Pop-up hotels — Update

A few weeks ago, we featured pop-up hotels in Spain. The theme is continued in the UK, where Boutique Camping offers decidedly upscale camping at summer music festivals. Luxury-seeking festival-goers can choose from a variety of places to rest their weary bones, ranging from elegant tipis and bohemian bivouacs to pastel-coloured beach huts and wooden micro-cabins (a.k.a. podpads). All can be booked unfurnished, though guests are better off choosing the furnished option, adding beds, rugs, sheepskins, lanterns and iPod docking stations. Boutique Camping sites include round-the-clock staffed reception, clean toilets and proper showers, and a communal Bedouin tent for after-party lounging. Boutique Camping will provide pop-up accommodation at a number of popular music festivals in England and Ireland this summer, from the Big Chill to the Secret Garden Party. They’re already fully booked for The Electric Picnic, which takes place in August. The mix of available accommodation varies per location, and everything can be booked online. Pricing depends on the festival’s duration, but ranges from GBP 399 for a basic podpad to GBP 1,095 for a large furnished tipi. Offering festival-goers an alternative to cramped tents in muddy fields, this should be a fun and potentially lucrative business to set up in other countries. Make sure to target wedding planners and the corporate events industry, too, and pop up for mid-summer parties, art biennales, sports events, meteor showers and any other excuse for a congenial overnight gathering. (For more inspiration, also check out Camp Kerala, a roaming tented village described as “the most elegant and romantic place to stay outside India.”) Spotted by: Eva Keogan Related: Pop-up hotels – Beer cans that sleep two – Swish showers on location