Spending a night in the world's deepest hotel

DW (English)

Would you pay to sleep in a hole in the ground? This hotel room in the UK lies 419 meters deep. Slumbering deep underground in Wales can be a real adventure — but it's nothing for claustrophobes.

Transcript

00:00 Welcome to the world's deepest hotel, 419 meters underground.

00:07 I'm really scared now.

00:09 To spend the night in the deep sleep you have to go into an abandoned mine.

00:14 How dangerous is it?

00:16 Very dangerous.

00:18 I'm in Comorthan, Wales in the UK.

00:22 My destination is in Snowdonia National Park.

00:28 Welcome to Go Below, I'm Nick.

00:30 On this really hot sunny day in North Wales,

00:34 you're going to get to experience a big difference in a really extreme underground adventure.

00:40 First I'm given climbing equipment.

00:43 So how dangerous is it actually going in that mine?

00:47 On your own, without all the kit and someone to look after you?

00:52 Very dangerous.

00:53 Luckily I have Nick with me.

00:56 He's been offering tours of the mine for over six years.

01:00 This used to be the largest underground slate quarry in the world

01:06 until the mine finally closed in the 1990s.

01:10 Now I really need the climbing equipment and ropes.

01:17 If you hear that nice snap, that's a good indication that it's closed.

01:22 So to get past the knot I'm going to take one carabiner at a time across to the next section.

01:28 So I'm always attached.

01:30 Now it's getting serious.

01:33 We make a steep descent.

01:35 Wish me luck.

01:39 Wow, it's so wet.

01:41 And that was just the beginning.

01:44 If you're claustrophobic or afraid of heights, this isn't for you.

01:51 Okay, so we've come down an incline.

01:53 We've got a bit of a more exciting way of getting down to the next level.

01:57 So we're going to do an abseil.

01:58 Yeah, are you up for that?

02:00 Sure.

02:02 Did I really just say that?

02:04 I'm really scared now.

02:17 So should I still touch the wall here?

02:21 Yeah, you can. After a little while you'll feel a bit more.

02:24 Okay.

02:25 Okay, almost on the ground.

02:29 Okay. Ah! Yep.

02:34 So this was actually fun. It wasn't as bad as I imagined.

02:38 But just going down somewhere without being able to see anything, that's still sort of scary.

02:45 Deep Sleep is just around this corner.

02:47 So there's an iron door to open and then head on in.

02:50 So, yeah, let's go.

02:52 We're almost there.

02:54 Wow.

02:57 Look at this.

03:03 Here it is, 419 meters below ground.

03:08 Deep Sleep, the self-professed deepest hotel in the world.

03:12 It can accommodate up to 10 guests.

03:15 The founder and manager of this unique hotel is waiting for me.

03:20 Hello. Hi.

03:21 Hi, I'm Miles.

03:22 Hi, I'm Gönna. Nice to meet you.

03:25 Welcome to Deep Sleep.

03:26 To build the hotel, Miles and his team had to carry all the materials here through the tunnels.

03:32 It opened in April 2023.

03:35 It's been a lot of fun building it.

03:37 I like minds. I like technology.

03:41 I like crazy projects.

03:43 It answers all those things for me.

03:46 And I like showing people this mine and telling them about it.

03:51 I'll show you inside one of these cabins.

03:56 Yes.

03:57 Each cabin can accommodate two visitors.

04:00 There's heating, electricity and even Wi-Fi.

04:03 A tour with overnight stay starts at 170 pounds.

04:07 That's 202 euro per person.

04:10 You're not going to be sleeping in this one.

04:13 We have a special room for you.

04:14 Would you like to come and have a look?

04:16 We enter a side chamber of the mine.

04:19 The roof is a little low here.

04:21 Okay.

04:22 Okay, are you ready?

04:25 My room.

04:26 This is where you're sleeping tonight.

04:28 Come on in.

04:30 Wow.

04:32 So this is like the suite?

04:35 Yeah.

04:37 The so-called grotto room is built directly into the slate rock and even has running water.

04:43 Thanks to good insulation and electric heating it's dry and warm.

04:48 But one piece of furniture posed a major challenge.

04:52 It's an enormous amount of work to get a double bed down here.

04:56 The mattress mostly.

04:59 This involved lots of guys in their underwear wading through deep water,

05:05 holding the mattress up to keep it dry and clean.

05:08 It's a big operation.

05:10 So there is only one double bed and this is it.

05:13 What about meals?

05:16 We can't have a commercial kitchen down here, so we have expedition food.

05:22 My guide is also the chef.

05:26 Mmm.

05:27 Catering for guests is elaborate and requires lots of planning.

05:36 Everything on the table has been brought here in backpacks by the hotel team.

05:41 I'm really looking forward to my bed.

05:45 Good night.

05:50 Good night. (laughs)

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