Part 1: How to Build a Boutique Outdoor Resort - The Bare Essentials

Sorry it’s been a while. This summer’s been crazy in the best possible way.

Thankfully, I have a clear stretch to Christmas, which means The Glamping Insider dispatches are back.

To mark the return, I’m kicking off a 7-part series on opening a boutique outdoor resort. We’ll cover everything from finding land, to raising capital, to on-the-ground operations.

If you’re new here, a quick bit of background:

• I started working for Glampitect, a UK glamping consultancy, while studying at university in 2020

• In 2022, I co-founded the North American branch (Glampitect North America), and consulted on more than 40 US glamping projects

• Along the way, I’ve interviewed and studied hundreds of top operators. I’m lucky enough to call some of the best in the business my friends

• I co-founded Posh Outdoors, a startup that partners with landowners to create boutique outdoor resorts through revenue share partnerships

• Our first site, Skyridge Glamping, hit 84% occupancy at $550 ADR in its first three months, with a 4.9/5 Google rating across 141 reviews.

In short, I’ve seen a lot of what works, and what doesn’t.

Today’s dispatch is all about the bare essentials. The things you need in place before you can even think about starting.

Ready?

The Glamping Insider, reporting for duty.

The 4 Bare Essentials for Opening a Boutique Outdoor Resort

1 - Cash

I learned this the hard way.

Before Posh Outdoors got going, I attempted my own ground-up development.

I found an amazing spot in the Canadian Rockies. The property was beautiful, and the market was great. There was no zoning, so I could start building as soon as I bought the land.

My plan was to secure a 90-day exclusivity period on the property and quickly raise the money to buy it. Then I’d do another raise to fund construction.

Looking back, it was stupidly ambitious.

I literally had no money. My income at the time barely covered my daily expenses, let alone a $100k down payment to secure exclusivity.

Needless to say, the deal fell apart, and I was back to square one.

If you’re buying land, you’ll need cash. Merely having the funds to secure an exclusivity period may not even be enough, as raising the rest to cover the whole purchase in a short period is a tall order.

And that’s not to mention legal fees, agent fees, etc.

My advice would be to start with enough cash to purchase a property, or to cover a down payment on a loan that will fund the purchase and the construction. For an SBA loan, that’s typically 20% of the entire project cost.

I’m sure there are ways to do it without hard cash. But there are also ways of completing a marathon without training. Just because something is theoretically possible, it doesn’t mean you should do it.

2 - Avoid Analysis Paralysis

You don’t need to be perfect to be successful in this business. The margins are forgiving.

Yet I’ve watched people stall for years chasing “perfect.” Perfect property, perfect units, perfect timing. It doesn’t exist.

If the land looks good, the market is strong, and the numbers check out, buy it.

If the units are cool, meet code, and are well-built, buy them.

You’ll have a hundred big decisions to make later: guest experience, staffing, pricing. Don’t let yourself get stuck in the starting blocks.

3 - Do You Actually Want This?

Opening a resort is incredibly tough. I wrote a whole piece on this.

There will be nights you wonder if you’ve made a huge mistake. Times you’ll want to quit. That’s when passion is tested. If you didn’t want it badly to begin with, you won’t last.

Ask yourself honestly: do I want this enough?

If the answer’s no, you’ll save yourself pain by walking away now.

4 - Do You Have the Time?

Even if you’re super-motivated, you need to be realistic about how much time this takes.

When we raised the money to get Skyridge Glamping into business, it was a huge time sink. I sacrificed weekends, social life, and, frankly, happiness, to make it happen.

And I was single, with no dependents, and a 4-man co-founding team to share the load with. I can’t imagine what it’s like if you’re doing this yourself when you have a family to provide for.

So, before you dive in, ask: Do I have the time? And equally: Do the people around me have the patience to support me?

Read the next installment of the series - Conceptualizing Your Dream Resort.

📰 The Posh Report

Today marks exactly 3 months since our first guests stayed at Posh Outdoors’ first location, Skyridge Glamping.

It’s been a phenomenal first quarter, with the highlights including:

• 84% occupancy across our 5 cabins

• An average daily rate of $550

• An average Google review score of 4.9/5 from 141 reviews

Things are going even better than we’d hoped.

Now, we’re a couple of weeks from launching our brand new website, and we’re getting closer and closer to signing a deal for a second location.

Onward!