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00:04Imagine staying the night in a mountain hideaway, sleeping underneath the stars.
00:12Lodging in a futuristic woodland escape.
00:15I'd always dreamt of building a tree house. That's always been my sort of boyhood dream.
00:20Or holidaying in a resort on the edge of the desert.
00:24In this series, we venture across the globe to reveal some of the world's most unusual hotels.
00:33Some people would say we're in the middle of nowhere.
00:35Hidden in the most surprising of places.
00:38This is Princess Ina, 1906 porn carriage.
00:44From island getaways.
00:46It's a beautiful island, wonderful.
00:49And retreats hidden in plain sight.
00:52You open your eyes and the first thing you see is that far escape in front of you.
00:58To reimagine structures and vehicles.
01:03I've had phone calls of people asking about a timetable.
01:07We meet the teams who keep them running.
01:10It's very important to maintain the culture and the history.
01:14It's an oasis that reveals itself.
01:17And the guests living their dreams.
01:20You are waking up in the morning inside of the sunset.
01:23As we explore the world's most secret hotels.
01:34This time, we explore a rocky retreat in the mountains of South Africa.
01:48We discover a secret hideaway inside a former lighthouse.
01:54When you are here, it feels really remote.
01:56It's a good feeling.
02:00Relax at a luxury boat hole in the Welsh countryside.
02:05I take pride in telling people that we live in the middle of nowhere.
02:11And check into a forest tree house near Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
02:16You can't see us from the road.
02:18You can't see us from the sky.
02:20We're really immersed in the rainforest and that's what makes it so special.
02:28Our adventure begins in Cornwall in South West England.
02:38This ancient county is home to some of the UK's most dramatic scenery.
02:44A land of legendary cliff top castles, mysterious stone circles, and hundreds of miles of wild moorland.
02:54The historic town of Bodmin lies just south of the moor, dominated by its towering jail.
03:05But look closer and this fortress-like prison conceals a remarkable secret.
03:14This is the Bodmin Jail Hotel.
03:18A bastion of crime and punishment.
03:22That's now a luxury retreat.
03:27It's a well-kept secret.
03:30It's one of those places where you have to know about it to experience it.
03:35And once you've experienced it, you have this special journey
03:38which you can take and share with other people.
03:44This secret retreat is spread across two sprawling wings.
03:52Inside each wing is a central atrium with four floors that lead to 70 rooms.
04:01Each bedroom is formed from three of the original cells that have been knocked through and connected.
04:08The chapel where prisoners used to contemplate their sins is now a restaurant.
04:15The old library is a luxurious lounge.
04:20There's even a gym in the basement for those who fancy an hour or two of hard labour.
04:25The person responsible for the jail's transformation is Rob Cox.
04:31When we created the hotel experience, we wanted it to be something different, something unique.
04:37It's not the obvious use for this building.
04:39And I think all of our guests, when they arrive, the first thing they do is look at this beautiful
04:44atrium
04:45and see the scale of this building on the inside.
04:47And they're wowed by it.
04:50The effect it has on people coming from outside to inside is amazing.
04:55It's like a transition between two worlds.
05:04The jail first opened its doors in 1779.
05:09In its heyday, it could house more than 220 prisoners, crowned seven or eight to a cell.
05:18Jess Marlton is an expert on the jail's history.
05:24This is a prison for reform.
05:33The whole idea was simple.
05:35It was, what's the point in locking you up and leaving you to rot?
05:40How are you going to better yourself?
05:42And that's how the Victorians operated it.
05:45Short, sharp shock.
05:47To make you into a decent member of society.
05:53Bodmin was Cornwall's main prison for more than 150 years until it closed in the 1920s and slowly fell into
06:02ruin.
06:02The transformation was incredible.
06:04When I first arrived here, it was an open derelict site.
06:08No roof.
06:09The walls were covered in green ivy.
06:11The trees were growing out of the building.
06:13So to set about recreating that into a beautiful five-star hotel was a real, real journey for us and
06:21something which needed so much imagination.
06:27Engineers had to design a series of innovative steel balconies to replace the original walkways.
06:35They had to lower parts of the structure into position through the roof.
06:42They also needed to provide new accommodation for some winged residents.
