Original subtitles

Imagine staying the night deep in the desert,

sleeping underneath the stars.

Lodging in an airship hidden in a forest.

Or holidaying in a resort perched on top of a glacier.

In this series, we venture across the globe...

We want this hotel to be kept as secret as possible.

..to reveal some of the world's most unique hotels,

hidden in the most surprising of places.

Even people who are from here, they have no idea that this is here.

From tree-top retreats and converted caves...

It was just magic, in a way. It was magic.

..to floating hideaways and futuristic escapes.

It's like nothing I've ever seen before.

We meet the teams who keep them running...

We're inviting people to create unforgettable experiences.

..and the guests living their dreams...

I feel immersed in the beautiful island, and I feel renewed.

..as we explore the world's most secret hotels.

This time, we venture to a winter wonderland in Finland

that gives visitors the ultimate northern lights experience.

MAN: This is very special.

You can see, when it's clear sky, a million stars.

We journey deep into forests on Vancouver Island

to explore a nature reserve like no other.

Whenever guests come to visit, it's always an expression of awe,

excitement, disbelief.

And we travel to the Scottish Highlands to a getaway

disguised as a traditional farmyard milking parlour.

WOMAN: It's a corner of the countryside

that so many people just bypass,

and yet it is stunning.

Our adventure begins in one of the most popular tourist destinations

in the world, New York City.

Each year, 140 million people pass through its three main airports.

There are more than 600 hotels across the city

that cater for almost any type of stay.

But there's one hotel that is easily overlooked,

and a must-see for anyone who is an aviation enthusiast.

It's hidden airside amongst the hustle and bustle

of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport itself.

This is the TWA Hotel.

It sits just metres from JFK's busy runways,

and for decades was an integral part of New York City's aviation network.

Today, it's a hotel that hides itself in plain sight

by evoking the history and splendour of an iconic piece of architecture.

The man responsible for transforming

what was once an old terminal building

into a jet-setting getaway is Tyler Morse.

The hotel is the best-kept secret in the world.

You could never build a building like this today.

This hotel is located on the site

of the old Trans World Airlines terminal building,

with two huge new blocks added to the site to provide 512 guestrooms.

Inside each room there is a double bed,

oriented to make the most of any runway views,

a vintage-inspired bathroom,

and a martini bar that evokes the spirit of the jet age.

The historic terminal building itself

now contains the hotel's communal spaces.

Its restored '60s sunken lounge is today flanked by two new bars.

Other floors feature a ballroom and multiple restaurants.

The Trans World Airlines Flight Centre, as it was known,

was not just any airport terminal.

It was commissioned by one of the wealthiest Americans in history,

Howard Hughes,

and designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen.

He said, "I want the greatest airplane terminal

"the world has ever seen, and I don't care how much it costs."

Saarinen delivered the pioneering structure in 1962.

Its vast concrete roof floats over the building

without any supporting columns,

making the terminal look like a futuristic winged creature.

Inside, its curving sculptural form creates a fluid open space.

It instantly became a design classic.

But, in 2001, the building closed

because it wasn't big enough for large modern aircraft to park,

load and disembark.

Nobody came into the building for 20 years,

and it was like someone had just closed the doors

and it entered a time warp.

Other terminals at JFK were knocked down when they became obsolete,

but this terminal was protected as an architectural landmark,

so it couldn't be demolished.

It stood derelict as the airport grew larger and larger around it.

For Tyler, there was an obvious solution.

I used to be a baggage handler at LAX,

so I've got some aviation in the blood,

and I'm a hotel developer.

So the ability to bring Eero Saarinen's masterpiece

back to life is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Tyler wanted to save this design icon

by giving it a 21st-century purpose as a hotel.

Sara Duffy was tasked with designing the new interiors

for the reconfigured structure.

The idea there was that we were designing something

that felt like it was always there.

We really looked to Saarinen and all of his original ideas

to make sure that we were emulating from them.

They crafted a hotel with a distinct 1960s style.

But with a 21st-century twist.

The airport lounges have become restaurants and bars.

Visitors check in at the old baggage check.

They've revolutionised the function of the terminal,

but kept its spirit alive.

Sara also bought 1960s style to the guestrooms

in the new wings of the hotel.

When you walk in every single room,

you're greeted by a red Saarinen chair.

It certainly feels like the building itself, the main building.

Each room is characterised by white walls and dark wood floors.

Period lamps on the walls light up unexpected details,

like the authentic rotary phones.

