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Reviews of Ellan Vannin Hotel

3.5 out of 5
Ellan Vannin Hotel
31 Loch Promenade, Douglas, Isle of Man

Reviews

8.2

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 16 out of 35 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 10 out of 35 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 5 out of 35 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 3 out of 35 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 35 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

7.2/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.2/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Peter

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

8/10 Good

Paul

Stayed 6 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Karen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean and comfortable
The Manager was very helpful and accomodating when my request for a "disabled friendly room" wasn't actioned but I had to pay more for the room that I was changed to. Although, it is an olderstyle hotel, it is clean and comfortable. The staff were efficient enough but not overly friendly
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Iris

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nicely appointed room and ambiance.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

4/10 Poor

colin

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023

6/10 Okay

JASMINE

Business traveller
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

2/10 Terrible

Lindsey

Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

C

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Brilliant for the money
Firstly let me say that is a very well located hotel right on the promanade,with bus services close by and the main shops a couple of hundred metres away. It is of an older design so has steps up to reception and at a guess most of it is not very wheelchair friendly. Hoeever, it offers great value rooms that are pretty decent in size. Ours did not have a sea view, but others did. Our room was pretty well appointed for the money that we paid with tea/coffee making facilities and a reasonable TV. Breakfast Mon-Sat is a hot buffet with some reasonable quality ingredients. On Sunday it appears to be cooked to order. Nothing appeared too much trouble for them. Eg. Making wholemeal bacon sandwiches. The staff all round are excellent. A lady even waited for us to check in after major delays with our evening flight to the Island. The staff are also both friendly and helpful. Very good local knowledge about tourist sites, local eateries and the like. It also has a decent bar at the front of the building where the bar staff make you feel welcome. Brilliant value for money. A perfectly decent staff with welcoming staff in a historic building which has been well modernised
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 Jun 2023
Thank you so much for taking the time to give us such wonderful feedback, we really do appreciate it. We are delighted to hear you enjoyed so many aspects of the stay, from the room to the breakfast, the staff to the value for money. Our team work so hard to ensure each and every guest has their own personal, positive experience at our hotel and it is incredibly rewarding when our guests show us that they appreciate it. We do hope that we can welcome you back to the hotel again in the near future.

8/10 Good

Frank

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The hotel is an easy walk from the IOM Steam Packet terminus and close to many of the things I wanted to do whilst in Douglas. It is clean and comfortable although I disagree with the 4 star rating it came with in the description and the room I was given not being the one in the picture when I booked it but it was a pleasant experience overall and the price was right. I would stay there again.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 Jun 2023
Dear Frank, thank you for your review. We are extremely lucky to be in such a great location on the promenade and with that comes the spectacular views. Our 4 star rating is an automated calculation based solely upon reviews from other guests who have stayed with us so I am sorry to hear that you do not quite agree with them. Our room pictures on the website are generated by a third party agency, something that is out of our control. We are working alongside them to ensure they amend the pictures to match the room configuration correctly, thank you for pointing this out. We are glad that overall you were content with your stay and we do hope we are able to welcome you back in the future.

6/10 Okay

Samantha

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
First of all I’d like to say that the staff were helpful and courteous. However, overall we were not impressed with the hotel - it certainly did not match up to its website description … The facilities in our room were satisfactory (though there was no way to actually shut the main window!) and the bed was certainly very comfortable - but it was the en-suite bathroom that really took the biscuit. The bath panel was rotten so looked awful; the mixer taps in the bath leaked and took several minutes to get the temperature right. Then there was the basin taps which were plumbed in the wrong way round! On another note, the website advertises daily housekeeping - which didn’t happen. We won’t be going back to this hotel.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 Jun 2023
Dear Samantha, thank you for your feedback and for your kind comments about our staff members. I am sorry to hear you thought your stay wasn't great. Had you told a member of staff about any maintenance issues during your stay then we would have ensured they were looked at immediately. Regarding housekeeping, we inform all guests of our current housekeeping procedures that are in place at the beginning of their stay. Should you have needed anything at all in your rooms it was clearly explained that we would be happy to help. Fresh towels, bin change, hospitality tray replenishment - no problem at all. Our friendly team would have always been happy to help you if you ever needed anything.