06:47We had, I think, 17 species of bat which resided within the building.
06:52One of the first acts was to build a bat hotel up in our field to the north of the
06:58building.
07:02The transformation of the prison took five years.
07:06The result is a building that is light and welcoming.
07:11The rooms have a luxurious feel, with living area and bathroom.
07:18While preserving many of the original details, today's prison governor is hotel manager, Ray.
07:25The atrium layout is exactly how it was before.
07:30When there was a jail, you can still see the thick walls.
07:33In every bedroom, we have a plaque of who the prisoner was.
07:37And then, if you pay attention to the front of each door, you can actually see a black hook,
07:44where each cell would have a bell for the prison guards to call the prisoners.
07:51Ray oversees a team of 50, who ensure that today's guests receive a warmer welcome than the inmates of the
07:59past.
08:00There's a champagne bar in the old chaplain's office.
08:04And fine dining in the chapel restaurant, run by executive chef, Dane.
08:13We're extremely fortunate. It's a beautiful restaurant.
08:15So, when people walk in, we do need to keep that vibe running high.
08:23Today, Dane and his team are busy prepping for dinner.
08:27Prisoners ate a plain meal of gruel and porridge.
08:31The new menu draws on everything Cornwall has to offer.
08:37Everything is as local as it can possibly be.
08:39We're extremely fortunate here with the produce on our doorstep.
08:44You know, we're surrounded by coastline.
08:46And the lands itself, the greenery, is incredible.
08:49The beef, the lamb, you know, the pork is just second to none.
08:53And that was why I came to Cornwall.
08:56I'm in heaven down here, really.
09:00This retreat is not your traditional Cornish seaside getaway.
09:05Many of the guests come here drawn by the building's dark past.
09:10There are rumours of hidden rooms.
09:13Tunnels that lead to nowhere.
09:16And grisly reminders of those who never left these walls.
09:21The jail is said to be one of the most haunted places in the UK,
09:25which can make life difficult for housekeeping supervisor Rhea.
09:31Especially when it comes to guests who have yet to check out.
09:35311 is very haunted.
09:37When you're in there cleaning the room yourself,
09:39the door opens and shuts to the bathroom.
09:42In 209, the curtains sometimes flutter when there is no wind.
09:48You hear footsteps when you're walking through the corridors.
09:51It freaks everybody out.
09:53In my first week working here,
09:55I had to tell a ghost off
09:57because she was scaring one of my attendants so much
10:00that she didn't want to go in the room.
10:02So I had to go in and go,
10:03please leave her alone.
10:04And then it stopped.
10:07For braver guests,
10:08there are nightly ghost hunting tours.
10:11And a multi-million pound immersive museum next door,
10:16built from local stone.
10:18It transports visitors back to the prison's harsh Victorian heyday.
10:27This so-called dark tourism may not be for everyone,
10:31but it's brought much needed investment to the local community.
10:36Cornwall as a tourist destination is really known for its coastal destinations,
10:40and not so much its towns and its cities.
10:45We can create this small oasis in the centre of a town,
10:48which people don't often get to experience.
10:51You can almost take yourselves back to when you were in a completely different time.
10:56Bobbin Jail Hotel is definitely one of Cornwall's best-kept secrets,
11:00and it's probably one of the country's best-kept secrets.
11:04There were several escapes during the prison's long history,
11:08including one where the inmates supposedly fled to a local pub,
11:13before deciding to return at night.
11:18Today's guests can come and go as they please.
11:22But this is one prison they too may not want to leave.
11:33Still to come, we check into a concealed cave in the mountains of South Africa,
11:39and check out a secluded island that harbours a towering surprise.
11:54Getting away from it all can be as simple as closing your hotel door to the outside world.
12:00But to find true isolation often means heading well off the beaten path.
12:13Our next escape is to the Cedarburg Mountains in South Africa.
12:20Situated 150 miles north of Cape Town,
12:24this isolated expanse of dramatic rock formations,
12:28sculpted by millennia of wind and water erosion into surreal shapes,
12:34offers a profound sense of detachment from civilisation.
12:39The region is famous for its otherworldly arches and towering sandstone spires.
12:47Yet they conceal a remarkable secret.
