All language subtitles for Worlds.Most.Secret.Hotels.S01E04.720p.ALL4.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV

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 treetop 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:

This time, we reveal a sky-high
transformation in the Netherlands.

This was the engine room.
There was a huge engine right here.

There's a journey to a rustic retreat
deep in the Swedish wilderness.

Smoke coming out from the chimney.

And we explore a camouflaged
mountain-top resort in Oman.

Are you ready? We'll see.

Our adventure begins
in South America,

in the wilds
of Uruguay's rural interior.

95% of Uruguay's population lives
in the nation's urban areas.

The countryside for many remains
mysterious and remote.

200km from the capital, Montevideo,
the hills of the Sierra Carape create

a landscape that has
long concealed secrets.

Few people live in this terrain
of rolling forests and lakes.

The scarce roads that cut through
the hills are little more
than dusty paths.

But on one remote hillside
there are signs of habitation.

This south-facing slope is
a vineyard.

It's an unexpected landmark

and the few people who do pass it
may never even notice

there's a hotel here.

This is
the Sacromonte Landscape Hotel,

a series of cabins cleverly hidden
among the vines.

It was built
by Peruvian entrepreneur,
Edmond Borit.

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

Edmond decided to build an escape
on his vineyard in 2014.

He knew that only
extraordinary architecture would work
in this environment.

I need something
as beautiful as the landscape,

as wow as the landscape,

but without competing
with the landscape.

The resort has just four cabins
dotted across the vineyard.

Inside each one, 60 square metres
of living space is divided

into an open-plan bedroom,
living and dining area,

a bathroom, kitchen
and a reading nook.

The cabins stand
on platforms built from local stone,

each with a different shape
to suit the specific plot of land.

The hotel also has separate
restaurant and reception buildings,

gardens and an open-air chapel.

It's a concept that we thought that
we need to have these cabins hidden.

Edmond took the brave decision
to conceal these cabins

by making them shiny.

They are wrapped on three sides
by mirrors

that reflect and amplify
the surroundings,

creating ever-changing images
of the vineyard and hillsides.

The mirrors are one-way,

so guests inside benefit
from unobstructed views

with complete privacy.

The timber-covered backs
of each cabin evoke woodpiles

typical of rural settlements.

Turf tops each rooftop.

The wood, glass and grass combine

to make each cabin melt
into the landscape.

Inside, modern minimalist decor
focuses attention

on the world outside.

The black that you have
in the ceiling and on the floor is

so that you can frame nature,

because when you have this black,
it's like having a frame.

We thought that people would like

to basically sit
and enjoy the landscape.

But building such fine design deep
in Uruguay's remote hills isn't easy.

To make it possible, each cabin was
constructed, in full, in Montevideo,

then transported 200km in one piece
to the vineyard.

I could see the truck moving from
one side to the other of the road

and I said,
"This is going to crash."

All this investment and all this
time we have spent on this,

it will ruin in seconds.

But the cabins' humble dimensions
became their secret weapon.

They were just small enough
to squeeze through the narrow road

that leads to the vineyard.

From here,
cranes hoisted them into position

on top of the foundations.

The effort to create
one-of-a-kind architecture
in this remote landscape paid off.

When visitors arrive today
they find a hotel like no other.

Guests primarily come from
the United States, Europe and Brazil

to visit the vineyard.

For intrepid visitors,
the hotel serves as a base

to explore
Uruguay's rugged countryside.

For others,
the beauty of the vineyard itself is
the main attraction.

People may come here
to get away from it all

but the isolation creates
certain challenges for Edmond...

..not least feeding all the guests

when the nearest shop is
an hour and a half round trip.

In order to get all the supplies,
we need to go back to the city

and bring some vegetables
every two, three days.

To reduce the number of trips
they need to make,

Edmond built
two organic kitchen gardens

to supply vegetables and eggs
for their chef.

Cooking the food is one thing

but getting it to the guests is
quite another challenge.

The cabins are spread
over 100 hectares of land.

Room service here requires
more than just a trolley.

In a short time we need to deliver
breakfast to four families

or four couples staying here.

The timing is vital.
The food needs to arrive hot.

Edmond's team use electric buggies
to cover the large distances quickly

to get hot food to each cabin
in the morning.

For lunch and dinner,
there's another solution.

We have this big table
that can accommodate up to 50 people

at the same time.

