Creating Weekender
Our Founder
Keir’s Story
Growing up I would escape to the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate NY with my family. It was a magical place for me, where I created some of my best memories growing up: exploring nature and the great outdoors – hiking the High Peaks, swimming and fishing in the lakes and rivers, building campfires with my friends, or experiencing the ultimate rush of skiing down a mountain.
I also learned to love the adventure and joy of travel at a young age, as my parents instilled in me this appreciation for other places and cultures and a desire to be a student of the world through travel. This passion was also something that grew within me over the years as I got older. By the time I graduated from college, I’d spent time living in London and had visited over a dozen countries. The wanderlust, the thirst for adventure, the quest for freedom, and the passion for connecting with the world around me in new and meaningful ways, was deeply entrenched in who I was as a person.
After some hard life experiences in my 20s at the end of college that kept me from the travel and adventure I loved, I started a career in real estate at 30 years old. After founding and growing several successful companies in the real estate, multimedia, and venture-backed tech startup spaces, I “came back home” to one of my deepest passions to found Weekender when I was 37 in the spring of 2021.
I was fortunate to have a childhood that included travel, adventure, new experiences, and an appreciation for lifelong explorations … of both the world around us and of ourselves. I now wanted to provide a place and a setting, and be a guide and an inspiration, for others to do the same thing, and help bring newfound joy, freedom and adventure to their lives too.
“We have a bold vision to inspire the next generation of travelers to adventure more into the great outdoors…we are on a mission to bring “The Weekend” back to the lives of our guests. ”
Weekender Vision
Weekender started with a property in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate NY. In many ways it was a coming home for me. It was a refocus on what makes life worth living: the sense of adventure of heading out into the great outdoors on a new hike; the calm and freedom of slowing down to watch the sunrise over the lake; the community and connection of gathering around a warm campfire to share stories after a day full of outside adventures. And, most importantly, it is my hope that Weekender is an invitation and an inspiration to others to create their own memories just like the ones I created and hold so deeply.
We have a bold vision to inspire the next generation of travelers to adventure more into the great outdoors, to roam freely and explore new areas and activities, to find or nurture their passions, and to connect with themselves, those they love, and the world around them more deeply. We are on a mission to bring “The Weekend” back to the lives of our guests.
We invite you to experience for yourself the freedom of the great outdoors, the power of connecting with others and experiencing new things, the joy of a life lived on purpose, and the transformation available through adventure. This message is resonating with guests around the world because our organization is growing quickly in its second year with 4 hotels and 2 new upcoming launches in summer of 2022, and several more hotels and experiences planned for the next few years.
With all of this growth, I still always come back to one of my core passions in life – the passion and commitment to travel, adventure, and exploring the great outdoors. As an avid outdoor enthusiast and athlete, you can often find me summiting a mountain, skiing in the backcountry, flying down a single-track mountain bike trail, or out on the open water boating, sailing or kayaking. It’s out in the great outdoors where I feel most free and at home, and where I invite you to come along for the adventure!