The hospitality bug bit Peter Mack, founder and CEO of Collective Hotels & Retreats, early on. At 15, he was washing dishes in the kitchen of the local Omni property in Connecticut to earn some money during the summer. He was soon promoted to a busser, then a server, and eventually moved on to front desk duties—all before finishing high school. When time came to choose a college, it was an easy decision: Cornell University’s prestigious School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, New York.
Immediately after graduating in 2003 and finishing his term as an alderman for the city of Ithaca, he landed a marketing job for Starwood Hotels & Resorts (now Marriott). In the 10 years he was there, he moved up the marketing ladder and spent countless hours on the road (at one point, that number reached 250 days in one year). Sleeping in all those hotel beds got him thinking about his chosen industry. “I learned that first and foremost, the best hotels are about people and the connection between the staff and the guests,” he says. “[But] too often, they looked and felt the same, and they seemed to have no relation to their locales.”
As a response, he founded Collective Hotels & Retreats, a very asset-light model (there are no actual buildings) that aims to turn the usual order of things upside down. Instead of brick and mortar, these temporary and seasonal resorts consist only of a collection of five to 15 sumptuously appointed tents that serve as guestrooms, with one communal lodge (also a tent) and a staff who ingratiates themselves into the setting. The modus operandi of Collective Retreats is to set up on remote properties where a standard hotel might not work as well or have access to, in the middle of a vineyard or farm, for instance, and then offer a fine dining experience that showcases the goods produced there, as well as other onsite activities. It’s modern-day camping (call it elevated glamping) that pushes the boundaries between the setting and the typical hotel stay, and allows guests to comfortably be one with their surroundings.
The concept has been in beta for two years in Vail, Colorado and Yellowstone, Montana. Now, thanks to a cash infusion from a team of investors that includes Sam Shank, CEO and cofounder of HotelTonight, Mack’s ready to unveil three more, in New York’s Hudson Valley, set to open this month; the Texas Hill Country, to open later in the year; and California’s Sonoma region. “When considering where to locate, we always keep in mind the notion of delivering special experiences in unexpected places,” he says. “As we expand, we’re looking at sites that are not as remote as the first two but still represent a true escape and bear a mark of authenticity.”
The design plays a large part in creating a sense of place. Each retreat offers furnishings and textiles sourced from area artisans and antique malls. In-house designer Cassie Novick looks for local touches, such as the elk horn chandeliers and throws featuring Native American motifs that adorn the Yellowstone property, and shakes things up each season with new accent pieces.
Mack is considering other types of lodging with an “exterior component that can be localized,” such as treehouses, Airstream trailers, tiny houses, or geodesic domes. “I didn’t envision any of this when I was at hotel school and Starwood,” he says. “I really loved every minute of it, but as time went on, I realized that people’s expectations of luxury have changed to move toward the more experiential side of things. In today’s world, this is what resonates.”