12:53Hidden inside a field of boulders is a series of specially engineered caves.
13:02This is the Kakakama Nature Reserve, a luxury retreat in the middle of a vast wilderness.
13:14Kakakama is a very secluded, secret hidden gem.
13:20You can't get this anywhere else. It's absolutely stunning.
13:26In the north of the reserve, guests can stay in one of five luxury lodges.
13:32Or in one of the ten purpose-built caverns.
13:36Two restrooms and a spa with a swimming pool sit at the heart of the retreat.
13:42And for those who prefer a little more privacy,
13:46to the south there are 14 self-catering chalets.
13:51All this sits within 37,000 acres of the 62-mile mountain range.
14:09The hotel is designed to blend in with its surroundings.
14:15The facade of each cave is artificial, but so carefully constructed,
14:21that it's hard to tell where the natural rock begins and ends.
14:30Inside, the walls are sandstone surrounding a master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom.
14:42Making sure guests feel at home is manager Tania Steenkamp.
14:47Everything was designed for you to feel like you were part of nature.
14:52In 1989, they started to develop the chalets and then also the caves and the huts.
14:59And it was very important for them that these accommodations integrate with nature,
15:05and that nothing is disturbed.
15:25At this hotel, isolation is the ultimate luxury.
15:31The reserve is more than 35 miles from the nearest town.
15:36The closest neighbours are not people, but wildlife like springbok, oryx and zebra.
15:44Some residents are more elusive, and only come out at night.
15:49Helping guests to get more acquainted with them is Paul Avenant.
15:55The location that we are in is extremely diverse.
15:59Being a nature reserve, we try not to interfere with nature itself.
16:04We've got cats like caracal, African wild cats, even aardvark.
16:11Animals that are very elusive, that you find on very, very special occasions.
16:21Kakakama's guides also reveal the region's rich cultural heritage.
16:28Cedarburg has one of the greatest concentrations of ancient rock art in South Africa,
16:33left by the Khoi and San peoples.
16:36We've got so many individual sites right over Kakakama with a lot of rock art.
16:42The rock art itself, it ranges from 250 years to over 6,000 years.
16:56The resort is also popular with hikers and bird watchers,
17:00who can explore more than 30 miles of trails at their own pace.
17:04Those heading out in the summer need to take plenty of water.
17:10Temperatures here can reach 40 degrees Celsius.
17:15At the end of the day, adventure seekers can relax with a well-earned dip in the pool.
17:21Enjoy a treatment in the on-site spa.
17:26And choose to dine outdoors.
17:29We have various dining experiences.
17:32One very special experience is eating under the stars in Albomo with a large bonfire.
17:39Enjoying our fine wines and wonderful cuisine served by our waiters and prepared by our chefs.
17:46The resort's menu makes the most of local ingredients.
17:50In charge of sourcing them is food and drink manager Lorenzia Erasmus.
17:57All our products is coming from our local suppliers.
18:01Our meats, we get it freshly as well.
18:05We try our best to source fresh herbs, like our wild rosemary, that is part of our recipe into our
18:14lamb shang, that is a signature dish.
18:22South Africa is renowned for its cuisine and fine wines.
18:27And there's one local dish that Lorenzia recommends.
18:31We have a lot of South African dishes.
18:36And my favourite dish is the Cape Malay curry.
18:40It's a traditional sweet curry.
18:48The hotel has 62 members of staff, many of whom live on site with their families given the resort's isolation.
18:57The housekeeping team faces a daily battle to keep the rooms free from dust.
19:03No easy feat in this windy desert-like region.
19:09And in the hotel's newest rooms, it's simply impossible.
19:16For those guests who want to get even closer to nature, the hotel has two open-air bedrooms.
19:25Each one has an outdoor bath and a queen-size bed, where visitors can sleep out in style beneath the
19:34stars.
19:36We also have our beautiful star and sky suite.
19:40Both of them very secluded and secret.
19:43The night sky is your ceiling.
19:46When you're lying bed in the evenings and you look up, all the stars are above you.
19:51There's also a small private rock pool that you can enjoy.
20:04For Tanya and the team, a stay in this beautiful landscape is more than just a holiday experience.
20:11It's about creating memories that will last a lifetime.