And here we have lunch
basically the whole year round

and especially dinner
or the sunset dinners in the summer.

Guests can choose to eat communally
high on the hill

overlooking the grounds.

For Edmond it's these moments
that let him know he's succeeded

in looking after his guests.

It's everything about discovering
something hidden,

something secret.

They have nature as it is -
pristine, pure, untouched -

but all the comfort of a hotel.

This is a hotel that hides itself

to immerse its guests
in the natural world

and it creates a truly secret escape.

Still to come, a hidden getaway
with a bird's-eye view
in the Netherlands...

You're on top of the world
and no-one else can see you.

..and Sweden's most primitive hotel.

You need to fetch water
from the stream,

chop the wood, start the fire,
heat up the water

and then you can take a shower
in the bucket.

We're exploring some of the world's
ultimate secret escapes,

from medieval forts perched
on clifftops

to villages of tents hidden
in the jungle.

Our next stop is Sweden.

The forest region of Skinskatteberg
is just under a two-hour drive

west of the city of Stockholm.

This is a tranquil spot,

although signs of life can be found
if you know where to look.

Camouflaged amongst
the pine, spruce and birch trees

is the Kolarbyn Eco Lodge.

It's a hideaway so well disguised
it can hardly be seen.

The eco lodge covers
15,000 square metres of the forest.

There are 12 huts,
all with fireplace and a chimney,

a log cabin with six beds

and one larger hut for communal use,
with tables and a large fireplace.

A showering area and
two compostable toilets are nearby.

The guests are coming here
especially to be in the nature

and back to basics.

Malin Bruce is the owner and manager
of this rustic retreat

that opened in 2004.

Up to two people
plus a child can stay

in each of these hobbit-sized huts

that vary in size
from five to eight square metres.

Smoke coming up from the chimney.

When we open the doors
it's like opening a present.

They can put a plank between it

to you can sleep together
if you are a couple, for example.

It's warm inside
when you start the fire.

The 12 huts are replicas
of those built in this forest

by people making charcoal
from as far back as the 1800s.

It was made by stacking wood

that was then sealed
under spruce and old charcoal.

Over a period of six days, the wood
would be heated, then dehydrated,

before carbonising and turning into
charcoal at 600 degrees Celsius.

While the days of staying in huts
like these for work are long gone

their structure and design is
very much the same.

The huts is made by wood.

The outside of the huts is made
of crushed charcoal

with some tar and sand
and lots of dirt

and then lots of moss and grass
and then blueberries, raspberries -

you can find a whole forest
on the roof of the huts.

It's part of the ethos here
that visitors must
mainly fend for themselves

without access to any electricity
or running water.

Of course we show every guest
how to start a fire.

You need to do lots of fire.

You need to have it in the hut
to cook,

to heat up the water
for cleaning the dishes,
for example,

or cleaning yourself.

We provide the ingredients for food.
We don't cook for them.

So you need to cook by yourself.

Take a drink from the stream
or the lake.

We also have a small spring
in the forest

where it's really clear water.

We have a shower room

and the guests,
most guests think, "Yippee!"

And then we tell them that you need
to fetch water from the stream,

you need to chop the wood,
start a fire, heat up the water

and then they can take a shower
in the bucket.

There are still many challenges
for Malin and the team

to run a retreat in this wild place.

We don't have the electricity.
It's dark everywhere.

Inside every hut
we need to clean good.

It's always hard in the spring

because you have the ice and water
and it's melting.

Then it can be destroyed
on the roof.

We have some,
a little bit of plastic between,

so you don't get wet in your hair,
for example. You need to have that.

A visit here is undeniably
a back-to-basics getaway

from modern life.

You can go around in the forest
and go for hiking.

We have a lovely lake down here.

It's a cold spring lake,
so it's clear and nice water.

You can go canoeing.

Lake Skarsjon is a short walk
from the eco lodge

and secluded here is another nod
to traditional Scandinavian living.

This is our floating sauna.

The sauna is the national tradition
of neighbouring Finland,

that dates back 2,000 years.

Many were built next to lakes

so bathers could get nice and hot
before diving into the cold water.

The extreme change
of body temperature is thought

to have a beneficial effect
on circulatory function.

It's made of wood, as it should be.

So you can go here and start a fire
and heat it up for yourself

and then sit and see the beavers
swimming by, if you're lucky.

What was once a working landscape is
now an escape from just that.

This back-to-basis is so important
for people.

