WEBSTER, Fla. — If you like spending time near exotic animals and want a unique overnight experience, the Chase Sanctuary located in Webster may be perfect getaway for you and your family.
What You Need To Know
- Guests can book a night stay at the Chase Sanctuary hacienda in Webster that is specially designed for animal lovers
- The hacienda is a three-bedroom house built with animal cages attached to the vacation rental
- Visitors can spend the night watching lemurs and sloths from the comfort of their living room or bedrooms
- Guests have access to the Chase Sanctuary located on the property so they can experience other animal encounters
Since 2008, the sanctuary has been a safe place for endangered animal species. The 20-acre nonprofit facility is home to a variety of creatures, including anteaters, toucans and sloths.
At its custom-built hacienda, guests can sleep overnight near the exotic animals.
The hacienda is designed with animal habitats attached to a three-bedroom, two-bath home, and overnight guests can watch creatures day and night in the comfort of their vacation rental.
Michaela Allen walked into the hacienda not knowing what to expect.
“Being able to look out at these guys (lemurs) just chilling in here, it’s so much fun,” Allen said.
Creatures' habitats are viewable from various rooms.
“This is by far the coolest thing I have ever walked into," Allen said. "Who expects to sleep with sloths staring at them?”
Hacienda guests can be summoned (by choice) to go one step further, walking into the habitat off the master bedroom and feeding the sloths.
Montfort Estiverne, a guest visiting with Allen, was amazed how the hacienda provides the opportunity to see how animals behave at all times.
“Even on TV, you don’t get to see how these animals interact at night, right next to your bedroom,” Estiverne said.
Animal behaviorist Adam Hess calls guests by a two-way radio located in the vacation rental to encourage them to come around to the back of the house to enter the sloth habitat and feed the creatures hibiscus flowers.
“Sloths sleep for about 20 hours a day. Sleeping at the hacienda is really the best way to catch a glimpse of those four hours a day when they are actually moving around,” Hess said.
Guests who rent the hacienda can also access the 20-acre sanctuary and explore the other creatures that live on the property. It’s an animal lover’s paradise.
The Chase Sanctuary hacienda accommodates up to six guests comfortably, and travelers book the hacienda online, where they will find that pricing varies depending on the time of the year.
Visitors can also visit the sanctuary without staying overnight and purchase a variety of different animal experiences.