The Sefton

The Sefton is the grand one on Harris Promenade, a broad Victorian frontage in cream stone that takes up most of a block and turns gold when the lights come on. What the pavement does not tell you is that its middle is a full-height planted atrium with a tree growing up through it.

Cars pull in under the canopy at the centre of the front, between the promenade gardens and the door. The bay is directly opposite.

The atrium and the rooms off it

The centre of the hotel is glassed over and planted out, palms and a tall tree rising past several storeys of balconies, lights strung through the branches. Seating is set out on the tiled floor below. Off it sit the restaurant, laid with white cloths and set for service, and function rooms running from a boardroom table to rows of chairs and a lectern.

Over the bay, or over the palms

Bedrooms are traditionally furnished: wooden headboards, leather tub chairs, a writing desk under a mirror. Sea-view rooms look across the promenade to the water; atrium rooms open onto the internal balconies instead. Suites go further, with a split-level sitting room, a fireplace and armchairs, and in one a corner spa bath lit blue with candles alongside.

The pool under the brick arches

The indoor pool is the real surprise: a vaulted room with mosaic tiling, brick arches down one side and a lit alcove at the end, the light shifting blue and violet over the water. A gym runs alongside, and the spa covers massage, facials and beauty treatments.

Out on Harris Promenade

Douglas Beach is across the road and the promenade carries on round the bay in both directions. Douglas is the island’s capital, which makes this the address if you want the town, the seafront and a full-service hotel in one.

Best suited to

Couples after a weekend with a pool in it, families needing a double and two singles in one room, and anyone here for a conference or a wedding.