If you build it, they will come

It all began with a dream. A dream of beautiful rainfall showers and hot and cold running water, of elegant canvas structures made of Siberian larch, exquisite en-suite huts with the softest beds, a concierge service, lofty decks built into the landscape, a spa with a beautiful bar and hot tubs with a view of the sun setting behind Glastonbury Tor. The dream was of a glamping experience that went beyond the vacu loos, shoddy tents and lukewarm beers of old. That dream was Yurtel.

Luxury camping back in 2012 was a different beast. The odd yurt or tipi. A blow-up mattress, some exclusive portaloos and a few hay bales to rest your festival weary limbs. We had different plans.

Back in 2012 Mickey met Jake. Jake had just built a yurt in the sitting room of his house. His garden wasn’t big enough. He had felled a tree or two, milled the wood, planed it by hand,and waited for it to season. It took a year. Mickey hired him on the spot.

Seven years later Mickey and Jake still design all our tents and huts. But with 6 suites, 40 yurts, 60 deluxe bell tents and 96 classic bell tents on our roll call, Rumplestiltskin he is not; so early on we started sourcing the best of British from the oldest surviving tent manufacturer in the country: elegant canvas, hand planed wood and beautiful structures that stand the test of time.

But Yurtel is renowned for not only our luxurious accommodation, but the full field production that accompanies the tented life. Cinemas, spas, restaurants and bouffanteries. The finest bathrooms and 5 star loos. Elegant decks, bars, lounges and lawns. It’s outdoor theatre on a grand scale.

To create this magical scene, we need the craftsmen, designers, seamstresses, artisans, lighting technicians, plumbers, mixologists, massage therapists and a concierge team to bring it all to life. Every detail is often re-inventing the wheel. Need an elegant shower with hot and cold running water in the middle of a field? No problem. Jake designed a Siberian larch enclosure with a decking shower tray, on top of estate agent boarding, a utility sink and a boat bilge tank to pump the run-off water.

Want a hand crafted wash stand with a traditional sink? Duckboards for the front of a yurt so you can leave your wellies outside, plumbing systems for the luxury loos, carpentry for the wardrobes and bedside tables, electric pump systems for the showers, a two storey spa, a full field kitchen for hearty breakfasts and fine dining, hot tubs with wood burning stoves, a 5.5m sq yurt to accommodate a hair salon, oh, and a fleet of vans to tour it from one remote field to another?

It hadn’t been done before. There was no online delivery for a new luxury ensuite hut with a full wet room, seating area and large kingsize bed that can be flat packed and carried from festival to festival. Nor is there a pre-fab model for an elevated deck with spa, treatment rooms, hot tubs and bar with a 360 degree panorama taking in the Pyramid Stage and Glastonbury Tor.

So we design it ourselves. It is a brilliant blend of traditional artisan techniques with cutting edge technology, beautiful carpentry with state of the art AI programming, hand crafted precision and clever engineering. And of course, the idea, the people and the vision to create something that goes beyond your expectations. Sweet dreams indeed.