Sail Lofts

Sail Lofts takes the upper floors of a building on North Quay, where Douglas harbour turns and the moorings start. It is a studio for two with the roof line still showing overhead and the water in the window.

You find it by the blue sign bolted to the wall above the street, then climb a staircase with a wooden banister and iron spindles. There is no lift. The rooms are soundproofed, which on a working quay is not a small thing.

Under the beam, below the skylights

The sitting area runs beneath a sloped ceiling with one dark beam left exposed across it. There is a grey corner sofa, a tripod floor lamp, a television on the wall and a desk with a proper chair. The kitchen is fitted in grey gloss along one wall and lit from above by roof skylights, with a sink, an induction hob, an oven under an extractor, a coffee machine and a toaster, plus a breakfast bar with stools.

A blue headboard by the window

The bed is a large double with a deep blue upholstered headboard and a reading lamp either side, set between two tall windows in one loft and alongside a harbour-facing one in another. Robes hang in the wardrobe. The shower room has a glass screen, a basin set into a white unit, a heated towel rail and shutters at the window. The studio takes two.

The view over the moorings

The window looks down on the working part of Douglas: boats packed along the quay, waterfront buildings ranged behind them and green hills rising past the last of the roofs. The promenade and Douglas Beach are a walk along the front.

Best kept to two

This suits a couple over for a few nights, or one person travelling for work who would take a kitchen, a desk and a harbour window over a hotel corridor. It is reached by stairs, so not the choice for heavy luggage or small children.