20:16What you take away staying at Kahakama is the absolute silence around you and rejuvenating your soul.
20:25And staying one with nature.
20:27And seeing a guest leaving at Kahakama, having enjoyed their stay,
20:32is the cherry on the cake, it's absolutely the best feeling.
20:44Still to come, we journey to a windswept island where the guests always receive a warm welcome.
20:53And uncover a secret hideaway deep in West Wales.
21:06Some hotels are so well hidden that they are almost invisible to the outside world.
21:13From woodland wonders to desert oases.
21:18Others are hiding in plain sight.
21:22Including our next destination.
21:24In Sweden.
21:33This Scandinavian country is home to over a quarter of a million islands.
21:41Most are tiny and uninhabited.
21:44Some are big enough for people to live on all year round.
21:50And one island, just north of Gothenburg.
21:55Conceals a remarkable secret.
22:01This is the Pater Noster Lighthouse.
22:06Built in 1868, its beacon once helped guide ships away from these perilous rocks.
22:14Today, it's a luxury hotel that beckons visitors towards the island.
22:21With the promise of an unforgettable experience.
22:26It feels like this place is hidden away from the rest of the world.
22:30It's like a mini country.
22:39The only way for guests to reach this hotel is by a 15 minute boat ride from the mainland.
22:47Waiting to welcome them ashore.
22:49Waiting to welcome them ashore.
22:50Is Erik Nissen Johansson and his team.
22:53If you've never done it before, it's kind of intimidating and a little scary.
22:58You're out on the ocean and then you see the lighthouse getting bigger and bigger.
23:03When you finally arrive in the little port, you're always overwhelmed.
23:11It's a good feeling.
23:15This island is just 500 feet long by 650 feet wide.
23:21It's just big enough to host up to 24 guests.
23:26They stay where the lighthouse keepers and their families used to live.
23:30This is one out of nine guest rooms we have.
23:34All the rooms are different.
23:36Different wallpapers, different colour settings.
23:38We decided from the beginning to reopen the home of the lighthouse people.
23:43It's supposed to look like when the lighthouse people were here managing it.
23:48Hotel designer Erik is passionate about preserving the island's maritime past.
23:54Each room has replica 19th century wallpaper and antiques sourced from the local area.
24:02But there are still plenty of concessions to the modern world.
24:06I think people will get surprised of the level of comfort in not only the service but cosiness of the
24:14inside.
24:19We had a man here, an old 85-year-old man that was the last lighthouse assistant.
24:24He came into his room where he used to live when he was working here.
24:27The room had his toilet, he had his bed and he had his small kitchen.
24:31And he started to cry because he said,
24:33I recognise the room but now it's really nice.
24:41Every building here has taken on a new lease of life.
24:45The shed, where the lighthouse keepers used to store kerosene for the oil fire beacon,
24:51now houses a traditional Swedish sauna.
24:56The old foghorn hut is staff accommodation.
25:00And the larder is now a well-stopped wine cellar.
25:05There's even a desalination plant tucked away for purifying the local seawater.
25:11So guests can literally drink in their surroundings.
25:16The hotel is the vision of Eric and four of his friends,
25:20who took over the lighthouse in 2020.
25:24All five dreamed of living on an island and decided to build the ultimate escape here.
25:31We obviously have to ask the question, what are luxury for people today?
25:35And that's very interesting because that's something totally different than 30 years ago.
25:40It's gone from possessions of expensive watches and cars to poetic experiences.
25:46And here we had the poetry.
25:48Nature that painted the new painting backdrop every day.
25:58Food is at the heart of island life, with both a restaurant and a cafe on site.
26:07The waters around the lighthouse provide plenty of fresh seafood, including mackerel and lobster.
26:16Caught by Eric, who doubles up as the island's chief fisherman.
26:24Even so, it can be a challenge running a restaurant in the middle of the sea.
26:30So head chef Johan Bengsten grows as much of his own produce as he can.
26:36And this afternoon, he's out harvesting dinner.
26:40So this vegetable patch has been here since the 1860s, when the lighthouse was first built.
26:47Since the people who lived out here and tend to the lighthouse had no supplies of fresh vegetables from the
26:53mainland, they had to grow it themselves.
