This New, Outdoorsy Hotel Brand Will Debut in Moab, Utah, Next Year — With Cool Design and Rooms From $159 a Night

Get ready for more affordable outdoor adventures.

A new hospitality brand called Field Station will open its first-ever hotel in early 2023 in Moab, Utah. Soon after, the new lodging company plans to open two California locations — in Joshua Tree and Lake Tahoe — by renovating and upgrading existing motels. Each property will feature what Field Station calls “scandustrial” design that blends Scandinavian and industrial motifs, lending rooms an uncluttered aesthetic that leaves plenty of room for bikes, bags, boards, and other outdoors equipment.

The upstart company may be new, but it arrives with plenty of outdoor cred: It’s the latest project from Neil Dipaola, who founded AutoCamp Hospitality Group in 2013 and helped jumpstart the glamping revolution across America. (AutoCamp now has five properties in destinations including Cape Cod, Massachusetts; the Catskill Mountains of New York; and California’s Yosemite, and plans to open four more in 2023, in California, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah.)

“Our team has always been wildly passionate about getting people outdoors together and helping inspire a love for the environment,” Dipaola tells Travel + Leisure by email. “The success of AutoCamp inspired us to create Field Station, a more affordable offering with the same outdoor soul that makes it even easier for everyone to get outside more often.”

Field Station, which promises off-peak season rates as low as $159 a night, says rooms will come stocked with top-quality outdoors equipment from brands like Black Diamond and Dometic Outdoor. On-site rental and retail shops will have plenty of other gear; locations will also feature an espresso bar, a beer garden, and “van life spots,” as the company calls them, with access to RV hookups and other communal amenities. (“These spots will be perfect for guests who have been on the road in a Sprinter for a few days and are looking for a change of scenery,” Dipaola notes.) The Moab property, located at 889 North Main St., will also have a pool plus at least a few rooms rigged with Portaledges, those portable sleeping structures used by rock climbers.

“For experienced rock climbers, Portaledges are essential gear,” Dipaola says. “For the novice, this is a great opportunity to learn more about climbing as well as to try out Black Diamond’s incredible product that makes sleeping on a big rock possible.”

The company also promises to bring locals and visitors together, through extensive programming. “Field Station [will] serve as a community outpost for education, both for the local community and its guests,” according to a brand document shared with T+L. “Weekly programming and classes will include topics such as survivalist skills, the local history of Indigenous Peoples, backcountry clinics, on-trail bike tire patching, sustainable stewardship and Leave No Trace principles.”

While Field Station is starting small with just a few properties in the works for 2023, Dipaola is hopeful that the brand will take off just as AutoCamp did — and he’s actively scouting other locations where his upcycled-motel model might be a good fit.

“We believe the world would be a better place if more people could experience the outdoors, so we are on a mission to empower all people to get outside,” he notes. “We hope to provide greater comfort, ease, knowledge, and support to all people.”