6/10 Okay

Kelly A

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
This isn’t a 4* hotel on any scoring system I’ve ever seen. The decor is antiquated with noisy floors, thin walls, stained dirty carpets. Don’t expect any robes, slippers, toiletries, etc. The reception isn’t available consistently and charges your card on file with hotels.com rather than giving you an option to pay upon check in or check out - sure, it’s convenient, but it’s not what you agree to on booking. I only found out they did this when I tried to pay at check out, assuming they’d incorrectly left me a note saying it was fully paid. More on the notes below.. They love to use print outs - great for the environment - including entering your room during your stay to leave pages of notes on your unmade bed to tell you they’re understaffed and couldn’t clean your room (but are offering 7£ in the bar in return…less than half the price of breakfast). Why not just tell people at check in rather than entertain their space for evidently no reason? The only selling point is that it’s on the water, but if you don’t pay the large fee to have the view.. enjoy the pipes out your window!
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to review your stay, however we feel it is inaccurate and undeserved. Firstly you didn’t book a 4 star Hotel, The Ellan Vannin Hotel is a 3 star Silver awarded by Visit England and reassessed every 2 years, therefore your disappointment that there was no robes or slippers is an unfair comment. You have said we don't provide toiletries however we provide all bathrooms with Elsyl toiletries and essentials. If there was anything you were missing we would have been happy to provide it for you. We bake fresh each morning homemade cakes and biscuits that gets delivered to your room daily which you don't receive in other Hotels, you are lucky to have a biscuit wrapped in plastic at most. We also give you ultra fast WiFi free of charge unlike the very basic WiFi offered by 4 star Hotels who charge their Guests extra for a decent speed.You booked through an online travel Agent choosing the cheapest rate available which requires payment on booking and not payment on check out and in our opinion this is clearly advertised on their site. The booking site you used describes the Ellan Vannin Hotel as a Victorian town House which you will have noticed Douglas sea front is all of this era. The Hotel interior is modern with automatic glass entrance doors and all bedroom doors were newly fitted in the last 12 months, all internal walls have been plastered and painted in pastel colours and the ensuite bathrooms are new and modern. The decoration is not antiquated but is in sympathy with a beautiful Victorian building built in 1873. You don’t say how you would prefer us to communicate with you but our only ‘print out' is a personal welcome letter (one page) which includes some important information regarding the current Wi Fi password and restaurant menu and opening times. On your departure we say goodbye (one page) and wish you a safe journey home. Most of our Guests appreciate this personal touch.Just like the rest of the UK we are short staffed, the hospitality industry in particular is suffering with staff shortages. A lot of Hotels, including popular UK chains have removed the cleaning service completely. Despite this, we try hard to clean the rooms daily and when we cant we offer a voucher in the bar and restaurant to compensate you. We feel your review is misleading and unkind, however the team will continue to try their best for all our future guests.

10/10 Excellent

Lennox

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Comfortable and pleasant stay.
Clean, comfortable, friendly and efficient. Well sited in the centre of Douglas.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 May 2023
Thank you for your 10/10 review! It was a pleasure to welcome you.

8/10 Good

Nicholas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 May 2023
Thank you. Hopefully we can welcome you back in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Kenny

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022
Response from Hotel Manager on 2 May 2023
It was a pleasure to welcome you! Hopefully we can welcome you back in the future.

6/10 Okay

James

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Our room had no view like all the pictures I seen. Looked out at pipes and a wall. Thought the pictures showed all the room but not the one at the top back of building. Staff was friendly but our first morning housekeeping just open the door… no knock before entering. We checked in after midnight and still in bed after 9 AM. They need a sign to put outside the door… Do Not Disturb King bed was two doubles put together and not the same size so mind the gap.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Mark

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great stay at the Ellan Vannin - particular shout out to Sarah who made us feel very welcome and went the extra yard to make our stay memorable- will definitely be back
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2022

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

4/10 Poor

Benjamin

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The amount paid for the room was £145. The room was on the ground floor behind reception, with only a view of the alley way behind the building. With the bar being in close vicinity of the room, it was very noisy in our room. The room was also very small. Considering the amount paid, I would've expected a room with a better view, and to be bigger
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Paula

Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Christopher Archdale

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in May 2022

8/10 Good

Kellie

Stayed 2 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

david

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent room with sea view. Staff could not do enough for us and went out of their way to make my wife's birthday one to remember. Many thanks to you all.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Margaret

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Sandra

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Very friendly crew.a relaxing evening away from home
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022

8/10 Good

Michael

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021

8/10 Good

Hannah

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel, spacious room and right on seafront
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2021

6/10 Okay

Martin

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Poor value and bad management decisions
A somewhat tired old seaside hotel tarted-up a little. Poor value compared to hotels in other places. Rooms often small or odd-shaped, thoygh they functioned OK. And whose idea was it to have a loud band playing in a non-sound-proofed room right in the middle of the hotel until late at night - and to permit behaviour that set a fire alarm off at c 10:30pm?! Staff enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Hugh

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location - close the curtains though! If you have a beach facing room the sun will pour in from sunrise onwards.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021
Response from Hotel Manager on 27 Jul 2021
Dear Hugh, thank you for your fantastic review. It was a pleasure welcoming you.

8/10 Good

Evelyn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disappointing that the restaurant was not open as had a heavy metal band on in hotel. Only told this on arrival when we asked for a menu. so we had a problem trying to find somewhere at late notice to have a meal together. If we were told this in the 3 calls which were held priorto our stay, we could have booked somewhere instead of walking in rain trying to find somewhere which had a table and failing.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021
Response from Hotel Manager on 27 Jul 2021
Dear Evelyn, thank you for taking the time to review your stay. We are sorry you were not informed our restaurant was fully booked for the evening. If you had booked a table prior to your arrival we would have happily accommodated you before the band night begun. Failing this, we would have been happy to book you a table in a nearby restaurant so you were not required to walk.

10/10 Excellent

AAMIR

Travelled with family
Amazing very good I like this hotel I recommend my friends and family
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2021
Response from Hotel Manager on 6 Jul 2021
Thank you for your kind words and recommendation to your friends and family. I hope we can welcome you back one day in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Nicola

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2021
Response from Hotel Manager on 6 Jul 2021
Thank you :)