Goatel: A Goat Hotel From the Original Goat Yoga Folks

Goat yoga has been a weirdly popular trend around the country; ever since we first wrote about it, we’ve seen goat yoga pop up just about everywhere, from beer labels to major airports. The original, though, is helmed by Lainey Morse out in Oregon, and they’ve got something big in the works: the Goatel, which, sensibly, is a hotel with goats.

Morse and her boyfriend Sean Scorvo are working with the owners of the Hanson Country Inn, a historic bed-and-breakfast in Corvallis, Oregon to create the experience. Morse says she’s been offering goat yoga classes on the inn’s property for about a year now, so they’re the perfect partner for the new enterprise. For those who aren’t yet familiar, goat yoga is where goats wander around while humans do yoga – not yoga for goats. (Let’s be real: goats are great at climbing, prancing, and gymnastics. Do they even need yoga?)

The Goatel, says Morse, will be the first vacation destination in the world to offer goat yoga and goat happy hours along with hikes, brewery and winery tours, meals from local purveyors, and more. We don’t doubt it. “The goats on the property are always there for people to bond with, for them to help bottle feed babies, or to just sit next to and cuddle,” writes Morse in an email. “Goat therapy is the best therapy and we want to cater this toward people who really need to get away from it all and recharge.”

The property includes regular rooms as well as yurts and campsites, and Morse says the property can handle from 50-100 people for parties or events. She’s hoping businesses will use the space for retreats or team bonding sessions (though it seems possible people might develop bonds with the goats rather than with each other – you see your coworkers every day; it’s not that often that there’s a goat at your happy hour).

“The Goatel Retreat Center will be a place for people to disconnect from stress, depression or illness and find their inner calm and recharge,” writes Morse. It should launch sometime in the summer of 2018; the website isn’t yet up – we’ll update you when it is – but the goats are ready to go.

All right: Who’s going the be the first couple to book the Goatel for their wedding?