A Perthshire retreat offering ‘hobbit-style’ glamping pods has gone viral on TikTok.
Lord of the Rings fans can enter the world of The Shire at Craighead Howfs, near Braco, and stay in a hobbit home.
The accommodation, owned by Heather and Ian Keir, comprises six quirky glamping pods – including two treehouses – with a renovated three-bedroom holiday cottage also on offer.
The pods – which opened in 2018 – have been built into the sloping landscape and were designed by Ian and his son Lewis.
Now, a TikTok video from a travel blogger showing inside the pods has attracted more than one million views.
Perthshire ‘hobbit’ glamping pods go viral after ‘attracting a lot of interest’
Heather told The Courier she believes people are attracted by the unique design of the accommodation.
She said: “We moved to the site 35 years ago and it was just a run-down farmhouse.
“When the opportunity came up we bought some land, including the holiday cottage, and renovated it.
“The glamping accommodation wasn’t the plan – we just wanted to live in the country.
“The idea started in 2014 and we have just kept going with it.
“The variety of homes we’ve got have attracted a lot of interest.
“People love it and there have been repeat visits, with people trying to stay in all of them.
“People are intrigued by it as they don’t realise how different and unusual it is until they get here.
“We don’t think there’s anything quite like us.”
Speaking to The Courier back in 2018, Heather admitted that neither she nor Ian had read the Lord of the Rings books or seen the films.
However, she says Ian has since “flicked through” some of the books.
The pair visited Hobbiton, the movie set in New Zealand, back in 2017 in preparation for opening.
Heather added: “We do attract lots of Lord of the Rings fans.
“We get a lot of people dressing up.
“We have made the site adult-only for glamping to make it special for adult visitors.
“People seem to like that.
“We’ve always thought we have a story to tell. It’s been a very interesting journey.”
It comes after there was a surge of interest in a Fife lodge thanks to another TikTok video that was seen hundreds of thousands of times.
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