Claremont Hotel

The Claremont takes up 18 to 22 Loch Promenade, a run of Victorian bay-fronted houses on the Douglas seafront knocked through into one four-star hotel. Cream stucco outside, black and gold within.

After dark the frontage is floodlit and the name burns blue above the porch, a revolving glass drum at the head of a short flight of steps behind cast-iron railings. It is a confident arrival, and unmistakable from along the front.

The long lounge behind the bays

Guests gather in a broad open lounge running along the promenade side of the building. Low black sofas and armchairs are set in groups on a grey rug, with mirrored panels, brass-toned lamps and gold accents, and the bay windows pulling in light off the water. A staircase with timber balustrades climbs through the middle of the house, and a bronze-panelled corridor leads away to the rooms.

Behind the bedroom doors

Bedrooms are done in grey and white against dark wood headboards, with leather tub chairs, a desk, a wardrobe, a telephone and a flat-screen television on the wall. Tall arched sash windows are a feature of the older rooms. Bathrooms are lined in cream metro tile with chrome rails, some with twin basins on dark stone and some with a glass walk-in shower. A capsule coffee machine sits in the room.

Breakfast and the front

The gallery gives breakfast plenty of attention: eggs benedict with smoked salmon, a full cooked plate, croissants, granola, fruit and juices. Step out of the door and you are on the promenade in Douglas, with the sands of Douglas Beach a short walk along the bay.

A good base for

Business travellers who want a desk and a seafront address, and couples who would rather walk to dinner than drive.