Editor’s observe: Each month, we wish to introduce one in every of our great Glamping Hub hosts and ask what impressed them to create a glamping website. This month, we’re showcasing Glamping Hub’s Host of the Month for January 2023, Ken from Jonson City, Texas. What began as a love of glamping and fascinating lodging, quickly developed into a singular lodging house within the Texas Hill Country. Ken and his staff share a ardour for nature and ecological property administration, which glampers can take pleasure in once they keep in one of many luxurious bell tents or the transformed gypsy wagon.
Tell us a bit about your self…
I spent nearly all of my profession in IT consulting and staffing. Through a profession coach, I found a ardour and curiosity in creating a lodging vacation spot within the Texas Hill Country. I’m an enormous fan of glamping, classic RVs, and distinctive lodging sorts. The pure setting, the outside, and the ecological facets of property and land administration are actually necessary to me. I like to journey and discover totally different components of the world. To expertise the setting by means of an area lens as an alternative of staying in giant chains or accommodations and doing the most well-liked vacationer actions.
What attracted you to proudly owning a glamping property?
The artistic facets of glamping and an curiosity within the outside setting actually drew me in. Incorporating nontraditional lodging sorts with a small footprint additionally appealed to me.
Every glamping website has a particular story, might you inform us about yours?
While renting the property out, on a extra long-term foundation previous to leaping into offering shorter-term visitor lodging, we unintentionally harbored a fugitive who owned a journey trailer restoration enterprise. Luckily the legislation caught up with him! It was a bumpy studying curve and required a big cleanup effort.
What are a few of the challenges you face and what have you ever discovered since opening?
There are loads of them. We’ve confronted septic points, and effectively pump issues inflicting us to not have water. Some infrastructure and contractor points resulted in encroaching on our neighbor’s land. As effectively as putting electrical energy and water in very inconvenient areas on the property. Also, managing bookings and the backend capabilities of the enterprise was a battle till we integrated reserving engines and monitoring software program that made it simpler to handle.
The greatest studying expertise has been in getting the appropriate staff on board as it could make or break each the standard of visitor experiences and actually each side of working the enterprise.
How was your first time internet hosting?
A bit of difficult! It took me longer than I assumed to wash the unit and a few company needed to wait 30-45 minutes whereas I mopped the ground and made beds. Thankfully, I’ve gotten significantly better at this!
Can you inform us about your most memorable visitor expertise to this point?
Being woken up in the course of the night time by a visitor that wanted first assist! After getting dressed, fetching the package, and working to the glamping tent it turned out to be a small reduce and one thing we might simply deal with on-site.
If you can have anyone keep at your lodging, who would it not be and why?
Willie Nelson and his band. It can be entertaining and fascinating to hang around with one in every of our native musical icons.
Where is your very best vacation vacation spot? Other than your glamping property in fact!
That is a protracted record since I like to journey! Eco lodging on Saint John, one of many Virgin Islands. Visiting the small cities and villages of Belize, Italy, Greece, and France. I’d additionally like to go to Perth in Australia.
What do you’re keen on essentially the most about working a glamping website?
The company and our staff. It is nice having optimistic interactions whereas offering a pleasant visitor expertise. The staff collaboration and dealing relationships have been enriching, each to myself and the enterprise.
What recommendation would you give to anybody seeking to begin or enhance their very own glamping enterprise?
Get the appropriate staff in place as you scale up. Keeping in thoughts that dealing with bodily and structural issues, though a given, may be pricey. Get good electrical and plumbing contractors. Get a very good reserving engine and back-end help software program after you have a number of items.
Our group of hosts means every little thing to us right here at Glamping Hub, which is why we like to share their tales in our Host of the Month function. If you’re keen on touring with pets then this transformed gypsy wagon, simply 1.5 miles from the doorway to Pedernales Falls State Park is for you! Looking for an adventure-filled glamping getaway close to Austin? Try this distinctive bell tent. Plan your subsequent romantic retreat to this tent surrounded by the superbly wild Texas countryside for an very best glamping getaway!
Have you stayed with one in every of our unbelievable hosts just lately and want to nominate them for Glamping Hub’s Host of the Month? Send us a message through Facebook or Instagram explaining who you’ve chosen and why!
If you have an interest in making a glamping resort, discover out extra details about how we may help you develop or begin a glamping enterprise by means of Develop with Glamping Hub.