In the bathroom,

the toiletries are modelled on those given to passengers on TWA flights

in the golden age of passenger jet travel.

There's an extraordinary attention to detail.

TYLER: We have 33 pencils in every room.

If you put 35 in there, it's too tight,

it looks more like a bundle of hay.

And if you have 30,

they're too splayed out and it looks unkempt.

To achieve these results, Sara and her team

immersed themselves in the minutiae of the original design.

But matching one specific feature proved particularly difficult.

There are 6,458,000 penny tiles in the building

that were all hand laid in 1962.

SARA: So, the penny tiles are original to Saarinen,

he actually designed that size,

so it's not like you can just go to any tile store

and be like, "I want those tiles."

So what we did was we found a vendor that could actually emulate them.

They added 20,000 sq ft of new penny tiles to the building,

perfectly mimicking those used on the original structure.

These penny tiles run all the way up to a new feature

that's hidden from view.

On the rooftop of one of the new wings of the hotel,

there's a secret that makes the very best

of this building's unique location.

Above the guest rooms, there's an infinity pool

with panoramic views over JFK's busy airfield.

There's one feature in the rooms that needed a major upgrade

from the 1960s,

the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

When your room is this close to an active runway,

double glazing can't keep the roar of the engines out.

It took innovative technology

to make a good night's sleep possible at this location.

Each window is made of seven layers of glass

sandwiched into a triple-glazed system

that's over four inches thick.

The two air spaces block the low-frequency sounds

from jet engines.

The grey-tinted glass itself blocks higher pitched sounds

to create a soundproof room.

TYLER: You never hear the planes,

you never hear the busy airport around you.

It is deadly silent in the rooms.

The modern guestrooms are linked to the historic terminal

by the flight tunnels,

the walkways that travellers of yesteryear would have used

to reach their boarding gates.

Each of these details helps meld the old and new

inside this iconic building.

When we walked through the lobby of the hotel,

we were definitely blown away. It was so beautiful.

I would never typically want to stay at an airport hotel,

but I would definitely stay here without a second thought.

There's another secret sitting on the airport tarmac.

A plane.

Not that out of keeping at JFK airport.

This is Connie, a repurposed 1950s aircraft.

SARA: My favourite thing in the hotel is the Connie.

Nobody's ever said to me, "Oh, by the way,

"can you design a plane to be a cocktail lounge

"that isn't going to ever take off again?"

It has a beautiful little bar in it, which is also a nice surprise.

This hotel is a magnificent homage to the golden age of jet travel,

packed with references to the building's past

that helps keep its present a secret.

Still to come,

a unique winter retreat boasting incredible sites.

We had a glimpse of the northern lights last night,

so we're hoping for some more tonight.

And a woodland retreat like no other.

You actually get to be in nature

without nature knowing that you're around.

We're exploring some of the world's most unique hotels,

from mediaeval forts

to converted control towers.

Next, we're heading to Lapland in Scandinavia.

This is a fairy-tale winter destination,

blanketed by thick woodlands buried in snow.

Lying in the Arctic Circle, it is a province in northern Europe

that straddles four different countries,

Sweden, Norway, Russia and Finland.

Urho Kekkonen National Park

is one of Finland's largest protected areas.

It also borders a very secret Arctic getaway,

the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort.

A remote hideaway for those seeking solace

deep in the surrounding snow-capped forest.

We are here in wilderness, alone,

and no neighbours.

We have many animals, but no people.

The resort is spread out over 6.5 sq km.

Private cabins are dotted through the woods

to form individual retreats.

But this getaway also offers

a unique alternative form of accommodation,

glass igloos.

These state-of-the-art Arctic-resistant domes

offer 360-degree views.

JUSSI: When the guests come here, very peaceful and very quiet here.

You can find your own soul.

HE CHUCKLES

There are 65 glass igloos at the resort.

They're built out of thermally insulated glass panels,

which are heated both inside and out.

Each igloo can comfortably sleep two to four people,

and they all have private bathrooms and separate closets.

But it's all about the astronomical view.

Whether you're watching a snowstorm or stargazing at night,

it's more like being in a 3D movie theatre

than a hotel room.

JUSSI: This is very special.

In front of your face is all sky open.

You can see, when it's clear sky, a million stars,

northern lights, summertime midnight sun,

and then you're feeling also the silence.

The northern lights are caused by a spellbinding interaction

between particles that are emitted from the sun,

the earth's atmosphere and magnetic field.