It's like a meditation,

that they are standing there
and chopping the wood.

You sit by the fire
and enjoy the family or friends

and you know that they are going
to have a good experience

and then I'm really happy.

There are escapes hidden in
unusual landscapes across the world,

from balancing on glaciers in Italy

to surviving in the remote deserts
of Jordan.

Our next stop is the Netherlands.

Looking out to the Wadden Sea,
115km north of Amsterdam

is the port town, Harlingen.

It's been a working dock
since the 12th century.

But hidden amongst
the masts and rigging

of this bustling harbour is

a very private guesthouse.

You just have to look up.

Perched 17m in the air is
the Harlingen Harbour Crane Hotel.

Fitted out over three levels,

the structure contains
a living and sleeping area,

the crane's original control room

and a sun deck.

Carla Comello has managed
this unusual place since 2003.

You're on top of the world
and no-one else can see you

and you can see everyone,

so that it's a very special feeling.

It's a place to be on your own.

In this small space they have managed
to squeeze in a double bed,

a small area
with a fridge and boiling water tap

where visitors can prepare
their own light meals...

..a shower cubicle

and a seating area
to check out the view.

This was the engine room.
There was a huge engine right here.

This wall was closed

but because we wanted people to have
a nice view, of course,

we have made a hole.

We had to put new windows in.

We liked to keep
the industrial look of things,

so the tubes of the air-conditioning
and so on are visible.

When it was a working crane,

an operator would access the cabin
using a 17m caged ladder.

As it's now a hotel where
visitors of all ages are welcome,

it's not deemed safe,

so a completely new way
of reaching it had to be imagined.

The elevators were
especially invented for the crane.

We've got the ground elevator
that takes you up to the platform.

And then on the platform
you step into a kind of tube

which takes you up to the cabin.

The owner always says,
"Beam me up, Scotty!"

This space-age addition is powered
by two electromotors

under the lift platform.

It's moved up and down
by two 10cm-wide belts with teeth

that are controlled
by two foot switches.

Inside the pole that runs
through the middle of the lift hides

a crucial function
for the smooth-running of the hotel.

The biggest challenge was
all the utilities,

the water up and down
and electricity.

Everything important happens
in there,

in that small, small tube.

Encased inside, 17m-long pipes
transfer clean water up

and waste water down.

And separated safely from the water,

electricity cables power
every feature in the hotel,

including even more surprises
for the visitors.

This touch screen controls
everything in the crane.

You can do the climate.
We've got the lighting, for example.

You can have a shower
in five different colours.

So if you prefer red,
you can shower in red.

If you prefer blue,
you can shower in blue.

And in the toilet, as well -
five colours.

This unusually high-tech hotel has
come a long way

since it was a working crane,

unloading timber
from Russia and Scandinavia.

It was Carla's husband
and co-manager, Willem,

who had the idea to turn the crane
into a hotel

and it took two painstaking years.

Willem did the interior

and a lot of technicians and people
working with metal were involved.

Everything had to be taken apart,

so the jib was taken off.

Everything had to be painted

and then it was hauled back on
to the legs.

There's one essential part of
the crane that's been left unchanged

for visitors to experience.

This was the place where the crane
driver could make the crane turn

and haul things out of the ship.

This is the one with which
you can make it turn round.

With this joystick, visitors can spin
the crane 360 degrees

and choose what their view
is going to be...

..whether it's the Wadden Sea
or the bustling city.

Our guests are
always very surprised.

It was very important
to keep it turning round and round
and round and round, of course,

because that's the special thing -
a very special thing.

And then we've got one more secret.
It's behind this door.

And that's the top.

The heritage of this local landmark
has been kept alive and well

and in
some incredibly surprising ways.

I think it's very nice
that the crane is still here.

For the inhabitants of Harlingen
it's an icon

and now that it's got
a second career

it's proved its worth, being here.

Coming up - we find out what it takes

to run Britain's
most remote guesthouse.

In the middle of winter,

if you don't have power
in a place like this

then you are in serious trouble.

We're revealing
the world's most secret hotels,

from concealed cave dwellings
in Italy

to a Swedish underwater retreat.

Next we venture
to the Highlands of Scotland.

At the northernmost tip
of mainland Britain

is one of the country's
hardest-to-reach wildernesses.

As much Viking as modern British,

to the north lie
only the Orkney and Shetland islands.

