Hotel The Rutland (Douglas, United Kingdom)

The vistas to be had from the restaurant and – if you're lucky – your room really are pretty special, especially on moonlit evenings when all of Douglas Bay seems to shimmer and open up before you.

You can tell that the hotel's guest accommodations have been recently renovated: everything in the rooms looks smart, feels fresh and works perfectly well.

Efficient, gracious and polite; the staff at the Rutland do a grand job of making you feel suitably welcome.

Getting into the hotel from the street requires ascending a really quite steep collection of steps. In addition, there are also areas within the hotel itself where steps and stairs feature. If you're limited in your mobility then this may not be the place for you.

There's no doubt that this hotel goes out its way to accommodate groups of guests who visit the Isle of Man via pre-booked coach holidays. If you're not part of a coach group then it's quite possible that you may feel just a little bit marginalised at times.

If you manage to get three good-sized adults into the Rutland's passenger lift then you've done well. Definitely not one for anyone who suffers with claustrophobia.