26:56The garden's crop changes according to the season.
27:01There are sugar peas in spring, carrots in summer and Swiss chard in autumn.
27:08There's also a healthy rhubarb crop, grown on the island for more than 100 years, which Johan uses for desserts.
27:17I'm very proud of being able to serve things that grown on the island.
27:31Once Johan has collected his crop, it's back to the kitchen to prepare tonight's dinner.
27:38Seaweed miso soup, followed by seared tuna with a seaweed sauce.
27:46All served at the communal table in the old boat shed.
27:51So the long table enables the people from different groups and different countries to start to communicate with each other.
27:59After a few minutes, everyone starts to talk to each other.
28:03I really enjoy going in there. It's always a really, really nice atmosphere.
28:10After dinner, guests can relax in the clifftop hot tub and soak in the view.
28:17Bad weather means there's always the risk of getting cut off from the mainland on an island that's a little
28:22bigger than a football pitch.
28:25But for Erik, that's all part of his charm.
28:29We have a safe where we hide the most expensive rum.
28:33We take out the key when there's a storm coming and the guests aren't able to go back home.
28:38I think when you are here, it feels really remote.
28:42That's the point.
28:45Today, guests with a head for heights can climb to the top of the lighthouse tower.
28:51Here at sunset, the team switches on the lamp that still shines out to sea.
28:57The lighthouse keepers and their families lived in this remote sanctuary for more than 100 years.
29:05Today's custodians are keeping its flame alive as a beacon for sustainable tourism.
29:16Still to come, we uncover a rainforest retreat in northern Australia.
29:22There are many secret escapes where isolation is the new luxury, from island sanctuaries to mountain hideouts.
29:32But some bolt holes can be right around the corner.
29:37Our next adventure takes us to the west coast of Wales.
29:43Cardigan Bay is home to some of the country's most dramatic scenery.
29:4965 miles of rugged coastline and unspoiled beaches offer the perfect escape from the modern world.
30:00Inland lies a very different kind of hideaway.
30:06Tucked away on the edge of a lake.
30:10Concealed within the trees.
30:13This is Pontfein glamping.
30:17A retreat so secret, not even all the locals know it's here.
30:22Well, we're completely surrounded by farmland here.
30:25It's very, very rural.
30:28I love the fact that it's off the beaten track.
30:31I take pride in telling people that we live in the middle of nowhere.
30:34I mean, when we tell some of the locals where we live, when we're chatting to them,
30:38they don't even know this road exists.
30:47The hotel is the vision of husband and wife team Andy and Claire Corbett.
30:53Two cosy wooden pods sit in perfect seclusion.
30:58Porth di Guasinidra, or Dragonfly Lodge,
31:03and Marclod Aridur, which means sunset on the water.
31:11Each self-contained pod is crafted in Wales.
31:18They may look small, but inside there is room for an ensuite bathroom and a kitchenette.
31:27The pods have circular patio doors that make the most of the natural light
31:32and lead out onto a private deck with a barbecue and a hot tub behind the lodge.
31:41The pod's oak cladding is insulated against the often unpredictable weather here,
31:47which means this secret escape can welcome guests all year round.
31:52The first thing they normally say when they get here is what a beautiful spot it is and how quiet.
31:58And then when they go into the pod, they just love it.
32:01They just can't believe what we've managed to get into, such a tiny space.
32:06And I'm always really excited to take them round the corner and show them the hot tub,
32:09because that really is hidden away.
32:14Claire and Andy's journey here began when they were both working in nine-to-five jobs
32:19and dreamed of escaping the rat race.
32:23Their chance came when they took a trip along Wales' west coast
32:27and fell in love with what was then a muddy field.
32:33The field was completely overgrown. It was probably 50% bramble and soft rush.
32:39Very, very muddy.
32:41We had to wade through, really, to get anywhere in the field.
32:46Taming the wilderness took five months of clearing brambles,
32:51thinning out trees and even redirecting a stream.
32:56But the biggest challenge was how to manoeuvre the pre-built pods into position
33:00without damaging the fragile lakeside world.
33:04We devised a plan to tow it in on wheels.
33:08However, when the delivery driver arrived, he decided that he would be able to swing it in amongst the trees.
