The Modern Hotelier #137: Behind Basecamp Resort's Development & Growth | with Sky McLean
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of the Modern Hotelier. We are excited to welcome Skye McClain, CEO and founder of Base Camp Resorts on this episode. David, what was one of your favorite takeaways?
David M: I love the base camp concept. I mean, I'm, I'm somebody who stays at Airbnbs, but I like this idea of the blend of it really being more of a traditional hotel as far as services and amenities and housekeeping, but then also layering that Airbnb, as she mentioned, you know, kind of that way, if you're going with a couple of families, you can kind of get a common area where everybody can hang out.
So I thought that was a, I think it's a cool concept and I think, I think it was a great episode.
Steve Carran: Yeah, I agree. I mean, these are my style of hotels. I love them. They're in the mountains. they're great locations. but I could not believe about how she raised the money. Through Instagram. I mean, that's absolutely crazy to me, but excited to release this episode and let us know what you think in the comments below.
David M: Enjoy.

David M: Welcome to the Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged Podcast. I'm David Mellilli,
Steve Carran: I'm Steve Care.
Jon Bumhoffer: And I'm John Boomhoffer.
David M: Steve, who do we have on the program today?
Steve Carran: Yeah, David, today we have on Skye McClain. Skye is a Canadian entrepreneur building a hospitality empire with her company Base Camp Resorts, the fastest growing hospitality brand in Western Canada. Base Camp Resorts is an investment and development group that specializes in creating sustainable, unique resort accommodations that are designed with the needs of their guests and investors in mind.
Welcome to the show, Skye.
Sky McLean: Thank you so much. I really appreciate being here today.
David M: So Scott, we're going to go through what we call a lightning round. We're gonna ask you some quick questions. We're going to get to know you a little bit better, your background, your career. And then we're going to jump into some industry topics. Sound good.
Sky McLean: You bet.
David M: Okay. What is something you wish you were better at?
Sky McLean: Oh, a lot of things. I wish I was better at time management. I always feel like I have so many minutes to get to the next thing, and the next thing you know, I'm halfway to the next appointment, and I'm still in the truck. And it's the time of the appointment. And it's, it's just mind boggling how I can build an entire hospitality brand, but I can't be on time.
It's shocking.
David M: What's your most used app on your phone?
Sky McLean: Text message.
David M: Got it. What's a luxury you can't live without?
Sky McLean: Coffee.
David M: If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you trade places with?
Sky McLean: Ooh, that's one I've never thought about before. I know. Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift.
David M: All right. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Sky McLean: If you never ask, the answer will always be no.
David M: That's good. What's your favorite city and why?
Sky McLean: I'm biased. I love Toronto because I grew up there.
Steve Carran: There we go. Well, that was great. Now we're going to dive into a little bit of your background. so like you just said, you grew up in Toronto. How did that shape you into who you are today?
Sky McLean: It made me not want to live in Toronto, even though it is my favorite city. I love urban. I love the parties. I love my friends. I love the life. However, for somewhere to live and raise my kids, I much prefer the mountain communities that we're in, which are Canmore and Revelstoke.
David M: And you got your degree in marketing and management, and then your master's in real estate development from Schoolich School of Business,
Sky McLean: it's pronounced Schulich School of Business at 
David M: School of Business, York University. So tell us about that.
Sky McLean: Yeah, I mean it was like pretty standard undergrad program where you go to business school, but you really go to like school of how many drinks can you have every weekend. And we had an awesome time, we had great friends, all the typical stuff when you know you're 19, 20, 21 kind of age. And then I graduated, worked for Cadbury, the chocolate company selling chocolates.
I moved out to Calgary from Toronto. And then moved back to Toronto to do an MBA at the same school, Schulich School of Business at York, in real estate development because I always knew I wanted to be a real estate developer.
Steve Carran: And You're a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. You're an avid downhill skier, Nordic skier, snowmobiler, which I also enjoy, and also mountain biking. do you have like a favorite story or favorite adventure that you've ever went on doing any of those things?
