It’s hard to believe that the hotel industry is threatened by glamping. For two reasons: one, it feels like a fad, a flash in the pan. And two, even though the media finds it a catchy subject, not that many people are going to give up the Super 8 or Hyatt for a night in a tree house.
That said, some hoteliers are embracing the idea because they like to sell people stuff. And if you want a rustic wall-tent on the African veldt or a pod in wine country, they’ll give it to you (at a price).
To lure you and your travel dollar, they’ve created some interesting alternatives to pitching your tarp in the woods. To wit, the DROP Eco-Hotel from IN-TENTA, a Barcelona-based design firm that is in love with capital letters. Today, the freestanding unit is nothing more than an appealing design concept that’s been rendered in some beautiful scenery. (Among other reasons, I find the design appealing because it’s shaped like a huge piece of Good & Plenty candy, with hemispherical transparent windows at each end.) But soon it will to be produced by another Barcelona firm, Urban Square.
Because it’s called the DROP, I imagine it being helicoptered into some ridiculous location—an inaccessible jungle deep in the Amazon, the top of a desert pinnacle, the middle of an island in an Alaskan river—where you can enjoy utter privacy and jaw-DROPping beauty. (Also, skylights, beds, a toilet and combo bath and shower, along with an attached deck with room for outdoor seating.) But the helicopter probably isn’t required; it looks like it will fit handily on the back of a flatbed truck, so maybe it just gets hauled overland and craned into place.
Either way, this would be an upscale way to live in the wilds. And it’s reasonably guilt-free, because the unit has adjustable steel legs that let you set up on uneven terrain and have only minimal contact with the ground. It also has environmental features, like photovoltaic cells and a rainwater collection system for the bathroom. If you want company, you can link several DROPs together.
And—just spit-balling here—it looks like with a little caulk, one of these things would float. Which means you can set it up on the beach with no worries about rising seas. What did you do on vacation? Went glamping, and sailing.
Image: Rendering of IN-TENTA’s DROP Eco-Hotel on a tropical beach somewhere. In my mind, Aitutaki.