Delta Sky Magazine

5 Treehouse Resorts

Great Escapes// 5 Treehouse Resorts

Clustered high on a bluff above the pounding Pacific surf, Treebones consists of an airy hospitable lodge and restaurant surrounded by 16 yurts, or tent cabins on raised wooden platforms.

By Melanie Haiken

Canopy Treehouses, Cairns, Australia. This 100-acre preserve is in the heart of the lush Cairns Highlands, a 90-minute drive from Cairns in the northernmost corner of Queensland. The five luxury treehouses are not exactly rustic; each has two bedrooms, kitchen and bath; some even have Jacuzzi tubs. The übergreen eco-resort protects all manner of exotic wildlife; you might see rare Lumholtz tree kangaroos outside your window or platypus in the river below.
A Teton Treehouse, Wilson, Wyoming. This woodsy lodge eight miles from Jackson is reached by climbing 95 stairs that bring you to the top of a tree-shrouded hill. By the time you enter, you feel like you're high in the foliage, even if you're not (being on the ground has its advantages, including a fire pit; you can't have a fire in a tree.) The six guestrooms all have such glorious mountain views that you'll have to force yourself to leave the premises to explore the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.
Verana Resort, Yelapa, Mexico. Hanging high on the hillside above Yelapa, a tiny fishing village 30 minutes from Puerto Vallarta by boat, Verana couldn't feel farther away. Donkeys carry your luggage up from the dock to this "handmade" boutique hotel, where every aspect of your stay has been planned for ultimate luxury. Most of Verana's rooms are hillside bungalows tucked into the lush slopes, with the recent addition of eco-friendly "V-houses"—open-air cabanas on stilts 16 feet off the forest floor.
GibbonX, The Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Nature Reserve, Laos. Named for the famously noisy primates that its founder hopes to protect, GibbonX is a cluster of five treehouses set within the Bokeo Nature Reserve in Laos. Having become endangered due to poaching and habitat encroachment, the gibbons are now rare and elusive. But you'll see and hear them at GibbonX, if not in your treehouse, then when you're zipping through the canopy on the network of zip lines.
Treebones, Big Sur, California. Clustered high on a bluff above the pounding Pacific surf, Treebones consists of an airy hospitable lodge and restaurant surrounded by 16 yurts, or tent cabins on raised wooden platforms, each with its own private deck. This isn't roughing it, by any means; the yurts have polished floors, high thread-count sheets and fluffy comforters, and there's an elegantly landscaped pool and hot tub.