And here, in northern Finland,

they are best seen in the middle of winter,

when it's dark 24/7,

although they can sometimes be seen in the middle of the night

in autumn and spring.

We had a glimpse of the northern lights last night,

so we're hoping for more tonight.

If not, I'll keep coming back until I get it right.

We stayed out till 1am trying to look out for the northern lights,

and we saw a little green hue.

Lapland experiences very distinct seasons.

In summer, between May and August, the sun doesn't set for a month,

bringing endless daylight, known here as the midnight sun.

Winter, from December to January, brings about its own extreme change,

endless night time, known as the polar nights.

The sun doesn't rise above the horizon for six weeks.

And, rather than being pitch black outside,

the moon's light reflects from the snow blanket,

painting the land in pastel blues and purples.

Every inch of the hotel has been cleverly designed

to experience these seasons.

A recent and very special addition

is the resort's very own planetarium.

It's been designed to give guests the opportunity to clearly view

all the incredible astronomical sights

when the skies are less clear.

Everybody can see every day

a northern lights and midnight sun film here.

Owner Jussi Eiramo discovered this spot by chance in 1973

when his car broke down.

He was forced to stay on the roadside overnight,

but that led to the remarkable discovery

that it was an ideal place to see the northern lights.

It was a beautiful place on the river, Kakslauttanen,

and I stayed a second night also there.

I was a young boy then, and my life was open.

And then I'm thinking,

it's possible to see the northern lights in a warm place,

maybe in bed.

From that moment, Jussi dreamt of opening a resort here,

but it took a lot of planning,

and he eventually began building the first glass igloo prototypes

26 years later in 1999.

His design was inspired by the original concept of the snow igloo,

but he was motivated by creating a homelike feel,

hidden in the pristine wilderness.

The resort is connected to the national grid for electricity,

but the biggest challenge was to link every cabin and igloo to water.

Pipes can freeze solid in this region,

where temperatures can plummet to -50 degrees.

So they insulate and bury them underground

to prevent them from bursting.

Above ground, the igloos have another ingenious feature.

The glass panes are heated inside and out,

so as the snow falls, it melts and slides off the outside.

This also prevents condensation inside,

which means you're always guaranteed a clear view.

JUSSI: Everything was not easy.

It's difficult to start, but work teaches people

and, step by step, I learned the building.

In total, there are 213 cabins and igloos at the resort.

Keeping everything running in such a remote location

is no easy task.

So Jussi works with a team of around 180 staff.

WOMAN: The resort is built in the middle of wilderness,

so all the team live in the resort.

We've got about 120 staff accommodations on the premises.

The resort's remote location means everything needs detailed planning.

There are two restaurants on site,

but getting local ingredients is no simple task.

Even doing the basics, like the laundry, is a monumental challenge.

We do not have laundry facilities on site,

so everyday we send our laundry south to Rovaniemi,

about 300km daily, to wash and bring it back.

And, in the winter months, it's a treacherous journey.

Just a stone's throw from the igloo field

are the unique 83 hybrid glass igloo cabin.

Each structure sleeps up to six,

has a fireplace,

kitchenette,

bathroom,

private sauna,

and a bedroom with the signature igloo rooftop.

THOMAS: Inside, the design is nothing like I've ever seen before.

And the wood gives off a natural smell,

and it just reminds you of, like, clean, fresh, outdoor,

peace and tranquillity.

JUSSI: Outside, you can see the snow in winter time

and stars of the sky.

Sometimes reindeer you can see from the window here,

and rabbits come here, sometimes foxes come here.

In keeping with its rural surroundings,

much of the cabin's interiors have been designed and made by locals

out of naturally-sourced materials.

Here, we have in Lapland many artists who can nicely handicraft,

like these lamps of the reindeer horn, with ceramic lamps,

and we find the people here who do that.

Bespoke design features inside and out make this resort unique,

and giving guests amazing views of the surrounding wilderness

has always been of great importance to Jussi,

so he decided to build something else quite incredible.

Standing tall over the resort like a watchful guardian

lies another secret escape.

Soaring into the air is the 30m-high glass igloo tower,

the highest viewpoint of the complex.

JUSSI: We are now in Arctic resort West Village igloo tower,

and here is a bar.

You can see here midnight sun and northern lights.

The resort is for people who want to get away from everything

and become immersed in the natural wilderness.

In wintertime, we have many activities.

We have husky dogs, reindeer, sledding,

snowmobile, cross-country ski.

And summertime you can hike here,

canoeing, fishing,

riverboat, quad bike driving.

