Glamping
has been on the rise in Italy for a number of years now, and we often here from
people who want to start a glamping business here. We’ve never really been
interested in the concept, until we learned about the StarsBOX project of Fabio
and Lara, a young Italian couple from our region.
They were
inspired by the temporary huts, built by the shepherds who roamed the mountains
with their animals and the open air hotel room in the Swiss. They started with
the idea that it is indeed very romantic to sleep under the starry sky, but with
the luxury of a comfortable mattress and the certainty that a sudden rain
shower does not literally make your romantic plans fall into the water.
They
created a quirky design, a wooden box with a convertible roof, which they
called StarsBOX. When we first saw the StarsBOX, we fell in love instantly. We
had been fantasizing about an outdoor bed in our lavender field for a few
years. But the practical objections deterred us. The StarsBOX turned out to be
the perfect solution for us and we quickly contacted us to order one.
We were
very disappointed when we heard that only fifteen were made in the first year
and unfortunately we were number sixteen who wanted one. However, the final
decision would not be made until a month later, and in the meantime, one of the
fifteen others could change his mind.
The month
passed and we received the sad news that we were unfortunately not among the
candidates. We started working on alternative ideas. But a week later we
received surprising news. People from Puglia thought the transportation would
be too difficult and withdrew their application. You can probably imagine how
high we jumped with joy.
We were, of
course, the first who slept in it and it’s truly a unique experience. We’ll
never forget the time we were awakened by wild boars eating. I’m not really
adventurous, so I was very happy we closed the door to sleep and I don’t expect
them to be able to jump through the open roof.