The landscape here is
one of mountains and peat moors,

which conceal a real gem of a hotel.

You go miles and miles
and see nothing except the hills,

the heather,

and then suddenly over the hill

you see a small white dot
in the distance.

It's like a mirage
coming out of nothing.

Situated 45 miles
from the nearest town,

its only neighbours are
the remnants of stone-age huts

and an iron-age hill fort.

This is
mainland Britain's remotest hotel -

the Garvault.

It's the perfect getaway

for those longing to escape
modern civilization.

The owners are archaeologists
Eva Aderyn

and her husband, Adrian.

Early on we realised we didn't want
to run a normal-style hotel.

As well as the sense of uniqueness
of being the most remote hotel

we also felt a need

to make it a unique experience
for people coming here.

I'm an archaeologist
specialised in the Arab countries

and this is also where I met Adrian,
in Oman.

We have done a lot of adventures
in very remote areas

and the Garvault is the logic
of doing all that

and sort of settling down
in one of these remote places.

This hotel is completely cut off

from the national power grid
and water board,

which means the traditional offering
of tea and coffee is off the menu.

I don't think we tick many boxes
of an hotel.

We don't have TV,
we don't have kettle in the room.

This is something our system would
definitely not survive

if everybody comes at five o'clock
and puts the kettle on.

The hotel has six bedrooms.

These are fitted out
fairly conventionally

but each has a little touch
that connects it to the local area.

The lack of reliable electricity
means

that other parts of the hotel take on
more importance.

It is more like a big house
than a hotel.

This is our dining room

and we usually eat together
with our guests,

like a group of friends.

Yeah, they all sit together
and immediately they start chatting.

The dining room sits alongside a bar
and a separate breakfast room.

There's also a library
and a drawing room.

Upstairs the hotel has
four double bedrooms

and two single rooms.

The layout is designed to encourage
guests to come together over a meal

or a wee dram of the local whisky.

It's always important to drink
local. It's a very nice whisky.

Unlike other hotels in the area,
the Garvault is open year-round,

despite the prospect of heavy snow
making the trek here
even more of a challenge.

A cosy drawing room
with wood-burning stove offers

a warm escape
from the wild Scottish weather

and a piano to encourage singalongs.

If it's cold
the fireplace here will be lit

and there'll be a cheerful welcome
to anyone coming in from the cold.

The breakfast room is home
to unique pieces of history.

These tables are
more than 120 years old.

They're marble tables from
a famous coffee shop in Vienna,

the Cafe Mozart.

You can come and have your breakfast
here and sit at a table

that quite likely Orson Welles
or maybe Graham Greene
will have sat at.

We have been
to some remote places in the world

but this is as remote as it gets.

WOMAN: We were driving along
looking for a parking place
to start our hill walk

and we didn't know about the hotel
at all.

We saw the sign
at the end of the street

and thought, "Let's pop in
and have a look at the place."

It's the quirkiness of it.
It's so totally unexpected.

And, indeed, when you get there

you get to interact with the owners
and the guests

and so it almost starts to feel
like a second home, in a way.

It all makes for a homely hotel that
actively embraces its remoteness.

This absolutely does feel like
a special place to stay

and a very secret place, as well,

because you find
such peace and tranquillity here.

The isolation might be a tonic
for weary travellers

but it creates some complex logistics
for Adrian and Eva.

The water for the house must
be diverted from a local spring.

Waste water needs to be treated,

then it travels through a reed bed
for a final filtering

before being released.

Solar power generates
most of the hotel's electricity,

stored
in eco-friendly salt-water batteries.

But this far north in a country
not exactly famous for its sun,

it pays to have a back-up.

This is what keeps the lights on
at the Garvault.

In the middle of winter

if you don't have power
in a place like this

then you are in serious trouble,

so it is important
that we have this back-up

and it is important
we make sure it's working.

Are we ready, Ollie? Aye.

MACHINERY WHIRRS

Neither the solar nor the back-up
generator are strong enough

to power everything
most hotels take for granted,

forcing Eva and Adrian to devise
inventive ways

to tackle day-to-day tasks.

My favourite work is not doing
the beds!

I just wish sometimes we could iron
everything and starch it,

as it is in the big hotels,

but that's not possible here.

With our limited electricity,
we don't have irons

and so the sheets
that people sleep in

are freshly laundered
and freshly pressed by the wind.