Area is fantastic here.

This is a place designed to be at one with nature,

to experience a magical world of ice and snow

and night-time displays of light in the sky.

Still to come,

a woodland hideaway even the locals can't find.

We try to keep the location secret,

cos we'd sooner keep it private for hotel guests.

We're exploring some of the world's most unusual holiday hideaways,

from hobbit huts buried into the landscape,

to cottages sitting in remote lava plains.

Next, we're heading to Vancouver Island in Canada.

An ocean-carved land of extremes, alive with nature.

Sprawling 80km wide and 460km long,

much of its land mass is National Park.

It's a rugged landscape of snow-capped mountains,

untamed shorelines,

and dense rainforests.

This is a province known for biological diversity.

Grizzly bears roam freely.

Whales can be seen from the shoreline.

And the forests are alive with birds of prey.

Visitors come here all year round to escape the daily grind

and free their minds.

So if you want isolation, you have to hunt for it.

Just off the East Coast is a dense forest.

So dense, in fact, it's hard to imagine any humans are here at all.

But deep in the undergrowth on a five acre site

is a very unusual hideaway.

Known as Free Spirit Spheres,

they are a unique collection of globes suspended from trees.

When we decided to build the first spherical tree house,

it was really to be able to hang out in the forest without damaging it.

Because conventional treehouses tend to be built in situ

and trash the forest,

so I wanted to be able to completely build a modular treehouse

in the shop and then swing it into the forest

so that it was more of an insertion process

and not a construction process,

and that way you could have a real great experience of the forest

in its undamaged state.

Protecting the forests here has been a major concern for decades.

Vancouver Island is one of the largest raw log exporters in Canada,

particularly of old growth trees.

These are trees that soar more than 60m into the air,

have trunks covered in dense bark, and are so thick a family of four

would struggle to hold hands and encircle one.

Some have been standing for more than 800 years.

Yellow cedars, Sitka spruce, and Douglas firs are common here,

but their wood is high-value,

often being used for fine furniture or musical instruments.

Modern logging methods means there is the capacity to clear

the equivalent of 34 soccer pitches a day.

TOM: We've done such a horrible job of logging,

we're down to about 5% of the original old growth,

and so we were attempting to achieve a more sustainable use of forests

by using it for ecotourism

and celebrating the natural beauty that's there.

The result is something simple yet magical,

like giant nuts hidden in the treetops.

Tom has managed to achieve what he set out to do,

preserve the forest and create accommodation

that gives guests the experience of being at one with nature.

There are currently two spheres, with more on the way.

They are hung from old-growth trees

and anchored to the ground for stability.

Access is via a spiral staircase

which connects to a landing platform and a short suspension bridge.

Inside, the spheres are all insulated

with multiple layers of reflective bubble wrap.

Cupboards circle the inner wall,

which double up as seats or places to sleep,

and, in some, a platform bed folds down from the ceiling.

Tom has given the spheres names.

Eve was our first sphere. That's a little 9ft sphere.

Nobody had built a sphere before,

so how to do a sphere interior was anybody's guess.

So we put a bed in it, we put a little settee in it,

some counter space, a few cupboards.

And every time we built another sphere,

we tried to improve on the idea,

and to house a few more people with more comfort.

They're not designed to be big or grand,

more modest and discreet, to blend into their surroundings

so no-one knows they're there.

We try to keep the location secret,

cos we'd sooner keep it private for hotel guests.

So we don't have a sign on the main road,

we just give the address to the registered guests,

and it's not until they get into the driveway

and into our neck of the woods

that they're starting to experience the sphere world.

Anna Lawrence has been working as an office manager here

for the last four years.

It's very secret. I'd never heard of it before I started working here.

I was amazed that it was just down the road from me,

and most people in the community have no idea it's here.

Even the driveway is easy to miss.

It's an overgrown turning most people drive straight past.

It's definitely hidden. We got lost the first time we tried finding it.

SHE LAUGHS Yeah.

But you couldn't even tell when you're in here.

ANNA: Whenever guests come to visit, it's always an expression of awe,

excitement, disbelief.

It's almost like they're brought back to being a kid again.

TOM: I love the look on people's faces

when they first step into the sphere that they're going to be spending,

you know, a few nights in.

Never ceases to amaze me.

HUW: You can go to any hotel, but when you walk into that sphere,

you just see the architecture,

and you see that each piece was put on by hand.

It feels like a lot of love and care was put into these spheres.

It's amazing to think that Tom came up with the idea,

designed the spheres and built them all himself.

