Tentrr, which is most easily described as the Airbnb for camping, is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area.Tentrr
The hardest part of going camping might be getting started. The upfront cost forces newbies to shell out for a tent, sleeping bags, and other gear. There are 13,000 public campsites in North America to choose from, and no definitive review site vetting them.
It can be overwhelming.
Tentrr wants to take the hassle out of camping. Launched in 2016, the “Airbnb for camping” lets users find and book upscale campsites on private land.
The company has just announced it’s opening 10 sites in the San Francisco Bay Area — its first expansion outside the East Coast. The majority of sites will be in Santa Cruz and Sonoma Counties, with another 50 Bay Area campsites in the pipeline for spring 2019.
We talked to investment banker turned startup founder Michael D’Agostino on why Tentrr could be the future of weekend getaways.
He left his job working on IPOs for tech companies and launched Tentrr on the generosity of his Wall Street buddies. “Our core belief is that we are the anti-campground,” he said.
When a landowner applies to host a Tentrr campsite, the startup sends a scout to check out the location in person. They ask questions like, “Can you see or hear a road or neighbors?” “Is there swimmable water on the property?”
Importantly: “Can you run around the campsite naked?”
Tentrr charges the landowner a one-time fee of $1,500 to have the tent set up on site and to join the app. Landowners take 80% of the revenue generated by a reservation on their property (though Tentrr charges users an additional 15% processing fee that it keeps).
The average nightly rate is $144, which is three times more than the industry average. But it’s a steal compared to upscale glamping startup Collective Retreats, which charges between $500 and $700 a night.
Collective Retreats develops campsites across the US that offer access to the outdoors and the “comforts of a Four Seasons,” according to founder Peter Mack. Each rental has a king-sized bed, a wood-burning stove, wall plugs aplenty for charging gadgets, and a private bathroom.
