I had been in the taxi from the airport for about 15 minutes. The driver was telling me the story of the infamous Fairy Bridge when he suddenly stopped and informed me that we had just driven past the hotel. Oops. Once the meter was stopped he turned around and we drove up a very dark path for about half a mile.
The mount Murray hotel isn’t just a hotel. The mount Murray is a Hotel, Spa and Country club so I suppose I should have guessed that it would be in the middle of nowhere. The hotel is set amongst the private golf course with a very pretty lake that you can see from the hotel bar.
Check-in was exceptionally fast as a pre auth had already been taken from my card. Usual questions were asked about newspapers and wake up calls and I was informed that breakfast would be served in the bistro behind reception. All great stuff. I was told that my room was “over the road” but this just turned out to be over the very small courtyard at the entrance to the hotel.
I was a little concerned to find “over the road” in darkness however there were sensors which turned he lights on once movement was detected.
The room was a double deluxe which had everything you would expect from a four star hotel. Nothing jumped out as being deluxe though.
The room was a pleasant temperature, and the bed was pretty comfortable. The problem was that the room had obviously been used as a smoking room previously. The room did not smell pleasant and the smell was strong. So strong that my clothes smelled of stale smoke the next day. As a non-smoker this was distressing! This issue would really need to be rectified if I were to return to the Mount Murray.
I dropped off my bag and had just enough time to check that I could pick up the Wi-Fi from my room. I could, however I needed a log on from reception (which is unique for each guest and lasts only for one week) so be sure to ask for this at check in.
I went to the bar and ordered a beer (fairly good selection both on draught and bottles – bottle of Peroni was £3.60) and tried to access the Internet on my iPad. I couldn’t use the code I had been given (on my first trip downstairs) as it had been assigned to my laptop and thus I had to make another trip to reception to pick up another internet code. Be warned.
The hotel has a clubhouse (attached to the golf course) which serves informal meals and drinks however this was closed during my stay.
I ordered some nachos to eat which arrived quickly and were pretty good. The portion was enormous and certainly big enough to share. I saw a few other meals being brought out and they too looked pretty big so you may wish to skip the starter. By 9:30pm I was the only guest left in the bar and so I went to my room!
I had a very restful night’s sleep and woke up feeling refreshed. Shower was hot and had a fair amount of pressure.
Breakfast was not served in the bistro as I was informed at check in. Instead breakfast was served in a meeting room upstairs on the first floor (due to the time of year the hotel was not busy).
Buffet selection was certainly adequate and the cooked to order option was also included in my rate. The hot breakfast was OK but the beans had clearly been sitting for a while in the kitchen – they did not look very appetising!
Checkout was quick and I was back in the taxi in no time. I arrived in the office in Douglas some 15 minutes later.
Mount Murray Hotel and Country Club, Mount Murray Road Santon, Isle of Man IM4 2HT. Website
