tl;dr – The first location will put you close to two popular national parks.
Travel + Leisure Co., the operator of several hotels that has licensed the name of the magazine (and several other media, entertainment, and retail brands), recently announced the launch of its latest venture – The Eddie Bauer Adventure Club, in Moab, Utah.
Here’s a bit of background on Eddie Bauer in case you’re unfamiliar with the brand. Founded in the 1920s by, well, an outdoorsman named Eddie Bauer (in the Seattle area), it is/was an outdoor recreation brand first made famous for sporting equipment and clothing. My mom used to insist we ‘pop into the Eddie Bauer outlet’ at Tangier centers and I was always happy when I left with nothing, so as to not look like at 67 year-old grandpa while traversing the middle school hallways.
Over the years, it evolved to be used for eyewear, furniture, bicycles, and most prominently automobiles – with Ford branding several of its marquee vehicles as ‘Eddie Bauer editions.’ While Eddie Bauer’s retail life came to an end earlier this year with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the brand lives on through many of the aforementioned extensions.
Travel + Leisure Co, which is actively growing its Sport Illustrated Hotels & Resorts portfolio, has indicated that the first Eddie Bauer Adventure Club in Moab will feature 39 keys, a mix of one, two, and three-bedrooms. The website suggests that there will also be some sort of residential offering, most likely a timeshare (as Travel + Leisure Co owns the Wyndham Resort Development Corporation timeshare business). As such, the units are equipped with kitchens and laundry facilities.
At first blush, I wouldn’t say the Eddie Bauer Adventure Club leans into glamping, but given its proximity to two popular national parks – Arches and Canyonlands, I do think it qualifies as an entry in the growing list of hybrid accommodations – lodging options that provide the convenience of a hotel with a focus on putting travelers closer to nature.
No word on the next location of the ‘EBAC’ (I just started that), but if Travel + Leisure Co. is following a model similar to its Sports Illustrated game plan (sorry), I’d imagine we’ll be seeing several more EBACs at or near popular outdoor destinations soon.