Sky McLean: I don't know if there's one, like, notable favorite moment in time, but my favorite thing to do when all the stars line up is to go ski touring, which is where you put skins on the bottom of your skis and hike up a mountain and then ski down. I've done a lot of that, mostly in my 20s before kids, because once you have kids, these like, eight hour missions per day don't really work as well.
And those would be my kind of favorite adventures that I've been on all over the place, Western Canada and Europe and, and beyond.
Steve Carran: Very cool. Very cool. So now we're going to go into your career, kind of how you got to where you, where you are today. So kind of like, like you said, once you graduated, you moved to Calgary and you worked with a local realtor. What did those early days teach you that you still take with you today?
Sky McLean: Yeah, so after the MBA, I graduated, moved back to Calgary and worked for three different developers. And what those years taught me was that I think I can do it better, which is why I'm doing what I'm doing today. I often wonder, had I You know, found the perfect job, the dream scenario, would I have still the golden handcuffs on, right?
Would I have just like become an executive at a company? Not that there's anything wrong with that. and just stayed. But I didn't. I found, a series of companies I worked for that our values weren't aligned, our goals weren't aligned, and one after the other they didn't work out. And I said, that's it.
I've had enough. I've got to start my own company.
David M: So in 2016, you launched Big Moose Realty and Basecamp Resorts. What kind of drove you to launching both of them in actually the same year?
Sky McLean: Well, like I said, my experience was in, Real estate development, which is where Big Moose came from. there's a long story, but essentially it was called Big Moose Developments, which makes more sense because I'm not a realtor. However, there was a name screw around and it became called Big Moose Realty.  
Nonetheless, it's a development company, and I knew I wanted to be a developer. But at the same time, when I had been gainfully employed, I had a condo that I had bought that was also an Airbnb zoning, which means you could either live in it or Airbnb it. So that's the story of how I got into this whole Airbnb hotel thing, was I was running this as a side hustle when I had a full time job.
I met Tim, my now husband, at the time. I was like, so can I spend the weekend at your house so I can Airbnb my condo and make some And so then the next thing you knew, I was like always at Tim's house because I was always booked at my one condo making, you know, more money at the condo than I was at my day job.  
And that was sort of like the catalyst of, oh, I want to have a multiple of these. So back to your question of why Big Moose Realty. And Basecamp Resorts was that Big Moose Realty was in charge of acquiring the land, getting the permits, doing the designs, the drawings, that sort of thing. And Basecamp Resorts was the brand, the manager, everything to do with hotels.
Because it is effectively two different, completely different companies. There's many people who are real estate developers and aren't hoteliers. And there's many people who are hoteliers and don't do the real estate development. We just happen to do both.
Steve Carran: Very cool. So for those that might not be familiar with Basecamp, can you tell a little bit more of the types of hotels that you have and most, a lot of the time, what type of guests that you have staying with you?
Sky McLean: Absolutely. So the first hotel was the original vision behind Basecamp, which was, you know, inspired by that one condo I had that I told you about, you know, Airbnb, kitchen, bathrooms, that kind of thing. It's stacked townhomes. It's 32 units. There's studios, one beds, two beds, three beds, connecting units that form five and six beds.
And my big philosophy was, I didn't like going to stay at, like, Steve's Basement Suite or Dave's, you know, amazing villa because you never knew. Did they wash the sheets? Like, who do I call? I went to LA once and stayed at this beautiful Airbnb and the air conditioner broke and there was no one to call.
And it was hot. And I had two babies. And I was like, this sucks. Like, I'm done with Airbnb. I'm done with having no one to call. And I want to have a brand associated with the Airbnb experience. So we are a full hotel. Our average length of stay is 2. 7 nights. We're not extended stay. We're not long term travel, nothing.
We are fully a hotel, but with a multifamily built form. It really confused a lot of people at the beginning and took a lot of convincing. We're building a hotel, but it's actually a 1, 200 square foot, three bedroom townhouse. And then people were like, no, you're building an apartment. And I'm like, no, I'm not building an apartment.
And so now that we have, you know, the stats and the facts, and like I said, 2. 7 nights, it's really a hotel. And so the vision was that. And then as we evolved into the industry, People started calling, Hey, this motel is for sale on Main Street. And I'd look at the motel and be like, wow, this is really cool.
