69 to upward of $700 U.S. dollars per night. Costanoa Coastal Lodge & Camp, located near four state parks in California, has 78 canvas cabins with Pottery Barn-style queen-size beds, heated mattress pads, towels and plush bathrobes. The cabins surround a
Photo from Vanyavilas.
comfort station that isn’t just a euphemism for “bare-bones bathroom.” The tiled showers are stocked with soap and shampoo, saunas stand ready to steam, and an in-house spa offers a full menu of treatments. Guests can order up takeout from the camp’s gourmet deli while they admire the beach landscape or after exploring the
surrounding wildlife reserve.
Photo from Vanyavilas.
Treebones Resort, perched on a coastal bluff about an hour south of Monterey, Calif., has 16 furnished and heated circular yurts with polished pine floors and sink vanities. Bathrooms are shared. There’s a lodge, pool and hot tub. Yurts also dot the landscape at Falling Waters Adventure Resort just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The spherical accommodations feature refrigerators, ceiling fans, CD players, wraparound decks and individual themes such as Victorian or Oriental. Every two yurts share a bathroom, and the resort’s amenities include a lodge where weary mountain bikers, hikers and whitewater rafters can unwind. Swim in a Saharan oasis at remote Pansea Ksar Ghilane on Tunisia’s southeastern border. Spacious white linen tents highlight the shady palm groves, each decorated in the style
of an ancient desert kingdom. Those monarchies of the past, however, lacked the heating, air-conditioning, cocktail bar and swimming pool. Down Under, Longitude 131’s 15 furnished luxury tents provide unmatched views of the changing hues of Australia’s Ayers Rock. Between gazing sessions, visit the swimming pool, bar, boutique, indoor or outdoor gourmet dining spots, or join one of the day tours.
Perhaps the pinnacle of lavishness can be captured at Vanyavilas in India. The luxury jungle outpost translates the word “tent” into almost 800 square feet draped in canvas and appointed with a four-poster bed, lounge furnishings, private
garden, shower and DVD player. Pampered campers can work out in the gym, attend educational lectures, sunbathe on a private deck, or take an elephant-back ride. The camp borders Ranthambhor National Park, one of the few remaining places in the world where it’s possible to spot the wild tiger, along with more commonly seen jungle inhabitants, such as leopards, crocodiles and bears. If you think you have to trade in camping for a hotel to appease your joints, or if you don’t commonly travel outside the city limits, consider a luxe camping vacation. This new style of experiencing the outdoors finds the perfect blend of nature and nurture. And purists, take heart. Tents may be provided and even
climate controlled, but there’s still at least one campsite essential to pack: bug spray. Not even the most luxurious camp has found a way to upgrade mosquitoes so they no longer bite.
