Luxury cocoon-style vacation rentals are coming to Whatcom County this year.

The town of Glacier at the base of Mount Baker will soon be home to the Oculis Lodge, according to Oculis founder Youri Benoiston.

About 30, 700-square-foot, private dome structures are being built and branded as the ultimate, nature-immersive lodging experience in the Cascades.

“I want it to feel like a symbiosis with nature,” Benoiston said in a telephone interview with The Bellingham Herald.

Here are some of the details:

▪ One-bedroom, private domes.

▪ Smart-home technology.

▪ Sleeps up to six guests per dome.

▪ Private sauna and jacuzzi.

▪ Heated outdoor yoga space.

▪ 15-foot-wide skylight in each dome.

The project’s founder said he considered other areas for the Oculis Lodge but ultimately picked Glacier due to the town’s lack of big business and major development.

“It’s kind of raw. When you’re driving through the town, you see quaint businesses. There are no franchises,” Benoiston said.

This project has been in the works for the past two years, according to Benoiston. An Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the project ended in December and raised more than $1.2 million.

All of that money will be used for the project, according to Benoiston. He declined to provide an estimated total cost for the Oculis Lodge.

This is not the first project of its kind. Benoiston helped design and develop a similar project in Costa Rica called the Igloo Beach Lodge.

Nightly rates at the Igloo Beach Lodge start at $304, according to Tripadvisor.

A single-night stay at the Oculis Lodge is currently listed as $545, according to Indiegogo.

The Oculis Lodge project is expected to break ground next week with the first unit built by the spring of 2023. The entire project is expected to be completed within the year.

Whatcom Business

These luxury dome vacation rentals are coming to Whatcom County

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