Collective Governors Island is a “glamping” camp in the New York harbour. It’s perfect for the kind of limited experience that’s trending in travel right now.
Governors Island, the 172-acre, partly man-made teardrop of land 800 yards from lower Manhattan in New York Harbor, has been home to a lot of different things throughout the years. A Native American fishing camp. A holding facility for Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. The launch point for the world’s first over-water airplane flight. For a few years when it was the largest headquarters of the United States Coast Guard, it had the only Burger King in the country that served beer.
After opening on June 29, with a grand opening event set for July 11, Collective Governors Island is a “glamping” camp from Collective Retreats that offers guests the kind of limited experience that’s trending in travel right now.
Getting to and from your accommodations requires taking a short ferry, available between the hours of 10:00am and 5:30pm Monday-Friday, and until 6pm on the weekend.
New York City has plenty of options when it comes to accommodations; at last count, there are more than 700 hotels listed on TripAdvisor in Manhattan alone — but most are pretty lackluster or prohibitively expensive. That made this latest NYC property’s advertised $75 nightly rate especially attractive. Of course, there’s a catch.
First, that $75 rate at Collective Governors Island is only available for New Yorkers, only on select weeknights and in limited quantity. Oh yeah, and you won’t be staying in a hotel — you’re paying $75 for a luxury tent, which actually doesn’t look half-bad. But that tent is located on Governors Island — which, while technically in the borough of Manhattan, is actually located in the middle of New York Harbor.
With room for around 100 guests, it’ll be the biggest outpost so far for the company, and a departure from their usual setup. The Governors Island retreat will have the same luxury tents Collective Retreats has at its other locations (with plush king sized beds, chandeliers, and private, fully functioning bathrooms) but it'll also have a more affordable option, with smaller queen and double tents that share bathhouses. Rates for luxury tents start at $650 per night, and select service tents at $125 per night. At least once a month, in an effort to make it more accessible to the larger community, the retreat will do a weekday discounted rate for the select service tents that starts at $75 per night. Later in the summer, it'll introduce a set of modular rooms made out of modified shipping containers, with prices comparable to those of the luxury tents.
Inside the tents, it’s pure comfort, with neutrals and natural finishes such as fur throws, wood, and woven rugs. In the Summit Tents, designer Cassie Novick has also peppered slightly different nautical touches throughout; ours came with a rope light fixture, vintage books and binoculars, and brass compass. Add to that the 1,500-thread-count sheets, a French press coffee bar, electricity, Wi-Fi, and a hot shower—this was a far cry from my experience of a dome tent in Greece. With the tent’s front completely open, bug nets zipped up, we couldn’t wait for the sun to go down and the whole scene to light up, as the Staten Island Ferry glided back and forth. Magical.