We could do a motel conversion. We already have a hotel operating company. We already have, you know, the infrastructure, the background, the we're developing the. expertise. You know, I didn't know what revenue management was. Are you kidding me? I thought you just like put the rates on and like go skiing. No, no, no, no, no.
Like there was all this stuff that we were learning and hiring for. So we evolved from just doing Basecamp, which is the, you know, the suites, the full kitchens, the washer dryers, the full home away from home into having a variety of brands. Buy Basecamp, no different than blah, blah, blah, buy Wyndham or whoever, right?
So now we have Lamp House Hotel, which is motel conversions. Northwinds Hotel, which is a kind of entry level regular hotel where we bought days in, actually we bought two days ins and converted them to Northwinds, one in Canmore, one in Revelstoke. And then our higher end product. being Mountain House, spelt MTN, House.
And that's where we're building our first Nordic Spa, Wildwood Nordic Spa. So now we're getting into Nordic Spas and really that whole wellness and experiential travel. So the, the journey over seven years didn't keep us on that one laser focused brand, but rather a, you know, plethora of different brands, which allows for people to have a different experience all under the Basecamp, umbrella.
David M: And so since 2016, you've grown to 11 properties. What has really been 13? Okay, That's good. So how. How have you seen, like, what's the biggest challenge you've had growing to 13 properties and what's really kind of the biggest success you've had over, over those years?
Sky McLean: our biggest challenge is always raising equity. And finding more and more investors to believe in us, to believe in hospitality. It's actually getting easier, which I can talk about after and you know, how we're doing it and why, but at the beginning, oh my gosh, Hey, I don't have any money. I don't, I've never run my own company.
I don't know anything about hotels, but guess what? I'm going to build one. Would you give me some money? Like it was really hard and I could see the hesitation on the other side, but since then we've delivered exceptional returns to the 20 plus IRR and really good equity multiples. So we have recurring, you know, clients from the investment standpoint, also new clients who want to get on the bandwagon.
And so that's why I say it's getting a little bit easier, not easy. So to answer your question, that would be always our biggest challenge You know, now we're getting into Nordic spas that cost 80 million bucks a pop. Well, we need 40 million cash so we can get a 40 million loan. Like these are big numbers now.
In December of 2023, we had a private equity company come in and want to fund the last tranche of Mountain House, which is, like I said, our higher end hotel in Canmore. It's a 99 room hotel where we bought a Holiday Inn, converted it to Mountain House, and we're adding a Nordic Spa currently under construction right now.
It's going to be our first as well as Canmore's first Nordic Spa. And this private equity company was coming in for 7 million. Which is, you know, a substantial chunk of change for that particular property and for us, like, we've always had smaller investors. And so We went through the due diligence, we went through the whole process, and at the last minute, they just couldn't get comfortable with the Nordic Spa concept, which I understand, it's different, it's new, it's unproven, there's only one other one in Alberta, and so we were like, oh, crap, like, where are we going to find 7 million?
Like, we don't have someone to call for 7 million, so, We posted an ad on Instagram, and, you know, we have a B2C brand, obviously, Basecamp, and said, hey, do you want to become part of, like, Basecamp? Thinking, you know, maybe we'll raise five hundred grand, or, we didn't even think what we would raise. We were, like, in, crisis mode.
and we've since developed a whole retail investing strategy. We've raised upwards of 30 million. We've hired an EMD, which is exempt market dealer so that we're on side, you know, with all the securities issues. It's, it's a, it's a whole big thing, which then led us to create an MFT, which allows us to be RRSP and TFSA eligible, which is like retirement funds.
I think you guys call them like 401k or something like that. so yeah, it's, it's this whole big thing that's evolved very quickly. I often say we're like floating down the river and building the boat as we're floating. but it's been really successful and it's really cool to see how many regular Canadians want to invest in something different, something exciting, a private placement, hospitality, and really get on board with not just hotels, but like I said earlier, our Nordic spa business.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. That's awesome. So now we're going to get into some industry thought questions. So can you tell us more about the demand that you've seen for these apartment style hotel suites, uh, that you've been building?