33:14That kind of became a bit complicated when he realised he couldn't swing it in far enough so I had
33:18to drop it down.
33:19All the while, we've got a pod hanging over the side of the lake,
33:22thinking, that's a lot of money about to fall in the water.
33:26Yeah.
33:27But we got it in there.
33:38Bringing the site back to life was a labour of love for Andy and Claire.
33:43The site now attracts more than just paying guests.
33:47The lake we keep for wildlife.
33:50It's surrounded by pretty wild plants.
33:52We've got some fish.
33:54We have a visiting otter.
33:56We've got resident moorhens.
33:58We get visits from ducks, Canada geese, all sorts of birds.
34:04People particularly like sitting on the deck of Makla Dauridur,
34:08watching dragonflies and watching the sunset.
34:18Claire and Andy now live on site.
34:21While Andy keeps nature in check,
34:24in the morning, Claire delivers fresh homemade bread as a welcome gift for guests.
34:31A personal touch that helps make these lodges feel like home.
34:37Some people just don't ever even leave the pod.
34:39Sometimes at the end of somebody's stay,
34:41we'll come down and we'll say,
34:42you've been here five days and you've not gone anywhere.
34:44And they just say, we don't want to go anywhere.
34:47It's just so peaceful.
34:48We work so hard and we live in the city and it's just so lovely to be here in the
34:53quiet.
34:56Claire and Andy hope to add another pod to the lake soon.
35:01Sunset on the water is the culmination of a lifelong dream.
35:06And a secret sanctuary that they hope to share for many years.
35:20Still to come, we uncover a rain forest retreat in the tropics of Northern Australia.
35:39We're exploring the world's most secret hotels.
35:43From quaint coaching inns.
35:46To modernist marvels.
35:50Our final stop is on the other side of the globe.
35:55Deep in the wet tropics of Northern Australia.
36:05Northern Queensland is one of Australia's most popular holiday destinations.
36:11Every year, millions enjoy its pristine beaches and natural wonders,
36:16such as the Great Barrier Reef.
36:23Inland, the Daintree Rainforest offers a very different kind of getaway.
36:29This hot and humid world is home to more than 3,000 plant and animal species.
36:36Many not found anywhere else on Earth.
36:46The forest is named after the mighty Daintree River that stretches for over 90 miles.
36:55And sitting on its banks, nestled high up in the canopy, is a very unusual secret retreat.
37:05This is the Daintree Eco Lodge.
37:09Fifteen boutique tree houses in the heart of a natural wonder.
37:16It really is a special place here.
37:19It's unique and it's a real hidden gem.
37:21You can't see us from the road, you can't see us from the sky.
37:24We're really immersed in the rainforest and that's what makes it so special.
37:32Nine bayons, meaning tree house, are set high among the canopy.
37:38Four are perched overlooking a secluded lagoon.
37:41And two are hidden deep within the vines on the forest floor.
37:47On site, there is a reception, health spa, pool and a restaurant.
37:55All set within 460 square miles of rainforest.
38:07The journey to this secret retreat is an adventure in itself.
38:12The coastal road north from Cairns winds its way through some of Australia's most spectacular scenery.
38:20The Daintree Rainforest is classed as a World Heritage Site,
38:26which brings special responsibilities for Brett and his team.
38:31It's really one of those iconic destinations here in Australia.
38:34It's where the rainforest meets the reef.
38:36We've really built the lodge to make sure it's in harmony with the rainforest, which is very important.
38:43All of our cabins, when you're staying in any of our rooms,
38:46they really feel like you're the only person in the rainforest.
38:54The resort had to be built under strict guidelines.
38:59Each private tree house is designed to blend in with its surroundings
39:05and has a pitched roof to allow rainwater to reach the forest floor.
39:14Inside, guests will find all the luxuries of a modern hotel.
39:21Every lodge has an ensuite bathroom.
39:25And a private balcony.
39:29Some with baths that look out onto the forest floor.
39:36The rooms are finished in natural tones that reflect their environment.
39:42Hotel manager Richmond Sear hopes a stay here will encourage guests to reconnect with the natural world.
39:50We want our guests to feel a full immersion and authentic rainforest experience.
39:54There's so much to do and see while you're here, including river cruises, natural water holes, walking trails.