On average, it takes about three man years to finish a sphere.

We're still trying to refine the idea

and find the perfect solution to how to arrange the interior

and maximise comfort and workability.

Tom is a former power engineer and boatbuilder.

The floating spheres are a marriage of treehouse

and sailboat technology.

It's been a labour of love.

TOM: My spheres so far have all been artisan spheres.

Everything is crafted, it's not mass produced.

The door hardware and the window hardware

is all made to fit a particular sphere.

And the interior, like all the wooden joinery

has been scribed and cut and fit to fit not only a curved surface,

but a curved in more than one plane surface,

so it's more like boatbuilding.

It's artisan work, it's not construction.

The spheres have evolved since the first was made.

Originally, they were handcrafted from wood,

but the most recent, Luna, has been cast in fibreglass

moulded from one of the originals.

So, instead of 2,000 man hours to make a wooden shell,

we could make a fibreglass one in 120 man hours,

so it was just a no-brainer, really.

Once inside, porthole windows give guests a bird's-eye view

of all the vegetation and wildlife below.

You actually get to be in nature

without nature knowing that you're around.

You can see a squirrel or a deer just hanging out, doing its thing,

right below you or above you, or you can be woken up by it.

And you feel so content inside the sphere, especially at night.

Even if it's snowing outside, you're still warm and cosy.

If it's raining, you still feel dry,

and the acoustics, you feel like you're in an amphitheatre

because of the shape of a sphere, the structure of a sphere.

It's the most peaceful place.

Being at one with nature has always been the true ethos

behind this resort, but the biggest sphere is only 3.2m in diameter,

so creating a comfortable interior has always been a challenge.

However, Tom's latest invention, a hydraulic bed,

does make a big difference.

Instead of the bed going up against the back wall,

which kind of eliminates a lot of very valuable real estate

on the back wall,

we put it at a 45 degree angle up against the ceiling

and rounded the corners so that it fit a little closer to the ceiling.

That worked out pretty good.

We made it hydraulic so it wasn't as challenging for some people

to get the bed down and out.

There's no doubt Tom pays attention to every detail.

MELANIE: The architecture is incredible and so thoughtful.

It's the most made-with-love accommodation I've ever seen.

HUW: When was the last time you were able to go hang out in a sphere

above ground in a nice calm, cool, quiet, cosy environment?

I don't think there's anything else out there that does this.

There was actually a woman, an artist, who stayed here not long ago

who said that we were a unicorn in a field of horses.

I love the guest comments that we get in the guest books.

Most people, after visiting, talk about how peaceful

their stay was and how relaxed and rejuvenated they are,

and my favourite response is when people really have taken the time

to spend time in nature,

and then afterwards they really feel a connection to nature,

so they start to notice and seek out nature in their everyday life,

when they didn't before.

This resort has evolved from the concept of a simple treehouse

that doesn't harm the forest,

and it has cleverly progressed into a sustainable area

that protects everything growing and living within it.

Still to come,

we head to a working farm in rural Scotland,

which is home to a unique secret escape.

The shape comes from the Hosier milking bail,

which was a 1930s mobile milking parlour.

We're exploring some of the world's most unusual holiday getaways,

from huts floating in the middle of lakes,

to remote rural retreats.

Next, we're heading to Aberdeenshire in Scotland.

For centuries, agricultural workers have come here

to harvest barley for this region's unrivalled whisky,

or herd its world famous Aberdeen Angus beef cattle.

Hidden among fields and grazing sheep

is something that looks like a functional farm building,

but is actually a rather secret escape,

called The Dairy at Denend.

It's owned by local farmers Jane and James Foad. Come on, lambies.

We're actually going to take out some lambs

that are ready for market,

so these are actually going off tomorrow morning.

It gives another guest experience, really,

cos they are staying on an actively working farm

and we are producing food all the time.

The shape of The Dairy comes from the Hosier milking bail,

which was a 1930s mobile milking parlour.

Hosier milking bails were developed as a response to dairy farmers

going out of business during the depression of the 1930s.

Instead of constructing large and expensive barns to shelter cows,

these milking parlours on wheels

were designed to follow the animals around the fields.

They would walk in, be milked, and walk out again,

straight back into the pasture.

As the cows were milked quicker, the milk got to market sooner.

It actually made a lot of farmers be able to survive

and actually scale up milk production.

The classic shape of the bail has design advantages for a hotel.

