Our Story

Outdoor hanging bed and projector for movies and shows outside on your massive private balcony surrounded by nature.
Outdoor hanging bed overlooking national forest at the edge of our property. Look inside from the of this glass-walled cabin or go through your own mini garage door to get inside.

Our mission

Connecting people through nature and design.

After starting a goal to visit 50 countries and 50 states by age 25, our founder Ben completed a trip across the country as a s teenager. This ~5,000 mile trip took us through a range of beautiful places across our country - from Big Bend in Texas over to Kings Canyon in California and up to Craters of the Moon in Idaho.

At almost every beautiful area in nature we went to, and in almost every state, we searched for a thoughtfully designed place to stay in nature and found nearly nothing. The campgrounds were best, but often full or we didn’t have the gear. The hotels were expensive, far from nature, and basically flattened earth parking lots on the side of the road. From then on, I (like many others) continued to love travel and am still amazed at how well we can remember every day of travel years later-almost to pause or lengthen life.

I also love design and believe we needed more builders in this era of our country. Now, I feel like the best way to create something meaningful in this world is to design and build better ways for people to travel and experience nature.

The action started at a very small scale about 7 years ago while designing and building a tiny house with friends in an alley behind my basement apartment. Then, in 2021, we finally found our Salida site. It’s our first real attempt at creating design in nature and we’re in the early stages so we use our guest feedback to try and make it better every day.

We’re so grateful to have you and appreciate you staying with us in the early stages of our journey. In the first 5 years of our company we’ve put every single guest dollar back into the improvements of the site, cabins, and experience and we plan to continue that for years to come. Staying here really makes a difference.

Thank you for stopping by. Our team is so thankful.

We choose to spend our lives building places for people to stay in nature.

OUR WHAT

At Outside Design, we aim to design and& build better ways for people to experience nature. Given the hundreds of studies that reveal nature’s numerous benefits on our health, it seemed like a worthy enough, positive cause to dedicate our livesselves to.

More specifically, our goal is to maximize the feeling of being outside by building BIG windows into small spaces and carving buildings into the surroundings. Designing around nature, not through it.

On average, our cabins have more square footage of outdoor space than indoor. you will see this and various other ways we design differently if you get a chance to visit.

OUR WHY

Well… why is it so hard to go to an awesome natural destination & stay in a well-designed place for humans? We don’t know. Why do most hotels raze AND flatten the entire forest before building? We still don’t fully know.

We do know how to design and build. So, we set out to devote our lives to make both of them better through our mission: to connect people and nature through design.

Interior of a tiny wooden cabin with large glass windows revealing a hillside with trees outside. The cabin has a sloped ceiling, wooden furniture, a bed with pillows, a small table with a chair, and potted plants on a shelf.
Wooden spa and sauna area with hot tubs, cold plunge, and massive custom sauna. Warm lighting, outdoor seating, and snow-covered surroundings at dusk
Two hot tubs with bubbling water in a wooden outdoor enclosure with vertical wooden slat walls

So, what are some of the health benefits of time outside?

REDUCED STRESS

A 2019 meta-analysis found that nature exposure is associated with significant reductions in salivary cortisol, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate.

IMPROVED MOOD

A Stanford study found that walking in nature versus urban settings specifically led to less rumination (repetitive negative thinking), a known risk factor for depression.

Increased longevity

A 2020 study in the Lancet Planetary Health found that living near or spending time in green spaces is associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and mortality.

Sarah and Ben wearing a cap and a T-shirt that says 'OUTSIDE', standing outdoors with a wooden background at the spa area in the center of the Salida property of Outside Inn Nature Hotel.

A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDERS

From us to you, thank you.

We are so thankful to have you as guests and to be at your service. Our dream is simply to run a nature hotel that helps more people in Colorado spend more time outside.

While we’re far from perfect, we aim to care and treat our guests with some old-school hospitality whenever we can. Mostly, we just try to build something that you’ll truly enjoy.

With love,
Sarah & Ben