If you've ever wanted to spend the night in your own hobbit house, a glamping spot in North Wales may be the perfect choice for you - and it's just won the best holiday let in the UK and Ireland. Nant y Garnedd is a single-storey hut near Mallwyd in North Wales and set within a grassy hill surrounded by picturesque woodland.
Set up by local farmers turned holiday accommodation owners, Dylan, 36, and Gwion Jones, 26, and their partners Mared Jones, 34, and Catrin Owen, 26, Nant y Garnedd beat out huge competition to be crowned the winners in Sykes Holiday Cottages’ nationwide search. The competition has seen them win a £10,000 cash prize.
Despite only opening to guests earlier this year, they also won the best glamping category, as well as the best overall holiday let. The hobbit-style holiday let offers beautiful views over the southern mountains of Snowdonia - which can even be viewed from a hot tub in the garden. The cosy one-bedroom hut is able to sleep four people, where you can wake up to the gorgeous views over the mountains from the king-sized bed.
READ MORE: The beautiful hobbit house you can stay in deep in the Welsh woodland
Built for holidaymakers slightly taller than an actual hobbit, the open-plan hut has a kitchen, dining and sitting area. In addition to the separate bedroom, there's a shower room with a walk-in shower, basin, heated towel rail and WC.
Outside, the hut has a wood-fired oak barrel hot tub in the garden, with an initial pack of logs provided to get it going. The hut is set in pretty Dinas Mawddwy which has a population of just 600.
“We can’t believe we are the winners of this competition, we’re still in shock! We could have never predicted that our dream of creating hobbit houses on our land would lead to this - but what started as a small project alongside the farm has turned into a booming business in just a few months," Catrin said.
“The prize money will help us build on our sustainable ambitions for the huts. When we first started, we wanted to install a hydro scheme so that electricity will be generated by running water, but the installation was too far over our budget. We want to make sure people can enjoy the beautiful Welsh countryside while not harming the area and now we will be able to fulfil our original objectives with this prize money.”
The group decided to diversify their farm with the addition of eco-friendly holiday accommodation back in 2020 and have spent the past two years creating two luxury lets with the help of friends and family. The judging panel for the competition included Sykes’ CEO Graham Donoghue, alongside The Times’ Deputy Property Editor Carol Lewis, and Vanessa Warwick who founded property investor forum Property Tribes.
Properties were judged on a number of factors, including customer reviews, location and facilities on offer. Judges were also asked to consider if each property could be described as first-choice staycation option for holidaymakers. The full list of winners can be found here and more information on Nant y Garnedd can be found here.
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