How One Man Revived a Historic English Estate

The year is 2004. Port Lypmne (pronounced ‘Port Limb’), a historic British estate doing vital conservation work, is hemorrhaging money. $5 million a year to be exact.

Though it enjoys a steady stream of visitors, the numbers simply don’t add up. An estate that had played host to Winston Churchill, Lawrence of Arabia, and Charlie Chaplin is in danger of going bust.

But the arrival of one man changes everything. His name is Bob O’Connor.

Bob joins the estate as managing director in 2004, and oversees a dramatic turnaround in fortunes. His work prevents the property from becoming a footnote in history, and transforms it into one of the most successful, iconic resorts in the UK.

And he does it with a simple philosophy: “Be Different.”

This is the story of the revival of Port Lympne, and how one man’s philosophy saved a historical icon.

The Glamping Insider, reporting for duty.

Port Lympne - A History

Set on 600 lush green acres in Kent, just over an hour east of London, the Port Lympne Mansion is a work of architectural beauty. 

Custom designed and built for the aristocrat Sir Phillip Sassoon in 1913, it contains 4 reception rooms, 2 libraries, 30 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms. 

Under its original ownership, it was the gathering place for the who’s who of Edwardian high society. Prime ministers, artists, actors, sports stars and royalty all enjoyed the opulent residence and its sprawling grounds. 

But it soon came crashing down.

The mansion was commandeered and badly damaged during the Second World War. It fell into disuse in the decades following and became a mere echo of its former resplendence. 

This remained the case until 1973, when gambler and zoo owner John Aspinall visited the estate and “fell under its strange spell.” He immediately purchased the mansion and all 600 acres, oversaw a huge renovation project, and invited the paying public in 1976.

The estate became part-zoo, part sanctuary for rare and endangered wildlife, and came under possession of the charitable Aspinall Foundation in 1984. 

Seems like a happy ending, right? 

Wrong. The war was just the beginning…

Port Lympne’s Financial Struggles

While the Aspinall Foundation had extensive history, cool wildlife and a beautiful estate on their side, they didn’t have a profitable operation. 

Operating an animal sanctuary isn’t cheap, and visitor passes weren’t covering the costs.

By 2004, Port Lympne was costing the Aspinall Foundation £4 million per year. Something needed to change. 

And that change came in the form of Bob O’Connor.

The Revival

Bob was a storied hospitality professional by the time he was appointed as Managing Director of Port Lympne. He’d overseen pubs, hotels, restaurants, bars, and even Brighton Pier. 

Throughout his career, Bob developed a simple philosophy for hospitality: “Be different”. And it worked everywhere he went.

Turning Port Lympne around would be Bob’s toughest challenge yet. He’d need to do something radical.

And what’s more radical than creating an African safari in the east of England?

Bob purchased some old army trucks, covered them in tarpaulin, and built a 100-acre African safari experience for the day visitors. It didn’t cost much, but it was creative and experiential.

After just one year, the estate saw an increase of 100,000 visitors, and losses were cut from £4 million to £3 million.

Now it was time to add accommodation.

Authentic safari tents were shipped from Africa, along with park rangers to make the experience even more real. These rangers would cook “braai” (South Africa’s answer to a BBQ) for overnight guests over the campfire, telling stories about their time in the bush.

These additions cost Port Lympne £165k, and they made their money back within the first season thanks to an astonishing occupancy rate of 94%.

Other innovations followed. A stunning treehouse hotel, old-fashioned English shepherd huts, eco glamping pods, all to great success.

Then things started getting crazy. You see, Bob took the “Be Different” philosophy extremely seriously

His next idea was to allow guests to sleep inside the animal enclosures.

Tiger Lodge opened in 2017, putting you within millimeters of the estate’s Siberian tigers. Of course, guests loved it. 

Before long, a visitor to Port Lympne could stay at Lion Lodge, Giraffe Cottage and Leopard Creek. 

Crucially, they didn’t half-ass any of these expansions. Each accommodation has its own unique feel and encourages multiple stays. 

And so Port Lympne was transformed from an estate on the brink, to a profitable, experiential destination with accommodations unrivalled in their uniqueness. 

And it was all done thanks to one man’s simple philosophy.

What Can We Learn?

Here are the main takeaways from Bob O’Connor’s work at Port Lypmne:

• Struggling properties can be revived. The next great glamping business may be a dying RV park

• If you had to adopt one hospitality philosophy, “Be Different” would be a wise choice 

• Execute well. Having the idea to put accommodation in animal enclosures is one thing. Making it a world-class experience is hard to pull off

• Double down on what works. Bob saw the success of the African safari experience, so he added tents and rangers. He realized Tiger Lodge was working, so he repeated the idea with lions, giraffes and leopards

💡Idea of the Week - Old-Fashioned SEO Still Works

I’ve written a lot about social media and email marketing, which to me are the cornerstones of glamping site marketing.

But there’s still a place for search engine optimization, which is the art of ranking your website as highly as possible on Google.

Here’s a quick tip to boost your SEO: make sure other websites link to yours.

For example, a local news organization including your website link in a “Top 10 places to stay in Colorado this summer” article will put you in Google’s good books.

This Idea of the Week came from Ken Barber, owner of Wildhaven in California. Ken was a guest on this week’s episode of the Unique Hospitality Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube.

📰 The Posh Report

This morning, I ran the first social media ads for Skyridge Glamping, the first Posh Outdoors location. 

These ads are the start of a 2-3 week testing period, but things will ramp up as we head towards a May/June opening. I’ll keep you posted in this section of the newsletter.

Want to invest in Posh and effectively have a piece of every project we go on to develop? Schedule a call to learn more.

🌎️Insider’s World

As I write this (Thursday afternoon), Canada is preparing for a rematch against the US in the 4 Nations Hockey Face Off.

As an adopted Canuck, I’m rooting for McDavid and the boys tonight. Sorry!