Kristin Boekhoff is the owner of Panigram Resort. She originally came to Bangladesh in 2006 on a Fulbright Fellowship. During her stay she fell in love with the country and people and decided to stay to develop a sustainable boutique resort for savvy travelers who want to experience a taste of Bangladeshi village life while protecting the natural and cultural heritage of Bangladesh.
Before leaving to do her Fulbright Fellowship, Kristin was the Chief Information Officer at one of the U.S.'s largest real estate finance companies. Prior to her promotion, Kristin managed $7 billion of private equity invested in the firms 100+ real estate funds.
Kristin has a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.S. in real estate development from New York University.
Members of the press who are interested in speaking with Kristin can see her contact information and additional biographical information and photos on the Press Room page.
I arrived at the site yesterday and was completely surrounded by Army officers. They blocked the path that we normally take during the dry season to get to our site. Annoyed, I asked to speak with the commanding officer. Read the rest of this entry »
It is summer again and I have a fabulous new crop of interns helping me with my project: two architects, two engineers, and two hotel students. I will let them introduce themselves in their own words… Read the rest of this entry »
Because we are building this resort for the future generations, we had the children break the ground for the resort.
“The Assistant District Commissioner is really angry and has just left.” My intern’s voice rang in my ears. We were almost an hour and a half late to our ground-breaking ceremony. Initially I had invited everyone at 11:00am thinking that most people would arrive around 11:30am because “Bangladesh time” seems to run thirty to sixty minutes behind “actual time”. Of course, yesterday all of our guests arrived at exactly 11:00am.
I am looking for a summer intern who can help us create a “reality TV show” about building Panigram Resort. Interns will use a high definition video camera and film editing software to create short 10 minute episodes about the intern experience and developing Panigram Resort that we can post each week on our blog and on YouTube.
If you or anyone you know is interested, please apply! The internship will run from June 1, 2010 to July 31, 2010.
Here are the details:
Responsibilities:
The summer intern will be responsible for writing two blog entries per week documenting the progress of the construction of Panigram Resort and the summer intern experience in Bangladesh. The intern will also be responsible for creating a ten minute “reality TV show” each week about the challenges (and rewards) of creating a resort in Bangladesh. Each show will be posted on both YouTube and on the Panigram Resort blog as a way of getting people exciting about the project. The intern will film the show with a digital video camera (which will be provided) and edit the raw footage into an interesting 10 minute episode.
Requirements:
I am looking for intrepid students who thrive in challenging environments, are looking for an adventure, and work well with all different types of people. The student must be fluent in English, have fantastic writing skills and experience with film editing/ videography. (Knowledge of Bengali is also a plus.) The candidate must be in excellent health and must not have any chronic medical conditions as access to medical facilities will be limited. The environment will be challenging — both culturally and physically — but our past interns have found the experience to be extremely rewarding. All students will be required to learn some basic Bengali when they arrive so that they will be able to communicate with the villagers.
Logistics:
Students will be responsible for their own transportation to and from Bangladesh, but once in country we will provide interns with housing, meals, transportation within Bangladesh, and a Bangladeshi salary/ living stipend of 10,000 Tk/ month. Please submit a resume, writing sample, and cover letter explaining your qualifications and why you are interested in the position to Kristin Boekhoff at kboekhoff@panigram.com.
2009 summer interns take a rest break after a hard day of mud construction.
Yesterday I met with my architect and got a sneak peak at Panigram’s master plan. I don’t want to give anything away yet (I will post the master plan online at the end of May), but I can tell you that there were some very exciting and surprising elements and that so far the concept is evolving to be even more magnificent than I had originally imagined! (Picture a hidden bamboo cafe, a secret garden, and meandering pathways punctuated by water features…)
I am going to Jessore on Sunday to buy the next piece of land for the project and to work with Marina to finalize the location of the Phase I buildings. We are on target to break ground the first week of June!
Our construction process will be well-documented this summer as I have a new crop of interns coming in. So stay tuned for more updates!
I was fortunate enough to be invited back by my alma mater, Cornell University, to speak at their annual hospitality conference, Hotel Ezra Cornell. The weekend event was packed full of industry leaders.
Dozens of villagers crowded into the candlelit land registration office to put their fingerprints on the document that would mean a significant amount of income for them and a gorgeous piece of land in southern Bangladesh for me.
An employee at the land registration office working by candle light.
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Kristin Boekhoff
Owner, Panigram Resort
kboekhoff@panigram.com
Mikey Leung
Designer and Web Guru, Panigram.com
mikey@panigram.com