Hanging up the washing is
Adrian's job

because he has to struggle
against the wind

and I might just take off
with some of the sheets

if the wind is very strong.

Catering, too, is tricky
in a place so far from anywhere.

The nearest restaurant is
a 50-mile round trip,

so almost all guests eat
in the hotel.

And with the supermarket
an hour away,

what's on the menu has to be
carefully selected

from what's available,
courtesy of the local farmers.

We get the meat from the farm.

We get duck eggs
from the neighbouring estate.

So we have to live
with what we've got here

and this is also why we don't plan
certain menus.

We look in the box. What's in there?

"OK, this is what we cook tonight."

Swiss national Ollie Hofer runs
the bar and cooks the meals.

We have quite a long trek
to go shopping.

It takes us a 94-mile round trip
to get the supplies in.

We have two haunches of venison
and they come from the local estate.

Nothing, obviously, goes to waste.

Whatever we cook we use it in pies
as well and make venison soup.

This is our little hideaway,
secret place - our cottage.

This cottage is known as a bothy
in Scotland.

It was originally designed to shelter
those who worked at a fishing lodge

on the site
where the hotel sits today.

It's an off-grid hideaway,
even quieter than the main hotel.

Every person gets a solar lamp

and this is how they walk
through the bothy

when they need a light.

This is for people

who really, really want to be away
from everything.

This is a remote place
in a remote hotel

and it's absolutely gorgeous
to come here

in the late afternoon
and see the sun setting

and you're so away from it all

because here you have
no civilization any more.

This hotel offers true sanctuary
amongst moorland and mountains.

It's the perfect place to switch off,

be at one with nature
and enjoy the peace.

You really can get away
from everything.

It's so far away from civilization

that it gives you a chance
to come down

and maybe find yourself
a little bit

but also appreciate every little
thing you do have so much more.

And keeping all this running

in a way that visitors to the hotel
feel it's just like any hotel

this is a sense of achievement.

Still to come - a far-flung resort
that can only be seen from above.

We're 250km from the nearest city.
We're at the top of a mountain.

We're completely isolated.

The world is full
of secret getaways,

from lodges tucked away
in the Canadian mountains

to a dream stay for aviation geeks
in New York.

Now we're travelling to the southeast
coast of the Arabian peninsula,

to the Sultanate of Oman.

174km southwest
from the Omani capital, Muscat,

these are the Al Hajar mountains.

Known as the Grand Canyon
of the Middle East

and only accessible by a 4x4
is Al Jabal Al Akhdar.

Meaning the Green Mountain in Arabic,

it rises to a height of 2,980m.

It's an ancient place but what
you can't see from the valley floor

is a most modern hotel.

This is
the Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort.

The word Alila itself is a Sanskrit
word, which is Indonesian -

means surprise

and really when you arrive at Alila
you are surprised.

This five-star resort covers
8,000 square metres.

On the site are 84 suites
split across 13 buildings.

There are two villas
with private pools,

a restaurant, a gym,

two public pools

and a spa which extends outside
to a massage hut

with a 360-degree view
of the mountains.

As you approach,
you really don't see the resort

until you are
absolutely on top of it.

Karl Marshall is the general manager.

We're 250km from the nearest city

and we're at the top of a mountain

that is a difficult
and rewarding drive to get to.

We're completely isolated.

You go for a walk around the resort,
there is no noise.

You don't hear any trucks,
any traffic.

The hotel opened in 2014.

At the heart of its concept
and design was the desire

to make a resort that's camouflaged
in the landscape...

..while at the same time creating
buildings

that represent
the exterior appearance

of traditional Omani forts.

We wanted to create the sense
that you're actually part of nature,

not just looking down upon it.

To achieve this took three years,
100 builders and engineers

and cost nearly £40 million.

The rocks that we've used
in the building construction are
all from the mountain.

We've used lots of timber aspects

and really, you know, when you see
the light hitting the mountain

and also hitting the resort,

you get exactly the same,
just blending all of them together.

The exterior reflects
the natural heritage of the region,

while the interior is an homage
to modern Omani contemporary design.

Its minimalist style incorporates
local artwork and craftsmanship.

170 staff work here and half of them
are from the region itself.

Arif Al Sariri is from the local area

and is responsible
for the resort's front of house.

Every suite and villa
his visitors stay in is located

near to the edge of the gorge,
facing out to 400km of mountains.

There are six types
of accommodation,

including 21 mountain-view suites...

