There’s a new luxury, all-inclusive, stargazing resort planned for the San Luis Valley near the Great Sand Dunes. With a Mosca address, Kosmos Resort will sit on 40 acres just outside the proposed Sangre de Cristo Dark Sky Reserve with 360-views that include the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Great Sand Dunes National Park and the galaxies above. Targeting a soft opening by late 2024 or early 2025, the upscale celestial retreat has a “stellar” vision to help guests get away and find inspiration in the cosmos.
“Kosmos is a platform to give everybody the tools to realign with themselves, reconnect with nature, realign with significant others. It’s a place where you can disconnect [from normal stresses] and connect with yourself, your kids, your partner,” says founder and CEO Gamal Jadue Zalaquett. “You can make meaningful memories stargazing, doing yoga, breath work, meditation. We’re providing all the tools.”
Kosmos Resort will take astrotourism to the next level, says Jennifer Geerlings, marking operations manager. The sustainable, off-grid property will feature amenities that include a greenhouse for yoga and meditation. A holistic wellness spa will include hyperbaric chambers, aromatherapy saunas and cold plunge pools. And a stargazing center will blend a three-story planetarium, private mini-observatories, an interactive astronomy and astrology museum, and garden. The center will host star parties and educational events, perhaps led by the likes of NASA astrophysicists, says Geerlings, noting that they have met with experts from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and George Mason University for feedback on the planetarium plans.
An on-site restaurant and bar will provide healthful, elevated fare. Zalaquett envisions a Mediterranean-style cuisine and a chef with James Beard Award credentials.
Guests will stay in 20 luxurious villas that will cost around $700 to $1,000 a night, all inclusive. Each includes two novice-friendly telescopes and an observatory deck with a floor hammock. A clear polycarbonate dome contains common areas, such as kitchen, living room, bar, loft and meditation space. And each villa will have a patio, fire pit and golf cart to get around the car-less property.
The villas come in two sizes. The smaller Stargazing Villas sleep up to four, with a “sleep capsule” connecting the large dome with a smaller dome that houses a private stargazing spa. Larger Galaxy Villas can sleep eight with their two sleep capsules, and these villas will boast a private spa to include its own hot tub, sauna and cold plunge.
Architectural designs and construction materials will be sustainable, using alternative materials such as hempcrete, to help the resort achieve a carbon negative footprint. “Kosmos provides people a view into a lifestyle that is possible, sustainable, affordable and modular,” Zalaquett says. “It just requires us to really change the way we build things and rethink the way we we build things.”
When I ask Zalaquett what excites him most about Kosmos Resort, he answers, “People. Connecting people. I think my purpose in life is to help people heal and find the the tools to align themselves. At the same time, I love traveling, so it’s bringing people together and allowing them the opportunity to see a new perspective in life.”
You could say the San Luis Valley gave Zalaquett a new perspective of his own. He first came to the area to visit a friend in April 2020. He says he was going through a difficult breakup and changing directions professionally after feeling burned out in the tech industry. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic had just shut down most of society as well. He managed to get a flight from his then-home in Miami to Denver, then drove to the San Luis Valley.
“Once you come into the valley, there’s a certain energy and feeling that you get,” he says. “I felt was I felt like a kid again. I started driving on the dirt road on the way to my friend’s off-grid home, and I just felt alive again.”
He also recognized a business opportunity in his friend’s ability to rent out his home in the sparsely populated area. And by the end of 2021, Zalaquett purchased his first 40 acres in the area. He has since bought and sold other acreages in the area, which has helped to start the funding for Kosmos Resort.
Zalaquett says hospitality is in his blood, going back four generations in Chile and Italy. He was born and lived in Chile as a child. His family moved to Miami when he was 12 after losing everything, he says. They started over and today own the Zalaquett Group, a real estate investment consulting firm in Miami and the South Florida market.
Kosmos Resort broke ground on its septic system this month. Overall, Zalaquett says they are currently fundraising and seeking investment and plan to open the first villa by late 2024. Five more villas will be completed in early 2025, with more built throughout the year. Those who pay $50 during a crowdfunding campaign starting this July will be able to book a villa then at 50% off.
Phase 2 will bring more amenities, such as the gym, spa, planetarium and restaurant in 2026, and crowdfunding backers will be able to book all-inclusive reservations. The full, all-inclusive resort is targeted for completion and a full grand opening to the public in 2026.
You can learn more and follow the progress at kosmosresort.com.
Read More
For more stories about the San Luis Valley, check out these articles:
Go Off the Beaten Path: Joyful Journey Hot Springs
Road Trip: On the Open Colorado Road
