As travelers increasingly seek memorable, experience-driven stays, PlainsCraft believes hotels and resorts have an opportunity to rethink how they use their properties. At The Hospitality Show 2026, owner Dennis Steinman discusses how covered wagons, shower houses and other outdoor hospitality solutions can help operators unlock new revenue streams, activate underutilized land and capitalize on the growing convergence of traditional hospitality and glamping.
What's the most important product, service, or solution you're showcasing at The Hospitality Show, and what problem does it solve for hotel operators?
At The Hospitality Show, we're introducing PlainsCraft's experience-driven accommodations to a broader hospitality audience, with our covered wagons at the center of that conversation.
For hotel operators, developers, investors, and property owners, the opportunity isn't simply to add another room. It's to create a stay guests specifically seek out, remember, share, and are willing to pay a premium to experience.
We're also seeing the lines between traditional and outdoor hospitality beginning to blur. Major hospitality brands are moving into outdoor and glamping experiences, and we believe that is an important indicator of where the industry is headed. PlainsCraft has been serving outdoor hospitality operators for years, so we want to be part of that conversation as more hotel franchises, operators, investors, and developers begin exploring this space.
Our covered wagons combine a distinctive guest experience with the comfort and functionality expected from a modern hospitality accommodation. They also give operators another way to think about expansion. A hotel or resort could add a collection of wagons to an underutilized portion of its property, position them near a lake, trail, scenic view, or other desirable amenity, or use them to create an entirely new experience within an existing destination—and get a premium nightly rate for them.
We're also showcasing our standalone Shower Houses and Outhouses. We originally developed these products for campgrounds and glamping resorts that needed to add guest amenities close to glamping units without en suite bathrooms. We see similar opportunities in the broader hospitality market—from supporting outdoor accommodations to adding convenient restrooms, showers, or rinse-off facilities near pools, outdoor venues, beaches, recreation areas, and other outdoor amenities.
Ultimately, we're giving hospitality operators more ways to use the property they already have while creating experiences and amenities designed around today's guest.
What hospitality challenge are your customers discussing most right now, and how is your company helping address it?
What we're seeing is less about one specific challenge and more about a change in what travelers are looking for.
There's a growing audience that wants to experience the outdoors without necessarily owning an RV, packing camping equipment, or giving up the comforts they expect when they travel. They want the destination and the experience, but they also want a comfortable bed, climate control, a private bathroom, and the ease of arriving with a suitcase. Similar to the experience they get in a traditional hotel or short-term rental (STR) or vacation rental.
That's one of the reasons glamping has created such an interesting crossover between outdoor and traditional hospitality. Campgrounds and RV resorts have been adding accommodations like cabins, covered wagons, and other glamping units for years, essentially allowing them to serve travelers who want an outdoor experience without bringing their own lodging with them.
We believe there's an equally interesting opportunity for traditional hospitality to move in that direction as well.
We've seen properties where a traditional motel, hotel, or resort stays are complemented by glamping accommodations that are placed elsewhere on the property. Instead of building another traditional room, an operator can create a completely different stay near a water feature, scenic view, wooded area, or other part of the property that may otherwise be underutilized.
That creates another type of inventory, another guest experience, and potentially another rate category, not to mention a reason to earn repeat guest stays. In the right location and setting, guests are willing to pay a premium for an accommodation because they're not simply paying for the room—they're paying for the experience surrounding it.
For operators, it's an opportunity to ask a different question: What parts of our property could become an experience guests would pay to stay closer to?
Why was it important for your company to exhibit at The Hospitality Show this year, and what are you hoping to accomplish?
The Hospitality Show represents an important next step for PlainsCraft as experience-driven travel continues to expand beyond the outdoor hospitality markets we've traditionally served.
We're seeing an opportunity for hotels and resorts to add another layer to the traditional stay—using distinctive accommodations to create new revenue opportunities, make better use of their property, attract new travelers, and give guests an experience worth sharing.
By exhibiting now, we hope to connect early with hotel and property owners, investors, and developers exploring these opportunities, learn what they're planning, and position PlainsCraft as a trusted resource as this market grows.
We're especially excited by how closely our solution aligns with conversations happening at the show around creating demand, driving revenue, and marketing differently. Covered wagons are naturally visual and shareable, creating opportunities for organic social content, influencer partnerships, and word-of-mouth exposure.
Our hope is that attendees hear those conversations throughout the show, then see PlainsCraft and think, "This is what that could look like on our property."
What trends or changes in the hospitality industry are you most excited about as we head into 2027?
We're most excited about the continued convergence of traditional hospitality, outdoor hospitality, and experiential travel.
The lines between those categories are becoming less defined. Hotels are moving into outdoor experiences. Campgrounds and RV resorts are offering increasingly sophisticated accommodations and amenities. Short-term rentals have changed how travelers discover places to stay. At the same time, travelers have become more open to choosing accommodations based on the experience they provide rather than simply the category they fall into.
For operators, investors, and developers, we think that creates a tremendous amount of opportunity.
The future doesn't have to be hotel or glamping, resort or outdoor hospitality. Some of the most interesting concepts may combine elements of each.
We're particularly excited about the opportunity for operators to look differently at the property they already have. Areas once considered difficult to develop because of terrain, infrastructure, access, or traditional construction requirements may hold untapped revenue potential.
Our turnkey accommodations have a relatively small physical footprint, can be installed quickly, and can help transform an underutilized area into a visually compelling, revenue-generating guest experience—without requiring a traditional hotel expansion.
That means hospitality development can become more creative and more connected to the destination. Instead of asking only, "How many more rooms can we add?" operators can also ask, "What kind of stay could we create here that guests can't get anywhere else?"
As we head into 2027, we believe the properties that embrace that kind of thinking will have an opportunity to create something memorable out of parts of their property that may have previously been overlooked—and give travelers one more reason to choose them.