The shape where you could have the cows downstairs

and the feed storage upstairs, hence why we could evolve that

so you have your living area downstairs

and your sleeping area upstairs.

Inspired by the shape of the historic bail,

in an area where the cows would've been milked,

today this newly-constructed building houses a living space,

country kitchen and bathroom,

while upstairs an external staircase leads to a double bedroom

and bunkbeds.

The country kitchen and bathroom

are designed to give a flavour of the farm itself.

This is a very authentic dairy door, complete with authentic noise.

METAL SCREECHES

We try to re-purpose, reuse and upcycle as much as we possibly can.

It's not just about having an experience,

it's about actually growing your own knowledge.

Milk churns have been converted into seats,

a milk collecting jar repurposed as a light,

and there are nods to the hundreds of small dairies

that used to supply milk locally in the region.

Back in the day, there were little dairies all over the place,

and there's some really beautiful designs and vintage bottles,

so it's a nostalgic nod to my own childhood,

as well as trying to educate people that come

so they learn a little bit more about the dairy world.

Jane and James' modern take on the milking bail

has a staircase on the outside of the building to access the top floor

where, historically, cow cake would have been stored to feed the cows.

But for those seeking a taste of the 1930s dairy industry,

there's a more intrepid way to access the space,

which has been transformed into the bedrooms.

This here is the ladder, for those that are a bit more adventurous

and want to shimmy up, rather than taking the outside steps.

And there's a padlock, so you can rest assured your child

isn't going to fall down the ladder in the night.

One bedroom has handmade den-like bunkbeds,

cleverly constructed to maximise the space.

And there's a master bedroom

that makes the most of the agricultural design.

JANE: With this glass gable end,

it gives the guests just the most panoramic view

out into the rural countryside.

It's an absolute joy to have a cup of tea

and sit in bed reading your book.

Accessing the sleeping space either outside or via a vertical ladder

might make for a treacherous or cold cup of tea,

so Jane has installed an ingenious feature

to make sure you can still enjoy your hot beverage.

We've got a really fun, playful feature in here,

known as the ally-up. When you want a cup of tea in the morning,

a cup of coffee, you come downstairs to make it in the kitchen,

pop it into a flask, take your mug,

pop them in the basket.

This is where it comes to,

so you hoist up with the rope in the basket,

and you can have a hot cup of tea in bed,

having shimmied up the ladder.

That's luxury at its best.

Dining is designed to be alfresco,

with a wood pellet-fired pizza oven

and a wood-burning range cooker to make the most of this area's

most famous farm product, Aberdeen Angus steaks.

Delicious. There we go.

Small touches here help blend the historical with the luxurious.

There's one feature that guests might not notice at first glance.

In a dairy, when you're milking the cows,

the milk is collected in the collection jars

and then it goes through pipes and gets collected into a bulk tank.

We have refashioned this one into a wood-fired hot tub

for guests to sit and enjoy relaxing underneath the stars.

Seeing the old upcycled to new is right on trend.

It's a clever and modern reimagining of a historic structure.

The building itself is constructed out of traditional materials

that include wrinkly or corrugated tin.

It was hand-built at Jane's father's dairy farm 1,000km away in Somerset.

Getting it here was a unique challenge.

The starting point was the shape and size of it had to fit onto a lorry

to be able to be transported up 600 miles from Somerset

to Aberdeenshire.

It's quite alarming when the whole bothy, all your hopes and dreams,

are sitting on these two loadalls, and until the trailer reverses back

that it's going to sit on and be transported onto site,

it's quite alarming. So there's some adrenaline moments, definitely.

Many hotels sacrifice history for modernity.

This is a smart combination of the two,

helping the building fit into the farm

whilst still giving urbanite guests some rest and relaxation,

and even insight into the agricultural heritage

of this region.

So, from mountain to sea,

whether it's hillwalking, fishing for salmon,

or following the malt whisky trail,

there's plenty to do here in the stunning countryside.

JANE: Our guests seem to really enjoy the fact

that they are on an authentic working farm,

because I think guests are interested in learning something.

JAMES: It's a very secret and special place to come to,

because it is so quiet and we are so very different,

and you can come here and snuggle down.

Whether it's bright and sunny, you can enjoy the bright, sunny weather.

If it's wet and windy and wild or snowy,

you can lie in the hot tub and be perfectly warm and cosy.

I think that's what's unexpected about it.

The north-east of Scotland is a secret and hidden gem in itself.

It's a corner of the countryside that so many people just bypass,

and yet it is stunning.

Shh. Don't tell anybody.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media