Challenge
How might we create a different type of countryside escape that appeals to nature and design enthusiasts?

Scope
Research, ideation and development of a strategic plan for a new countryside resort.

Outcome
New business feasability study for a hospitality company.

Team
Benjamin Leclair, Resarch & Strategic Design
workroom B, Business Model

Working with a private client, our CHALLENGE with this project was to create a strategic plan for a different type of countryside resort in the Canadian countryside. This included defining a vision for the project, finding the perfect site and assessing the project’s feasibility.

We began the process by asking, WHAT NEW TYPES OF EXPERIENCES ARE PEOPLE SEEKING IN THE CANADIAN COUNTRYSIDE? To answer this question, we deployed a human-centered research project that sought to identify experiences that had people talking. We quickly singled-in on a growing phenomenon where people from outside the hospitality industry are building small resorts in really remote locations made of small cottages loosely inspired by modernist design. Our research process was layered to include a cyber-ethnography, surveys, interviews and eventually, a design ethnography conducted at one of the resorts. As ‘participants observants’, we immersed ourselves at one of the most successful existing micro-cabin reosrt as we aimed to understand what aspects of the experience guests were drawn to, what people enjoyed and what was missing.

resarch & strategy

We translated our findings into a vision for a new type of countryside resort especially appealing to design enthusiasts and urban professionals intrigued by the countryside without necessarily being the outdoorsy type. This, it turns out, is a much bigger market than we had expected.

Here are 3 ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS that we uncovered:

Insight: Unusual Occupancy Rates

MICRO COTTAGES OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN HAVE UNUSUALLY HIGH OCCUPANCY RATES. The rental units in the micro cottage category that we studied outperformed any other rental categories. Occupancy rates, the single most important factor for profitability in the industry, are nearly twice those of the regional average, and 20% higher than the second most in demand category (high end hotels).

Insight: Experience Based Pricing

AN INVESTMENT IN DESIGN COMBINED WITH A COMMITMENT TO SMALLNESS TURNS ONE OF OLDEST REAL ESTATE PREMISE ON ITS HEAD. The value of a real estate has always been directly tied to the floor surface area. Sales prices, rental prices, construction prices are commonly stated on a ‘per square foot’ basis. Yet, contemporary micro cottages, especially those with modernist leanings, commonly rent for the same price as conventional cottages that are 2 to 3 times larger.

Insight: Nature as a Premium Amenity

GUESTS PRIVILEGE TRANQUILITY AND NATURE OVER COMFORT. Many guests referred to their experience as ‘glamping’, even if the conditions of their small cottages were comparable to a 3-star hotel room. There, we saw a gap between perception and reality as we came to understand that guests see nature as an extension and part of their cabins, in a similar way that luxury hotel guests rationalize the cost of their rooms by considering hotel amenities.

Insight: Views Above All Else

GUESTS DON'T SEEK LOCATIONS WITH THE MOST POPULAR ATTRIBUTES AMONGST COUNTRYSIDE HOME OWNERS. After interviewing 35 people that have stayed at the two most popular micro cottage resorts, we discovered that guests don’t care about many of the things that bring the price of land up, including proximity to the city and ski hills. In fact, many clients expressed a clear preference for environmental conditions that correspond to affordable sites.

Insight: The Privacy Paradox

GUESTS WANT TO FEEL ISOLATED AND VALUE PRIVACY BUT THEY DON'T FEEL SAFE WHEN THEY DON'T SEE OTHER GUESTS OR STAFF. Micro cabins are popular amongst couples and small families. Most users are on romantic getaways, often spending time in a countryside cabin for the first time. They've rented cabins in the past, but usually with groups of friends or with their extended families. Being with just one other person alone in the woods could feel uneasy for some, especially those of us that grew up in cities and suburbs. Nobody we spoke with stated that they wanted cabins to be closer together, but nearly everyone that had spent a night in the most isolated cabins suggested that they’d felt scared at some point in their stay because they could not hear or see other visitors.

User Personas

The Countryside Rookie

"Christine is a first generation Canadian working as a creative director in Montreal. This was her first trip to the countryside. She’s hooked!"

