A underground tourism attraction in Eryri in Gwynedd is offering the world’s deepest overnight accommodation. Guests can bed down in heated log cabin or kip in a "romantic grotto" created in a former slate mine tunnel 1,375ft below the surface, it is said to be deeper than London’s Shard building is tall.
The handful of visitors who have stayed there so far say they’ve had the "best sleeps of their lives", North Wales Live reports. But getting to the accommodation is an experience in itself - before they reach their off-grid campsite, guests must splash through water, navigate ancient miners’ stairs and clamber over decaying bridges.
An evening meal and breakfast is provided, and visitors typically relax over conversation and communal board games before retiring for the night. For the more adventurous, there may even be the chance to speed down the world’s longest subterranean zip wire.
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The quirky "Deep Sleep" venture has been launched by Go Below, which specialises in underground adventures in abandoned Victorian slate mines. The company claims the cavern glampsite offer the "deepest underground sleep on the planet... by far". The deepest accommodation was previously at Sala Silver mine in Sweden at 508ft.
Operations manager Mike Morris said: "Guests who have stayed there absolutely loved it. They like its uniqueness, the evening camaraderie and the sense of being away from civilisation. However the main observation has been the ability to get an amazing night’s sleep! Guests have said they had a better night’s sleep than they ever manage at home – the best night’s sleep in their lives."
Bedding is provided, lights can be left on if needed, and a toilet hut is provided. Being so deep undergound, temperatures rarely fluctuate beyond 10C-12C. "The cabins and grotto have electric heaters," said Mike. "We’ve had to dial down their settings a little - during test trips for family and friends, we found they were leaving open the doors because it was a bit too hot!"
For now, just one trip per week is being run on Saturday nights. Paying guests stay for one night only, and a group leader will remain with them for the duration, who have their own cabin. A second staff member will also be on site during the night to keep an eye on the electrics.
The trips start at 5pm from Go Below’s Tanygrisiau base near Blaenau Ffestiniog. From here, it’s a 45-minute walk up Cwmorthin slate mine which was worked for almost two centuries. Guests are kitted out with helmets, lights, harnesses and wellies.
Go Below says the route down to Big Sleep is “steep and challenging” - this is not a show cave with mains lights, safety barriers and concrete floors. Cwmorthin was once considered so dangerous it was nicknamed "the Slaughterhouse".
Along the route down are old mine workings and equipment. Instructors will give historical context and celebrate the lives of the incredible men who carved out the complex of shafts, tunnels and caverns. When connected underground to the nearby Oakeley quarry, the two sites became part of the world’s largest slate mine.
Food is provided but guests can bring their own treats, along with extra clothes. An “expedition-style” meal is served after 7pm with lights out at 11pm, perhaps after a game of dominoes at the site’s communal picnic table.
Guests need to bring a mobile phone: not just because WiFi if available (though intermittent) but also to set alarms for 8am. The return trip aims to deliver guests back to Tanygrisiau at around 10am-10.30am. Building the campsite was not straightforward. An abandoned tunnel was walled up to create the grotto, a short distance from the main camp. Getting the beds and timber shed sections down was more challenging.
“We had to abseil them down,” said Mike. “We rigged up cargo lines and lowered them down shafts, which was easier than trying to manhandle them all down.”
Dreaming up the idea for Big Sleep was Miles Moulding, managing director of Go Below. The company was established 13 years ago and it also operates a base from Conwy Falls near Betws-y-Coed.
“He always likes to offer something that’s never been done before,” said Mike. “Our target market is those who are a little bit more adventurous and who want to try something different from hotels and glamping. There’s nothing like this anywhere else in the UK.”
Per night prices: Cabins (for two people) - £350; Grotto (for two people) - £550.
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