8 Clifton Terrace

8 Clifton Terrace is a small set of self-contained flats inside a Victorian terrace above the Douglas seafront. The old proportions have been left alone and the fit-out is modern and plain.

The terrace is painted a soft blue with white stonework carved around the windows, and the front door is black with EIGHT lettered on the glass above it. The flats are up the stairs with no lift, so travel light.

The bay window and the green chairs

The living space faces the front and the wide bay window does most of the work, taking a round dining table with two green velvet chairs tucked into it. A grey sofa faces a glass coffee table below a pair of bird prints. The kitchen is compact and dark-fronted, with an oven, a hob, a microwave and a kettle, plus a washing machine and tumble dryer built in. The television carries the streaming apps, and one of the flats is up in the roof with a corner sofa under a skylight.

The double and the sofa bed

The bedroom holds a double with a dark upholstered headboard, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, and the beds are extra long. Towels arrive folded at the foot of the bed. With the sofa bed made up in the living room the flat sleeps four. The shower room is private, a cubicle beside a basin, with toiletries and a hairdryer provided.

Down the hill to the prom

Clifton Terrace sits among the older streets above the front, and the walk down to the promenade and Douglas Beach is an easy one. From there the rest of Douglas opens up, with the shops and the places to eat leading off the same stretch.

Who the flats suit

A couple who would rather have a kitchen and a washing machine than a hotel room, a family of four content with a sofa bed, or someone over for a few days of work who wants to cook at the end of them.