When “Unique” Actually Means Something

In a world where unique has become a marketing buzzword, it’s fair to be sceptical. Scroll through accommodation listings and you’ll see the same shepherd’s huts, identical pods, and copy-and-paste A-frames repeated again and again—sometimes with a different paint colour, but rarely with a different soul.

At The Hiveaway, unique isn’t a label we’ve added after the fact. It’s the starting point.

Why You Don’t See Cabins Like Ours Everywhere

Quite simply: they can’t be replicated.

Every cabin at The Hiveaway is hand built and individually designed by Nick and Lauren, from the first sketch to the final fitting. There are no factory moulds, no flat-pack components, and no production line. What you see is the result of time, craftsmanship, and a refusal to take shortcuts.

Mass-market cabins are designed for efficiency. Ours are designed for character.

That difference shows in every detail.

Built by Hand, Not by Template

Most modern glamping pods and shepherd’s huts are manufactured in batches. Standard dimensions, standard layouts, standard interiors. They’re practical, predictable, and familiar.

Our cabins are the opposite.

Each one evolves organically as it’s built, shaped by the materials we source and the ideas that come to life during the process. That’s why no two cabins are ever the same—and why you won’t find our designs repeated elsewhere.

Salvaged Materials with a Past

One of the biggest reasons our cabins feel so different is the materials themselves.

We build using salvaged and reclaimed materials, chosen not just for sustainability, but for the stories they carry.

Inside our cabins, you’ll find:

• Reclaimed chapel pew doors, rich with age and character

• Old floorboards, worn smooth by decades of footsteps

• Snooker table slate worktops, solid, weighty, and built to last

• Vintage taps and fixtures, full of charm you simply can’t buy new

  
  

These materials aren’t decorative add-ons. They are integral to the structure and feel of each cabin. Their imperfections, textures, and patina are what make the space feel grounded and real.

Interiors That Feel Collected

Step inside a typical mass-market pod and you’ll often find the same furniture, the same fittings, the same “rustic” finishes that were never actually rustic to begin with.

At The Hiveaway, the interiors are curated rather than installed.

The cabins are filled with carefully chosen antique shop finds, pieces that have lived a life before arriving here. Side tables, mirrors, storage, and finishing touches are selected one by one—not from a catalogue, but from places where character matters more than uniformity.

The result is a space that feels lived-in, warm, and personal. Less like a holiday unit, more like a hidden retreat you’ve stumbled across by chance.

Comparing Ours to Mass-Market Cabins

There’s nothing inherently wrong with shepherd’s huts, pods, or A-frames. They exist for a reason. But the experience they offer is fundamentally different.

Mass-market cabins:

• Built in factories

• Designed for repeatability

• Standard layouts and materials

• Minimal variation between units

• Focused on volume and efficiency

The Hiveaway cabins:

• Hand built from the ground up

• Individually designed by Nick and Lauren

• Shaped by reclaimed, one-off materials

• No two cabins alike

• Focused on craftsmanship, atmosphere, and authenticity

  
  

It’s the difference between staying somewhere that looks good in photos—and staying somewhere that feels special the moment you step inside.

Why “Unique” Still Matters

True uniqueness takes more time, more thought, and more effort. It means accepting that things won’t always be perfectly symmetrical or easily replaced. It means building something once, properly, instead of building it a hundred times quickly.

That’s why you don’t see cabins like ours everywhere.

And that’s exactly the point.

If you’re looking for a break from the ordinary, from the copied and the predictable, The Hiveaway offers something genuinely different: a place where craftsmanship, reclaimed materials, and thoughtful design come together to create a stay that can’t be repeated.

Because when we say unique, we mean it.