Sky McLean: Absolutely. So, I mean, the demand was there before we started, so I can't like, you know, claim the fame. Airbnb had started, the movement was there, people were, were far more into that type of travel, as was I, which is why I built it, where can go with multiple friends, everyone has their own bedroom, so you get your privacy, but then you have a living room to hang out in.
You know, way more fun with a group than, a row of two queen beds and a bathroom that you would get like at a traditional hotel, right? So the demand was there and it has continued to grow since we opened August 1st of 2017 and we do continue to build the suites hotels. Simultaneously, the demand has grown for regular hotels, too, which is why we have those two.
And we know the demand is going to be there for the wellness product, which is our Nordic Spa.
David M: Do you see any technology trends that are catching on this year?
Sky McLean: Like I said, I'm like the most technologically dodo person on the planet, but obviously people are using way more technology. And I would say at our office is where we've seen the most with like AI, which. Actually, I, I love AI. I think it's great. I ask Chad GPT everything. so I think that's going to be the biggest transformation less at the consumer level and more at our, you know, corporate level.
How can we use AI to get us quicker renderings? How can we use AI, you know, maybe rather than Hiring somebody entry level in accounting. Is there a way that instead of a human, we have an AI program that can do this? I don't have all those answers right now. I think we're all, you know, corporately navigating how this is going to evolve.
And it's changing so quickly. Like every day there's a new co pilot, a new whatever, right? So I think it's going to take time for it to be perfected, but that, that would be the biggest change for us as an organization.
Steve Carran: So I'm curious about your perspective on this since you actually came from the Airbnb side. you know, we've seen Airbnb and this has been talked for years about kind of how they're taking business away from hotels. But in your instance, why have hotels kind of held strong in the face of Airbnb?
Sky McLean: Well, in the markets that we're in, there's very tight rules on Airbnb in the sense of some random person is Airbnb ing their house. Like in Canmore, you can't do that. In Revy, Revelstoke, you can't do that. There's rules in all of these mountain towns where we are that like every Tom, Dick, and Harry can't just rent out their house.
So that's one reason. And then the Airbnbs that we do have, like the Basecamp resorts and all that, we're zoned, we're licensed, we're, we pay, we're a hotel. Right? And that's how it should be. It shouldn't be that like Susie's renting out her house. I'm like, even though I build Airbnb hotels, I don't agree with the Airbnb model unless you have a hotel condo that you purchased that is zoned for Airbnb.
Then great, like the condo I had when I was staying at Jim's house, And, renting it out on the side, it was zoned for that purpose. So I'm, like very much on the hotel side of this, obviously. Absolutely.
David M: Maybe just give those listening a little bit of insight on how you've built or you've really cultivated a hotel brand identity around destinations.
Sky McLean: Absolutely. Everything at our company. Boils down to the experience, whether you're a guest, whether you're an investor, whether you're someone touching our brand in a different way, a consultant, a contractor, it all boils down to that experience. And so that's how we've really driven people to our brands in these, in these locations.
You know, you go to a run of the mill hotel and. People don't necessarily get the same training that we offer. People don't necessarily have the same benefits that we offer. I don't have all the ins and outs of everybody else's business, but I know that we offer a really great staff experience.
We provide staff for calm and we provide benefits for our staff. They're then motivated to, follow our direction and be. Happier at work, be nicer to the guests, go the extra mile. And I really think it's what you put into the business that you get out, and that's what the consumer is experiencing, and that's why our reviews are really high, people come back, we have really great return guest rates, we have, you know, we always outperform based on the STR reports, like RevPAR, ADR, in the markets that we're in, you know, among our comp set.
So I think it's really because we put in the love and we get out the love.
Steve Carran: love that. And last question from David and I. What advice do you have for people that are thinking about either starting their own hotel or even their own outdoor brand?
Sky McLean: Don't do it, just invest in Basecamp. No, I'm just kidding. In all seriousness, if somebody were to want to do this, I mean, it's so cheesy. It's so cheesy. and I have nothing to do with Nike, but I would just say, like, just do it. a lot of people who are, like, Really want to be entrepreneurs, but don't get over the hump is what I call analysis paralysis.
