Amangiri thinks it's time to take your company on a Retreat: With the opening of their new Camp Sakira, companies can now host in-person retreats for their employees (in a tent).

• Author: Rowland, Sarah
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

WITH VIEWS OF UTAH'S starkly beautiful desert landscape and the iconic mesa rock formations of the Southwest, Amangiri (meaning 'peaceful mountain') is situated in the Grand Circle region of the US. Five national parks, extraordinary monuments, and the expansive Native American Navajo Nation Reservation all surround the resort.

The idea to operate an Aman hotel within a national park was extremely ambitious. The Aman brand has been around for over 30 years, though they've never once paid for marketing. All brand exposure happens organically by word of mouth, and they rely strongly on travelers themselves to become the loudest advocates of the organization.

"Over time, the name Aman has become synonymous with a place that's a destination in its own right," explains Julien Surget, general manager at Amangiri. "When this iconic hotel opened 11 years ago, ownership envisioned the development of a luxury group camping element, though at the time they didn't know exactly how that would manifest in the years to come," Surget says.

INTRODUCING CAMP SAKIRA

While the high-end hotel group is a long-established name for luxury travelers, Utah's Amangiri has just recently undergone extensive expansions and changes in order to host programs for larger groups of leisure and business travelers alike.

Though the project has only recently been introduced to the market, it has been years in the making. On the first attempt, they built a space based on the traditional Mongolian yurt. Next, they evolved to create a series of teepees on the property, but neither of those options had staying power. After extensive research, Aman owners found Luxury Frontiers, a South African company that handcrafts high-end tent accommodations.

Together with the Aman, Luxury Frontiers developed a hybrid material for the structures that make up Camp Sakira. Sprawling across 55 acres of vast desert, the camp consists of a collection of 10 beautifully appointed tented pavilions. Inside, every corner is made to evoke a camp feel with draped cloth walls, fabric-covered ceilings, large bay windows, and outdoor showers.

Each tent hosts 30 guests, and a total buy-out of the property can be made available for larger groups and corporations. With these tented group rentals, guests have access to their own private amenities. There's a common building with its own restaurant, pool, spa suite, and a guest reception area--it's essentially a resort within a resort that's making both leisure and...