Ellan Vannin Hotel

The Ellan Vannin occupies one of the tall Victorian frontages at 31 Loch Promenade, facing Douglas Bay straight across the road. It is a three-star hotel, and the sea is the reason the building is shaped the way it is.

The front is grey and white stucco, hanging baskets in full flower either side of a flight of railed stone steps to the door. Opposite are the sea wall, the promenade lamps and the water, the breakwater reaching out across the bay and the harbour off to one side.

Chandeliers and the morning table

Two rooms at the front make the most of that frontage. The breakfast room has a curved bay of arched windows running almost floor to ceiling, chandeliers, tartan carpet and small dark tables laid up for the morning; breakfast comes cooked and plated. Next to it a lounge in olive and gold has an open fireplace, tub chairs drawn up to the window and the same stretch of water in front of it.

Bay windows and bedheads

Bedrooms vary a good deal. The best have wide bays of three tall windows, full-length curtains and a pair of armchairs turned to the sea; others look inland and are plainer. Furnishing is warm and traditional, running to burgundy plaid, gold bed runners, floral cushions and padded or wooden headboards. Every room is ensuite, some with a bath and some a shower, and there are desks, kettles, coffee machines and satellite television. Upper floors are reached by stairs only, though a few rooms sit on the ground floor.

Straight onto the promenade

The hotel is beachfront, so Douglas Beach and the promenade begin at the front door, and the shops, restaurants and terminals of Douglas carry on from there on foot.

Who checks in here

Anyone who wants the sea in the window: a couple over for a weekend, a family taking one of the quadruple rooms, or a visitor arriving by boat who would rather not bother with a car.