Carrick Rooms

Carrick Rooms is a bed and breakfast on Bay View Road in Port St Mary, high enough above the village that the sea shows over the rooftops.

It is a tall house on the hill, reworked room by room: teal panelled doors with carved wooden name boards, rough Manx stone left showing where old walls were opened up, rattan pendants and pale paint everywhere else.

Stone walls and teal velvet

The lounge has velvet sofas in deep teal, patterned cushions and a television on the wall against a whole stone feature wall. Breakfast is set out on the counter: bowls of cereal, croissants and bagels, toast and preserves. Nick, who runs the place, will do a special diet menu on request.

Rooms named off the door

Each door carries a carved board, one of them Chicken Rock, after the lighthouse off the southern tip of the island. The rooms behind them are large and full of light. One has tall arched windows, a navy wardrobe and a wall-mounted TV. One sits under a sloped attic ceiling with a floral feature wall. Another has a bay window with a table and chairs set into it, and there are twins with framed botanical prints and a dressing table. Beds are extra long and can be made up as an extra-large double or two singles. Bathrooms are private, several with marble-effect walk-in showers and heated towel rails. Upper floors are reached by stairs only.

Down the hill to Chapel Bay

Bay View Road looks over Port St Mary, a working harbour village at the southern end of the island. Chapel Bay Beach is a short walk down the hill, Brewery Beach sits round the other side of the harbour, and the Raad ny Foillan coast path runs through on its way to the Sound.

Who books in

Couples after a room with a view and a cooked breakfast, walkers doing the southern coast, and anyone working away who wants a desk at a window.