The Glen Mona Hotel

The Glen Mona is a stone inn standing on its own beside the coast road at Maughold, its name painted right across the front and green fields running away behind it.

Three storeys of dark Manx stone, white sash windows, a cream single-storey wing to one side, set close to the road with higher ground rising behind. Steps lead up to the front door.

The Apothecary bar

The bar has a name of its own, The Apothecary: a small copper-topped counter with high stools, patterned floor tiles, ranked bottles and fresh flowers along it. Off the bar is a sitting area with sofas, table lamps and a window onto the fields. The decoration leans deliberately old-fashioned, all floral paper and heavy curtains, with a kettle and a fridge tucked into the corner.

Rooms up the stairs

Guest rooms sit above. One is a suite with a large double under toile wallpaper, an ornate cream metal bedstead, a sofa bed in its own living room and an ensuite bathroom. Another is a family room with two double beds. Expect patterned paper, a flat-screen TV, a wardrobe and an armchair by the window rather than anything pared back. Bathrooms have been redone in white metro tile, some with a walk-in shower, others with a bath. Linen, towels and toiletries are provided.

The field and the gate

Behind the inn the garden opens onto grass, with a bench, a gate and hedgerow trees beyond.

Maughold and the coast road

Maughold is a scattered parish on the north-east coast rather than a village with a high street, and the inn sits on the road between Laxey and Ramsey. The nearest town is Laxey, down the coast. This is walking country: Ballaglass Glen close by, Maughold Head out on its headland, shingle shores below the cliffs.

Who it is for

Lisa and Sean host walkers, people touring the north of the island by car, and anyone who would rather end the day at a small bar than in a town.