Travel Priorities Christine had never gone camping or travelled to the countryside until last year. She decided to try Repère Boréal because the concept was exciting, modern, comfortable and on a site that looks absolutely beautiful. She travels a lot, at least 2 weeks each year, but usually goes overseas. She’s from Montreal and loved how remote the site is. One issue: as neither her or her boyfriend own a car, they had to get a rental as the site was not accessible by public transport. She wishes there was a water stream on the site. She doesn’t ski. She’d definitely visit a similar resort in the Laurentians, as long as it’s quiet and secluded.

Experience at Repère Boréal Christine enjoyed hiking, snowshoeing and sledding. Her and her partner stayed pretty active during the day and enjoyed calm evenings by the fireplace with a book. Their stay was perfect; they loved how they never ran into their neighbors and how friendly the staff was. They found out about the Repere Boreal through Instagram.

The New Experience Chaser

"Amelie lives in a suburb outside Montreal where she works as a psychoeducator for the Board of Education. Repere Boreal was the perfect place to disconnect and feel good about doing nothing for a couple of days."

Travel Priorities Looking for short escapes (2-3 days) to disconnect from urban life and touristic areas. Usually travels with her boyfriend. Amélie enjoys getting away to relax, read, enjoy some short snowshoeing expeditions and maybe a bit of sledding! She likes her outdoor activities in small bites. Being close to a ski hill is not important to her, but she wouldn’t mind being near a water stream (lac, stream, river, etc.) when she goes away in the summer, but it’s not something she was seeking when she booked her vacation.

Experience at Repère Boréal She loved her stay at Repère Boréal. What she appreciated the most was the natural landscape and the tranquility. She wishes that her unit had its own toilet and would have liked to have a restaurant on site. Having said that, she thinks the food baskets available for sale are fantastic. She loved being welcomed by the owner on site upon her arrival. She would definitely visit a similar resort in the Laurentians. She found out about Repère Boréal through Facebook.

The Seasonned Traveller

"Guy is a baby buster, a dad, a husband and the Director of Hotel Operations at Hilton Hotel. He likes to treat himself to new kinds of experiences."

Travel Priorities Enjoys short gateway (2-3 days), sometimes with his two teenagers, sometimes just with his wife. Guy loves finding new resorts to relax, read and enjoy an afternoon at the spa. He sometimes skis if the mountain is within a 30-minute drive. He grew up skiing but cares a little less about it now. In the summer, he prefers going to sites where there’s access to a lake or water stream, but it’s not a deal breaker. He takes lots of weekend vacations, so he’s happy to find getaways that offer different kinds of experiences.

Experience at Les Domes He really enjoyed Les Dômes because of how remote it is from absolutely everything. The only drawback was how close the three domes were from each other, and the fact that the domes didn’t have a BBQ. He didn’t mind travelling all the way from Laval, but would prefer if it was closer to home. He found out about Les Dômes from Facebook.

Findings from our user surveys, interviews and design ethnographies yielded invaluable insights to investors: future users seek very different types of sites when compared to countryside home owners. This means that our micro-cottage resort could be built on an affordable site asmost guests don’t see value in being near a ski resort, waterfront, or close to the city. On the other hand, while investors care about lower capital expenditures, they also care about the residual value of property. This means that picking a site far from a popular resort town would not work.

Organizational Design

For this 25-room resort, we’re proposing to have one live-in manager supported by a full time assistant. Together, they become the face of the operation by welcoming clients and answering requests in person from 8am to 6pm everyday. Instead of creating a dedicated check-in counter, clients come in through a neatly designed general store where they can also purchase local goods, produce, prepared meals and food baskets. The vibe is farm-to-table, with as many local produces as we can source. The general store is also the check-in counter and offers sporting equipment rentals, which we think will be quite popular for visitors who aren’t necessarily outdoorsy. While yoga matts and blocks come standard with each room, snowshoes, mountain bikes and hiking gear is always available for a small fee.

This client-facing staff is supported by a full-time maintenance professional and a cleaning team of three. Together, this team is equipped to handle most customer requests, reservations, equipment rental, general store sales and maintenance. This allows the head office team to focus on online marketing strategies, website maintenance and accounting from Montreal.