Unusual Airbnb offers unique wilderness experience in South Okanagan

An out-of-the-ordinary Airbnb is heading into a third year of operation in the South Okanagan, meeting the need for guests who want to get away from it all.

Grasslands Oasis is located on 150 acres of wilderness between Oliver and Okanagan Falls. Three uniquely designed rentals are nestled in a pine forest. Adjacent is leased Crown land where guests can hike trails, ride side-by-sides or ride horses.

“It takes almost a kilometre of driving up the hill through the forest to get to the rentals,” said owner Jason Goossen. “Guests can go into the wilderness as far as they want and there’s no one else around.”

Jason and his wife Lynn Goossen started up the venture just over two years ago, not long after moving from rural Manitoba.

“I’ve been a farmer of grain, soybeans and corn, and a chicken farmer,” Jason said. “We moved out (to BC) thinking we’d be farming again but we did have Airbnb rentals at the back of our minds. The farming has not come together as quickly as we hoped. We do chickens, hay and cattle, but the Airbnb has taken off.”

One of their rentals called Butterfly Cottage is two uninsulated huts without electricity designed for glamping or glamorous camping. Water is gravity fed and comes from tanks up on a hill and the shower is heated with propane.

The other two units for rent are tiny houses designed to look like railcars. One called Sagebrush Caboose is mostly off grid with solar panels and a point-to-point Wi-Fi connection. The other one, Runaway Express is on the grid.

“My brother-in-law in Saskatoon built the railcar suites and shipped them out here,” Jason said. “The roofs are rounded to make them look more real.”

There’s a pool area and hot tub for general use, and the couple is considering adding a sauna.

While the vast property is located half an hour away from the cities of Penticton and Osoyoos with golf course, wineries and ski hills for guests to access, the idea of Grasslands Oasis is to unplug from the business of life.

“One of our major challenges is wording our advertisements correctly so people understand that it is a remote, wild experience,” Jason said. “We’re not offering convenience. We make it comfortable but lean on the remote and wild part of it. There are people out there looking for this.”  

The Goossen’s have had a lot of guests from the Lower Mainland and Alberta, and a handful from countries around the world.

“We’re surprised how quickly it picked up. We aren’t having return guests yet, but the word is getting out there,” Jason said.

The couple has lots of room to meet growing demand and are currently in the permitting process for a treehouse rental.

When asked what feedback Jason is getting from his farming family in Manitoba, he laughed.

“They look at us and wonder where we come up with these ideas, and we don’t even know ourselves.”

Grasslands Oasis is located on Willowbrook Road in Oliver and operates from April through to October.