A luxury hospitality brand called Beckons has made its debut by uniting two lodge collections, Baillie Lodges and Tierra Hotels, under a single flag.
Backed by Denver-based private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, the brand currently comprises nine properties across Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Canada, including Australia's Longitude 131*, New Zealand's Huka Lodge and Vancouver Island's Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge.
KSL's investment portfolio includes brands like Alterra Mountain Company, Outrigger Resorts & Hotels and Soneva. It acquired a majority stake in Baillie Lodges in 2018, and Baillie Lodges added Tierra Hotels to its fold in 2022.
The Beckons concept began to take shape after KSL brought Michael Crawford on as CEO of Baillie Lodges in 2025. Crawford, whose hospitality background includes a stint as president of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, said the brand targets travelers who don't want the friction of high-end trip planning.
"There is this concept of aspirational luxury, destination luxury, that is maybe once in a lifetime for folks, and then there's this planning fatigue -- our guests want to have that removed," said Crawford.
He described the Beckons guest as someone who appreciates being able to "dial up" or "dial down" a trip's adventure quotient as needed and and who values a "smaller, more intimate, individualized experience."
Beckons' lodges average around 25 suites each and operate on an all-inclusive model, with rates starting at roughly $2,200 to $2,800 per night depending on season, property and room type. Individual lodge names will remain the same; the Beckons branding will be added to the end of each property's moniker.
Travel advisors account for roughly half of current lodge bookings, according to the brand's chief commercial officer, Courtney Reagan. She emphasized that advisor outreach will be central to the Beckons rollout. The brand recently hired a Denver-based vice president of sales who will lead advisor education and the brand's fam program.
Expansion for Beckons: the lodge 'cluster' concept
Expansion is also a priority. But rather than adding lone outposts, Crawford said Beckons is pursuing a "cluster" strategy so guests can string together multilodge itineraries.
"We want to book a journey, versus, 'Hey, I'm just going to stay at one lodge,'" he explained, adding that Beckons is exploring the possible acquisition of a tour operator to help facilitate those multilodge trips.
Crawford said the brand was "working diligently" to add a property in Africa, and expansion into markets like the Maldives, Asia and the Caribbean is also under consideration. A lodge is under development in Australia, slated to open next year.
Crawford said the goal is to double the Beckons portfolio within three years and reach 25 to 30 properties over a longer horizon.
"We have probably equal to or greater than the number of assets in our M&A pipeline than we do open and running today," he said. "If you have two cluster purchases of three lodges apiece, you're almost doubling the size of what [we] have today."