Nontraditional lodging fills a need for pandemic travelers

By Christopher Elliott,

All Matt Bruhn was looking for was a pet-friendly hotel with a pool. But when he found a suite at the Fitler Club in Philadelphia, he stumbled upon a recent lodging trend: alternative accommodations that promise a private, and in some cases, lower-cost experience.

Bruhn, an investment consultant from New York, was on a road trip through Pennsylvania with his family early this summer. The Fitler Club, a private club along the Schuylkill River, occasionally lists its guest rooms online through Expedia, HotelTonight and Travelocity. Bruhn decided to take a chance on one and paid $300 a night directly through the club’s website.

“We had some cool experiences for our family,” Bruhn says. “There was a cinema room, bowling, games, an exceptional gym, great food and drinks. The hotel staff was warm, friendly and helpful.”

Travelers have always sought new lodging experiences, culminating in the home-sharing trend that now has taken center stage in the travel industry. But there’s more. An informal network of clubs, religious housing and other nontraditional lodging choices is also vying for your vacation dollars. And the pandemic desire for privacy and space has made travelers more aware of these under-the-radar options.

“I think people are looking for places to stay that are different but also safe,” says Jeff David, Fitler Club’s president. “Private clubs can offer that kind of lodging experience and more.”

The “more” he’s referring to is a customer service flourish you would only find in high-end hotels where rooms start at several thousand dollars a night.

Bruhn was surprised when a receptionist greeted him by name. You can offer that kind of personalized attention when you only have 14 guest rooms. Securing reservations for dinner wasn’t a problem, either. Plus, Bruhn, his wife and their two young children had access to the club’s pool, game room and gym — amenities for which hotel guests often pay extra.

Private clubs aren’t the only nontraditional lodging choices. About halfway between Spokane, Wash., and Boise, Idaho, you can find accommodations at the Inn at St. Gertrude, a four-room bed-and-breakfast on the grounds of the Monastery of St. Gertrude. It’s home to a community of the Benedictine Sisters, and guests can enjoy monastery-made jam and fresh bread, along with impressive views of the open prairie. Mercifully, the sisters have also added flat-screen TVs and wireless Internet access.

“Alternative lodging is definitely growing in Idaho,” says tourism spokeswoman Gloria Miller. “We also have fire lookouts that have been converted into lodging, including an oversized potato and a beagle-shaped building. And some local wineries have set up glamping options for those looking for a little more than just a wine tasting.”

For some, alternative lodging options mean getting off the grid in a setting that doesn’t look like a hotel. Frost Mountain Yurts, one of Maine’s original yurt camping properties, checks a lot of those boxes. It offers a remote camping experience on nearly 60 acres of land in Brownfield, Maine, with only five yurts spread across it.

“If you’re staying in one of the yurts, you can’t see your neighbor,” says Jaimie Crawford, a spokeswoman for the Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce. “You get to experience a feeling of being off the grid.”

Navigating the world of alternative accommodations requires a different kind of map. Your most helpful tool is a phone.

For example, I caught wind of a new social club called the Common House Chattanooga in Tennessee. It’s a members-only club with just 12 guest rooms on the site of the old Chattanooga YMCA. It opened this spring and had publicized its accommodations, but almost no information was available. A phone call cleared things up: The property was open to nonmembers, and rooms, which start at $200 a night, were scheduled to go on sale in July.

Many alternative accommodations are so small that they don’t pay travel agent commissions, selling their rooms through word of mouth or directly on their websites. So, unfortunately, phoning your favorite travel adviser won’t help.

Another thing: Alternative accommodations can be scarce. They’re often attached to facilities that aren’t primarily in the lodging business. For instance, the Fitler Club is mainly a private club that just happens to have a few guest rooms. If you want to stay there, plan far in advance.

Then there’s the experience itself. A monastery or private club is different from a hotel in many respects. For example, the Inn at St. Gertrude isn’t ADA compliant, and because of its rural location, it warns that “phone service can be challenging.” The nearby monastery has a list of rules by which the nuns live, including a dedication to silence and prayer.

Staying off the grid in a yurt may be “alternative” taken to an extreme. Some glamping accommodations don’t come with running water or bathrooms. Don’t assume any amenities are included.

These alternative accommodations represent just a sliver of the available lodging options. But in an industry where people are looking for more privacy and space — and maybe something a little different — these choices might make your next trip a little more interesting.

Elliott is a consumer advocate, journalist and co-founder of the advocacy group Travelers United. Email him at chris@elliott.org.

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