As the founder and president of Dawn Aprile & Company, an upstate New York real estate development company, Dawn Aprile is no stranger to seeing opportunities where others might not. An award-winning creative developer, her visionary skills serve her clients well. Those same skills led her to a new venture – the creation of NaturLuxe & Stars, a luxury glamping experience near the charming village of Watkins Glen in New York’s Finger Lakes region.
“I stumbled on the concept of glamping about 10 years ago,” says Aprile. “A friend of mine had asked me to look at a heavily wooded property and I was stumped on what it could be used for.” While doing a Google search for things like upscale campgrounds for kids, she discovered glamping. Intrigued, Aprile stored the idea in the back of her mind where it remained until 2017.
Study on Glamping
That year, Aprile scaled back her business to pursue a graduate degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo. While there she talked the dean into allowing her to do an independent study course on glamping. “I knew it was a cool concept, but I wasn’t sure how viable it was,” says Aprile. “I did market analysis, site analysis and financial analysis, and I thought, hmmm, there’s something to this! My favorite part of real estate development is walking a site and envisioning what it could be. I also love the outdoors and when I realized I could develop vacant land and create something special for other outdoor enthusiasts, everything fell into place.”
Near Watkins Glen
With her scalable business plan, Aprile set out to open glamping sites, each with a unique characteristic. The first site she picked was a 48-acre wooded parcel located next to Watkins Glen International, a world renowned racetrack. Nearby, Watkins Glen State Park is home to 19 spellbinding waterfalls, while Seneca Lake offers countless opportunities for sailing, boating and skiing. Wine lovers delight in the 100-plus wineries in the Seneca Lake region. “There was so much to support a new venture in the area,” says Aprile.
Aprile hired engineers and architects to begin the process of opening her first glamping site, but near the end of the planning process COVID reared its ugly head and brought everything to a halt. “There’s always risk with development and new ventures, but this added a whole other level of uncertainty,” recalls Aprile. “I had to decide whether to put everything completely on hold or move ahead.” She chose to move forward, with the project getting back on track in the fall of 2020.
New Challenges
New challenges arose courtesy of COVID, including increases in material costs – particularly lumber – along with labor shortages that became the norm. Coping with these unprecedented difficulties, Aprile just soldiered on. “I’ve always worn a lot of hats in my real estate development business, but this time I could relate to the Dr. Seuss book, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins!” Aprile worked alongside her team through the winter and they finished in time to open for the 2021 season.
NaturLuxe & Stars includes eight safari tents with en suite bathrooms arranged in a circle around a six-foot fire pit. Lavish décor, real beds and quality linens deliver an outdoor experience without a hint of roughing it. There are also six bell tents, each with a stone base and stylish interior décor, cozy beds and luxury linens. An additional 10 platform tents scattered along a path through the woods provide a wilderness experience, but with all the comforts of home.
A communal space
At the entrance to the property, a communal space makes an ideal hangout for groups to play games and talk. For solitude, you can spend some time in the lounge chairs placed beside the creek in the property’s woodlands. A modern bathhouse offers seven private bathrooms, with Corian vanity countertops, composite decking and polycarbonate shower ceilings so you can see the sky above.
With staffing shortages continuing through 2021, Aprile spent much of the season onsite. “I tried to keep the occupancy lower than what I originally projected just to maintain the quality experience,” she shares. “Being the first year, it was an opportunity for intimate feedback from guests.”
Despite the challenges she faced, a silver lining emerged for Aprile. “Increased awareness of the benefits of the outdoors for our well-being led COVID-weary campers to NaturLuxe & Stars from 11 states and two foreign countries in the first year,” she says. “I’m looking forward to what lies ahead.”
This article by Terri Marshall was originally published in Girl Camper Magazine.
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