Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: My Stay At The Glen Mona Hotel

“I don’t know what tune that the orchestra played but it went by me, sickly and sentimental” – Crowded House.

Here I was, 203 countries deep into my wacaday adventure around the world and I was finally in The Isle of Man!! This lesser ventured country is the fifth closest country to my home country of Northern Ireland yet it took me until July 2022 to finally make it here. In fact as a kid, growing up in Bangor, if you drove down the coast a bit, on a clear day we could see the Isle of Man, yet I left it for years unbackpacked.

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: Saving Money By Buspacking The Island

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲 After All These Years

When I finally made it here, it was a very sentimental trip as it was exactly 50 years after my Mum and Dad had honeymooned here, where they stayed at The Sefton Hotel on that trip.

50 Years Later: My Sentimental Visit To The Sefton Hotel Where Mum and Dad Honeymooned in 1972

Initially I had considered sleeping at The Sefton Hotel, but I hadn’t considered the fact that I was arriving in The Isle of Man in one of their busiest weeks of the year!! The famous motorbike race, The Southern 100 was on!! This meant no chance of a cheap, sponsored or complimentary sentimental room in The Sefton Hotel hahaha – blogging had already given me over 300 free hotels/hostels down the years. However, I did find a cosy large room at the nearby Glen Mona Hotel and so I booked in here and loved it and here are just five reasons why.

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: My Stay At The Glen Mona Hotel

I also have to mention that the Isle of Man definitely feels like a country. It is a different world. Some people don’t count it as a real country, so if it isn’t a country, then what country is it in??

1.The Jacuzzi Suite

When I go to check in, I am informed that I will be in the Jacuzzi Suite! Well what a nice surprise. I just about found time to use the jacuzzi bath – something special that doesn’t happen often on my journeys.

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: The Jacuzzi Suite At The Glen Mona Hotel

2.Near the beach, seafront – Sea View!

I was that busy travelling just before I arrived in The Isle of Man that I didn’t check where my hotel was so it was a big surprise to find, I actually had a sea view!! Yes, just about but still a bonus for a Bangor seaside city boy like me!

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: My Sea View From The Jacuzzi Suite At The Glen Mona Hotel

3.Annex Bar/The Local/HQ Bar & Restaurant

The bar here “at” the Glen Mona is actually an Annex up the hill and is called The HQ Bar And Restaurant. The same owner/company runs The Glen Mona as runs The HQ Bar, so for two nights, this was my “local”. It is here where there is a cosy full lounge bar of an evening and the same venue for the breakfast and cafe the next morning. Here, in the photo below I had my first ever pint of beer in the Isle of Man, an Okells, albeit with broken ribs and shoulder bone.

First beer in The Isle of Man

Ready for my first beer in The Isle of Man

4.Full Isle Of Manish Breakfast

If you have followed my blog and particularly my Friday’s Featured Food section, you will know that I am not a huge eater. Sometimes these breakfasts are way too big for me, so I went for a breakfast that I could actually finish!

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: Breakfast At The Glen Mona Hotel

5.Peace, Decent Sleep

The thing about Douglas is that tourism is important here and therefore all of these hotels sand guest houses are along the same strip. Apart from a few clubs and bars closer to the city centre of Douglas, this is a surprisingly cosy and comfortable place to get a good sleep! Plus my bed was very cosy and after a jacuzzi, watching some TV and enjoy the free tea and coffee, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

Backpacking In The Isle Of Man🇮🇲: My Stay At The Glen Mona

I had a really lovely stay here at The Glen Mona. It would have been a great place to share with a girl, or a wife. One day, hopefully. Here are some more photos from my stay here.