Post-Pandemic Demand for Outdoor Lodging Soars

As pandemic lockdowns fade into memory, pent-up demand from people wanting to visit America’s scenic treasures is creating a growth market for lodging geared to outdoor enthusiasts.

According to a report last summer from the Outdoor Industry Association, more than 10M new participants have taken part in outdoor recreations since March 2020.

Camping, recreational-vehicle use and other forms of nature-related travel that didn’t require travelers to congregate in crowded indoor venues thrived during the pandemic. Post-pandemic, the surge of outdoor enthusiasts—and families planning vacations in rustic settings—is fueling the growth of new hotel brands that service the great outdoors.

Hotel developer Barry Sternlicht, the Starwood Capital Group CEO—Sternlicht created Starwood Hotels and sold the chain to Marriott—is doffing the James Bond tuxedo-style elegance of his W Hotels and Baccarat Hotel brands, putting on his backpack and hiking boots, and grabbing his fishing gear.

The Starwood chief is preparing to launch a new hotel brand, Field & Stream Lodge Co., that will operate lodging around national parks, woods, ski mountains, lakes and desert land across the US., the Wall Street Journal reported.

Starwood sold the outdoor-recreation retailer Field & Stream in 2014 but retained the company’s lodging rights. Sternlicht is partnering with Ben Weprin, CEO of real-estate investment manager AJ Capital Partners, on the Field & Stream hotel venture.

Sternlicht told WSJ last week he currently is in discussions for 10 locations. He said Starwood will help pay to acquire hotels to get the brand started, with the first Field & Stream hotel expected to open in 2024.

The partners are targeting 125 US markets, including the Snake River Canyon area in Idaho; Joshua Tree in the High Desert in California; and Lake Placid, NY.

Sternlicht is aiming for families and outdoor enthusiasts, offering lower- to mid-priced accommodations. Based on a rendering, the rustic lodges are three-story buildings with Scandinavian-style atrium lobbies including exposed beams, oak highlights and a two-story indoor fireplace.

The properties will feature 120 to 140 rooms with storage in each for recreational gear and communal lounge space for guests to mingle. Parking lots will feature electric generators for RVs, and pets are welcome.

Weprin believes there is a sustainable market for a new lodging chain. “We think it’s here to stay,” he told WSJ.

The AJ Capitals chief founded the college-town lodging brand Graduate Hotels, which has 33 properties.

Field & Stream is one of a bevy of new brands being launched by hotel operators who want to serve this growing market for outdoor and environmental-oriented experiences.

Trailborn, with a parent based in NYC, has eight hotels in its pipeline in locations near national parks and other popular outdoor destinations. The startup says it is donating a percentage of every room reservation to support local land conservation and preservation.

Trailborn is planning to open its first lodging this summer in Estes Park, CO, with 86 guest rooms spread across two locations. The resort will include a restaurant and café, two pools and fire pits.

Soul Community Planet Hotels is marketing for eight locations on the West Coast and Colorado—and one in Costa Rico, with a pitch that combines an activist environmental agenda as well as rustic lodging. In lieu of a hotel loyalty program, the chain plants trees, cleans trash off nearby beaches and uses solar power in its hotels.

Developers also are seeing increasing demand for “high-end tented accommodations,” which generally are much cheaper to build than high-end rooms.