It is around 52 square metre.

..five loft suites...

On the mezzanine there's an amazing
room with an amazing view.

..eight terrace suites...

We have a small surprise to see
here. Let's go to see the door.

Are you ready? We'll see. Please.

This is the surprise
I'm talking about.

..and the most deluxe pied-a-terres
on site are the two Jabal villas.

Each measuring 361 square metres,

they both boast two bedrooms,
with an epic bathroom.

The shower area would be this side

and also would be
a steam room there.

In the middle here
we have a big tub here for relaxing,

plus we have a nice Jacuzzi outside.

A pool area there is
around 15 metres.

Pool area here is a nice one

because for the families,
they can enjoy together.

No-one will disturb.

As a five-star resort,

visitors expect a high standard
of cuisine during their stay

but providing such quality
in a remote place,

two and a half hours
from the closest city,

posed a challenge
the hotel had to overcome.

One of the challenges of being so
remote, really, is the supply chain,

getting the produce and the products
that we need on a daily basis

up to the resort.

We have a truck that goes down
to the city to collect the produce,

the food, the engineering
materials, whatever it might be,

and the trucks bring them
up the mountain.

From the start,
the hotel's plan was to become

as self-reliant and sustainable
as possible

and they have big plans,

starting with the food
the guests and staff eat.

We are doing today a Bloody Mary

but we are experimenting with the
things we have here in the garden.

We are doing tomato leaf vodka.

The hope is that as soon as possible

this 361 square metre garden
will expand

to provide 80% of the vegetables
the resort needs.

For the moment we
are growing tomatoes, herbs,

lemongrass, aubergines, eggplant,

zucchinis, olives.

And nothing in the garden goes
to waste.

Leftovers from the restaurant are
made into compost

and every part of the fruit
and vegetables grown here

are used to their maximum potential.

And we will pour this.

So at the end we have
this transparent Bloody Mary

and we will finish
with the tomato flower,

which will give big tomato punch.

It's all about the tomato
and all about the freshness -

super tasty.

The other most important challenge

to provide even a basic level
of hospitality

was how to get
all the water they needed

to this arid plateau.

When the hotel first opened,

every drop of water had to be
brought up the mountain by truck

and obviously we wanted to change
that as quickly as we could.

So phase two was to make
three boreholes

1km from the resort
and pump the water in.

So all the water
that we're drinking, for example,

goes through a treatment plant.

We bottle our own water
into reusable glass bottles.

All of the waste water goes through
a sewage treatment plant

here on the property

and then goes back into the garden
as grey water.

The resort also relies on
the heat of the sun

to power up to 70% of its hot water
through solar panelling.

Using the environment
to their benefit is

an enormous part of running the hotel
while visitors enjoy their stay.

I think right at the top of the list
for so many people is just to relax.

You know, our lives are so busy
these days.

When we get the chance to really
just relax and find some solitude,

this is a great place to do that.

Hiking trails weave up and down
the Al Hajar mountains

and the landscape of the resort hides
one particular path

that's not only elusive
but pretty terrifying, too -

a death-defying, fixed-rope course
right over the edge of the canyon.

Mainly found in the Alps,
it's called the via ferrata,

which means "iron way" in Italian.

You're going out over the edge
and climbing around a cliff face

that looks down 600m.

The natural environment is a big part
of the DNA of this hotel,

whether helping to conceal it
in the landscape,

to provide essentials for its guests

or to take centre stage
as the night draws in.

The sunsets in Jabal Akhdar happen
really quickly.

The colours that bounce back

and reflect off of the stone,
you know, canyon
is quite unbelievable.

Once the sun has waned,

it's time for perhaps
the biggest secrete of this resort

to steal the limelight.

A very dark sky, when there is
no full moon, of course,

makes it a perfect location
for stargazing.

Alanood Ali Alsalami is
the resident astronomer
and geologist.

It really connects you to nature

because it's away from everything,

away from the city noise, as well,
not just light.

We see different planets, like for
tonight we have Saturn and Jupiter.

The winter constellations started
to rise

and in there you can see
the Andromeda galaxy.

Very faint but visible.

Looking into the stars every night,
you never get bored of it.

This rooftop resort is proof
that the world's most secret hotels

can come in all shapes and sizes.

You just have to journey
to find them.

Perched 2,000m above sea level
definitely makes us

a fairly unique
and special location.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media