Governors Island is a mere eight-minute ferry from the southern tip of Manhattan (five minutes if you’re traveling from Brooklyn’s Pier 6) and already a favorite summer respite for harried New Yorkers. Before you’ve had time to stow your bike and collect your thoughts, you’ve been transported to a 172-acre car-free green space with playing fields and historic buildings, art installations and a grove of hammocks, plus an altogether slower pace.

Now you can sleep there, too. 


After opening on June 29, with a grand opening event set for July 11, Collective Governors Island is a “glamping” camp from Collective Retreats that offers guests the kind of limited experience that’s trending in travel right now.

“Collective Retreats was born out of the belief that the travel experience doesn’t need to be confined to physical buildings that inevitably start to depreciate and become outdated very quickly after opening,” says Peter Mack, Collective Retreats’ chief executive officer and co-founder. Its mission, he explains, is to connect guests with the land, people, and themselves. “We don’t pave roads, pour foundation, or build any permanent structures in order to protect and respect the land we operate on.”

The company already offers seasonal luxury accommodation under canvas in other destinations where it would be difficult to build a hotel without impacting the beauty of the place, from 1,000 acres of ranchland in Vail, Colo., and Big Sky, Mont., near Yellowstone National Park, to an organic farm in New York’s Hudson Valley and a 225-acre ranch in Texas Hill Country.

“With this retreat, we are excited to offer an oasis for New Yorkers and visitors to escape the concrete and grind of the city, reconnect with nature, and recharge,” Mack says.

Collective’s “asset-light” business model—subverting a traditional hotel approach, in that it doesn’t own the land its camps are located on but is investing in a guest’s experience of a destination—not only works for the Trust for Governors Island, which acts as steward alongside the National Park Service, it’s also a model that clearly appeals to both veterans and innovators in the travel industry. Simon Turner, former president of global development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, joined the company as an investor and adviser near the end of 2017, when a round of $10 million in funding was also announced. Earlier investors include Sam Shank, founder and CEO of Hotel Tonight; Evan Frank, co-founder and CEO of Onefinestay; and Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital.

Glamping as a trend continues to develop as well. In a 2018 study, travel company Cox & Kings named it one of the top eight experiences that will continue to grow momentum this year, as an “immersive experience that doesn’t compromise on luxury.” Searches for “luxury camping” and “glamping” interests have also doubled in the past three years, according to Google Trends.

Full disclosure, after a mosquito-filled tent experience while island hopping in Greece, I haven’t slept under canvas since I was a student, which is why the upscale twist of Collective Governors Island appealed to me. I escaped midweek to the island, from an oppressively hot and humid Manhattan, with my kids (Murr, 10, and Eve, 8). We were welcomed with a refreshing breeze as we cycled to the western side of the island to the six-acre camp (or is it glamp?).

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