boutique homes dispatches

Chic Nomads Camp in Style

Glamping – a combination of the words glamour and camping – is all the rage. As this article in the Wall Street Journal points out, Americans have always been about vacationing in the Great Outdoors. Only now, instead of staying in leaky tents in uncomfortable locales, they’re staying in slightly more upscale abodes while still enjoying all the activities nature has to offer.

Maybe you’re a bit unsure about this whole “glamping” trend. If so, the BubbleTree, the brainchild of Pierre Stephane Dumas, might change your mind. It’s the perfect compromise for those who like to sleep under the stars but would rather not be exposed everything that Mother Nature, God bless her, might throw at them.

The BubbleTree is a prefab cabin with a twist – it’s totally inflatable. A bit like an air mattress, but much bigger, and an interior decked out with beds, chairs, and occasionally wooden floors. The Bubbletree is inflated and kept sturdy through the use of a silent pump and an airlocking door. It’s a bit like an inflatable spaceship, when you think about it.

French designer Dumas says he was inspired to create the BubbleTree because “having a night under the stars or seeing the sun rise and set is not something that many people experience anymore. A normal tent or camper van means people miss out on those things.”

The BubbleTree comes in several variations. There is a totally transparent tent called the CristalBubble; this is the one you see in most of the images here. A more modest version that has a see-through roof but concealing walls is called Cocooning. There’s also a “suite” version called the Bubble Lodge. And yes, there is also a bubble tent that can be suspended from the trees, which is how the product received its original name.

Unfortunately, a night in the BubbleTree doesn’t come exactly cheap. This is glamour camping, after all. Staying in one (in locations across France) will run you around $600 per night. The good news is that the BubbleTree are available for weekend events and nature outings and several places in France boast their own collection of BubbleTrees to stay in. Or you can always buy your own for a cool $12,000.

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