40:03We really want everyone to experience the best of the rainforest.
40:12The Daintree Rainforest is thought to be 180 million years old.
40:19In its prime, it once covered the whole of Australia.
40:23Bruce Moorwood is one of the resort's naturalists.
40:27He loves nothing more than taking guests on a guided tour.
40:31Pointing out some of the rare plant species and animals that have made this habitat their home.
40:37In the Daintree Rainforest here, we have some very, very primitive animals and plants, which is super interesting.
40:42For instance, the Boyd's Forest Dragon only lives here in the wet tropics.
40:46We have the oldest fern in the world.
40:48It's been on Earth unchanged since before the time of dinosaurs.
40:58The dinosaurs may be long gone, but guests can still come face to face with some terrifying beasts.
41:07Daintree's proximity to the coast also makes it a haven for saltwater crocodiles.
41:14I think it's really important to get people into the rainforest and just realise how special it is.
41:19I love the feedback I get off people when I take them on the tour.
41:22And I think that inspires me to continue doing what I do.
41:36The hotel taps into the growing demand for sustainable tourism in Australia.
41:42An industry which is worth billions of pounds to the country's economy.
41:47At its heart is working with local communities.
41:52Today, artist Delisa Walker is teaching guests how to weave a traditional dilly bag.
41:58A skill she learned from her grandmother.
42:02The area is very special to our people.
42:05I used to come here with my grandmother and walk around here and my family have a big connection to
42:10this place.
42:11The region is the ancestral home of the Eastern Gugu Yalangi people, who traditionally used dilly bags to gather food.
42:21Delisa hopes experiences like this will help keep local heritage alive.
42:26I think it's really important to teach people our culture.
42:30We weren't able to do that back in the old days.
42:34We weren't allowed to teach our traditions.
42:36But now, coming here, I'm able to share my culture.
42:41What I want the guests to really take away from this experience is feeling grounded, feeling relaxed and also learning
42:49about our First Nations culture and being able to take that little Gugu Yalangi dilly bag into their home.
42:58The resort spa offers treatments that make the most of Australia's unique botanical ingredients.
43:06Yoga classes among the trees.
43:11And a dip under a forest waterfall.
43:19After a day exploring, guests can enjoy a cocktail at the bar.
43:26Followed by dinner in the on-site restaurant, run by head chef Daniel Anikea.
43:32It's a blessing, us being in such a location, the world's oldest rainforest with a lot of produce around. It's
43:41amazing.
43:44Daniel is from Kenya and has worked in restaurants across the globe.
43:49He's helped to create a menu that draws on local ingredients.
43:55Being in the rainforest, we obviously have a lot of bush taka around.
43:58Plus, we are using also fish like the barramondi, which is from 10 kilometres away from here.
44:04We want to use as locally sourced ingredients as much as we can.
44:23This place is so unique. There's nothing like it I've ever experienced in a place that I've stayed before.
44:29It's been one of our bucket list things we've always wanted to do.
44:31It makes you feel like you're actually up in the canopy in the rainforest, which is just really unique.
44:38The restaurant, like the rest of the hotel, aims to harness the power of the natural world.
44:45There's a solar power grid and a water treatment plant for recycling waste water.
44:50But nature remains in charge here.
44:57It's called the wet tropics for good reason.
45:01In 2023, Cyclone Jasper caused widespread flooding that almost destroyed the hotel.
45:09The floods were devastating for this whole region as so many people were affected, including ourselves.
45:16Our main lodge building, which we're in right now, completely being underwater as well as some of our rooms.
45:21We had crocodiles that were stuck in our lagoon ponds that are right near the restaurant.
45:28Today, the hotel has been rebuilt, with an eye on future-proofing it against a changing climate.
45:35What we wanted to do with the property is really bring it back, but bring it back in a way
45:40that we can be ready for something like this event to happen in the future.
45:54This secret retreat is not just a holiday.
45:59At its heart is a mission to help guests appreciate and preserve a fragile world.
46:11If they can walk away feeling that they're connected to this place and they want to preserve nature,
46:15and they really promote the benefits of social connection, then I think we've done our job well.
46:21We'll see you next time.
46:22Bye.
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