The Hutchinson Apartments

The Hutchinson Apartments are two self-contained flats in a Victorian house on Hutchinson Square, one of the railed garden squares set back from the Douglas seafront. The same owners have run them for over a decade.

The square and the stairs

The square is what you notice first: a central garden of clipped shrubs, flowerbeds and mature trees, ringed by tall terraces with bays and dormers. A brass sign marks the door, and the communal hall behind it is carpeted in red with a gilt mirror on the wall. The flats are on the first and second floors, up stairs.

Sitting rooms over the gardens

The living rooms are generous and traditionally furnished, with patterned sofas, a leather armchair, framed seascapes and tall curtained windows; one sits under a high ceiling with exposed beams. A dining table stands in the bay looking out at the gardens. Kitchens are compact and properly fitted, with a stovetop, oven, microwave, toaster, kettle, fridge and washing machine, and one has a breakfast bar and stool.

Beds and green-tiled bathrooms

The first-floor flat has a double bedroom, the second-floor one twin singles, and both add a sofa bed in the living room, so each takes up to four. Bedrooms have wardrobes, bedside lamps and, in one, a desk under the window. Bathrooms are tiled floor to ceiling in dark green, with a bath and shower, a heated towel rail and a mirror above the basin.

Rooftops, harbour and the walk down

From the front rooms you look over the rooftops to the harbour and the sea beyond. Douglas carries on from the end of the square, with the promenade and the beach a walk downhill and the shops in the same direction.

Suited to

Families and couples who want a kitchen and a sitting room of their own, and a garden square to come back to. A high chair is available for younger guests.