The Isle of Man is no longer a mainstream tourist destination, despite the Tourist Board’s efforts to try and promote the place.

It’s relatively expensive, and the weather can be poor.

Consequently, your average Brit now flies to Spain or Florida for a fraction of the price, and gets sunny weather as an added bonus. (My wife and I almost went over to the IOM with the kids in August '03– but just the car ferry ticket was £450 – so we flew to Crete instead for £239, which included a week’s accommodation & hot sunshine).

So, apart from at times of specific events (like the TT or the MGP), the number of summer holiday makers has probably been declining since the 60s, therefore there are less and less hotel beds needed.

Due to a different system of government however, the Isle of Man has attracted a wave of new industry. Financial institutions and off-shore banking offices are migrating there, and many new office blocks and apartment blocks are being built. Some established hotels are being converted in to either flats or offices. This in turn, benefits the construction industry, whose workers need long-term, but temporary accommodation on the island.

It’s maybe a sweeping generalization, but many small, or mid-range hotels, are now occupied by long term construction and finance workers, rather than genuine holiday makers.

The big squeeze of course, comes at TT time, when up to 40,000 motorcyclists descend upon the island and there is a shortage of beds.

The IOM tourist board seems to wash its hands of any accommodation service during TT period. Brochure adverts for hotels give tariffs following by phrases such as “except for TT week”.

It seems to me, to be a disorganized and frantic scrabble for accommodation every year.

The faithfull book their accommodation for the following year, while they are still attending the previous year's TT races.

Accommodation for TT guests falls into 5 brackets…

1. Business class hotels such as The Hilton, the Mount Murray and The Empress. These are a pretty high standard, internationally accepted places, and still tend to have rooms left, even just weeks before the TT races. But at £130 to £180 per night, the prices are beyond the reach of most visitors, and would make my TT package extremely expensive.

2. Small, mid-range hotels, often the ones stretched along the seafront promenade. These are the type of places I try and secure for my annual Bike Tours trip there. Outside TT time, their prices can be very reasonable, often less than equivalent places on the mainland. BUT, a lot of these places double their nightly tariffs over the TT period because they know they can. There is high demand for these rooms, and they tend to be fully booked every year with the same people. It is hard to break into this perpetual annual cycle.

Also, the standard varies greatly.

Most of the seafront hotel facades look very impressive, but sometimes the interiors are starting to look a touch “tired” shall we say. Continuous weeks of occupancy by long-term contractors, then clearing the rooms just for a few short weeks in the Summer, is the way many hoteliers are forced to conduct their business. 

TT visitors can sometimes experience problems where hotels have changed hands or gone back on their agreements during the one year reservation period.

3. Guesthouses or Bed & Breakfast places. These are sometimes cheaper (but not always) than the small hotels above. When we’ve used a good one, my guests have been happier than in the more impersonal hotels. I have a good place lined up in Hutchinson Square, (Douglas) that we’ve used for several years now, and intend to carry on doing so. 

Note that many hotels will not accept anything less than a 10 day minimum booking – some stick out for 14 nights minimum at TT time.

4. Homestay. Possibly the most prolific type of accommodation used by visitors to the TT. This is a semi-official Bed & Breakfast system, whereby Isle of Man residents let out spare rooms in their own homes to accommodate visiting motorcyclists. For 2005 & beyond, I have an excellent house lined up in Laxey.  

The Tourist Board endorses this in view of the acute shortage of hotel accommodation, and supply a list of registered Homestay places.

These have to meet minimal basic standards to be approved, but there are many unofficial Homestay places as well.

Approved or not, a “Homestay” is what it says. You are literally staying in someone’s house. Standards vary considerably – what’s considered acceptable to some, is regarded as below par for others.

At best, a homestay can work very well. The host may often turn out to be a real bike fan, provide a garage or secure parking, and enjoy the full party TT experience as much as you do. Or you may end up with someone who hasn't got much interest, and whose house isn't the same as your own back home.

Read more about homestay, here.

5. Camping.

Camping is like Marmite; you love it or you don’t.

I love it, and genuinely believe that our little group of campers out at Glenlough Farm have far more fun than those in the hotels. But, some people will never warm to the idea at all. It takes a certain personality, and to be fair, most of my guests choose the hotel or B&B option. Weather can make or break the camping option. Our campsite is out at Union Mills, 3 miles from Douglas, and there is a good pub in easy walking distance, and regular buses into Douglas.

The big advantage of camping is that it doesn’t need booking months and months in advance (except for the Centenary year - 2007), and you are a lot freer to do as you please. Trips to the supermarket, then boozy BBQs are commonplace! The campsite is also right on the TT circuit, which has its pros and cons.

I am able to supply camping equipment for Bike Tours UK guests coming on my TT trip.

There are a couple of campsites virtually in Douglas (behind the Grandstand at Nobles Park and Blackberry Lane, but these are can be very crowded or a touch rowdy. I don't use these, mainly because there is no guarantee of enough space to get my group together on the same plot.


Where to stay?
Most of my Bike Tours guests are first timers, therefore feel the need to be actually in Douglas, or within easy reach of it. Yes – that’s where the action is in the evenings. BUT, the "big city lights" and the attraction of a really tacky fairground, quickly wears thin, and second or third time visitors may prefer the calm and quiet of towns such as Casltetown or Port Erin – far from the noise and crowds of Douglas.