It's very good to evaluate risks. It's very good to run a sensitivity analysis. It's very prudent to, talk to people, get input, all that. But if you have that spidey sense, that gut feeling, that entrepreneurial drive, at some point, you have to take the leap, right? and not every, there's no right time to have a baby, and there's no right time to start a business.
Like you just got to do it.
Steve Carran: Fair enough. Fair enough. Well, David and I have been asking you the questions this whole time. So now we're going to turn the tables and let you ask us a question.
Sky McLean: Ooh. Any questions?
Steve Carran: Any question.
Sky McLean: How did you guys get into this podcast? Who started it? I want to know the story. Who's behind it?
Steve Carran: David, you want to take this one?
David M: Yeah, sure. So I was, Steve was working for an Indian based company that was launching in the U. S. I was an advisor to that company. We were struggling with kind of getting the name out there and getting some branding out there. So we thought if we, you know, I'm the old guy in the room, so I know a lot of people.
So I was like, Hey, if we start a podcast, I can get some pretty good. Yeah. Guest on, and that could help, you know, just create some brand awareness. we did that. We were very fortunate. We had John as our producer through, you know, Steve had a connection and who knew John and we, we kicked it off and then we ended up buying it.
The company went back to India and we ended up buying the podcast from them. And now it's ours and the three of us own it and we, we run it and we've had a lot of fun.
Sky McLean: That's cool. And is this your full time gig? Do you guys do other things too?
Steve Carran: this is my full time gig. I do a little consulting on the side with, uh, different tech companies since that's kind of my background. but yeah, this is my full time gig as of last April. I moved over to do it full time.
Sky McLean: cool.
Steve Carran: kind of like that entrepreneurial story. You just jumped it. We just jumped in and went at it.
So, yeah,
Sky McLean: That's cool.
Steve Carran: yeah. And David, he's, he's taking a little bit more full time role this year as well. So, it's, it's been great. It's been
Sky McLean: David, you have like the perfect voice for a podcast.
David M: Thank
Sky McLean: you ask questions, it's like, it's dialed. It's like you were born to do this.
David M: Yeah, it's, it's pretty hilarious. I tell people that the joke is. I started dating my wife in 1996 and when I launched, we launched this podcast about three years ago, almost four years ago now, and she's like, Oh, you have a nice voice. I'm like, it really took you like 20 something years to give me a compliment, but that's kind of, I guess the story of my life.
So anyway, thank you.
Steve Carran: Well, that's great. Our producer, John, he's been sitting in this whole time listening. So we're going to hand it off to him for the final question before we get you out of here, Skye.
Jon Bumhoffer: as you were talking, I was going through the website, looking at all the properties, all the destinations, like Banff and some other really awesome places. If you had to pick like, what's your favorite property or maybe even better, if no one's, if, if someone has not been to one of your properties, what's one place you would like send them to?
Like, you got to check this one out.
Sky McLean: Well, that's always like the hardest question because it's like, Hey, who's your favorite kid? You 
Jon Bumhoffer: right. 
Sky McLean: pick a kid that you like more than the other kid. But in this case, because they're buildings, I would say Baker Creek, which is by Lake Louise. And the reason for that is it's a series of chalets and a couple of lodge buildings, but really in the middle of nowhere, but close enough to Lake Louise that it's not.
Like totally the middle of nowhere, and it's so special. It's so beautiful. There's no neighbors. You see animals all the time. We groom a cross country ski track in the winter behind the buildings. There's fire pits. It's right on a creek, hence the name Baker Creek. It's, words don't do it justice, so highly recommend it.
Steve Carran: Sounds like we got to all head out to go there. Check it out.
Sky McLean: It's freezing. Maybe wait a couple months.
David M: Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. Skye, this is where you can let people know how they can get in touch with you, how they can learn more about base camp. So plug away.
Sky McLean: Yeah, our website, basecampresorts. com. That's where you can find out all about the hotels and on there, there's an invest now button. If you're interested in investing, that would be also where you find, information about upcoming deals, our growth and where we're going, which is a next stop United States of America.
Steve Carran: Awesome.
David M: Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier, Hospitality's most engaged podcast. Whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and we'll see you again soon. Skye, for joining us.
Sky McLean: Thank you so much for having me.