THE Claremont Hotel has unveiled the first part of its one million pound refurbishment project.

The hotel in Douglas has revamped 22 of its 56 rooms – with the rest soon to follow.

The "executive suites" cost £50,000 per room to complete - compared to the industry standard of £20,000.

Mark Wilson, managing director of the Sleepwell Hotel Group, said: "We felt there was a gap in the market in terms of a really high quality executive standard of accommodation in the Isle of Man.

"The feedback from our business partners was that they were looking for something slightly more luxurious."

Mark explained that extensive market research was carried out to find out what customers wanted. He said: "We commissioned a survey with local business people to find out their key motivations of what they were looking for when choosing accommodation and some of the results that came back were quite interesting."

The survey showed that 80 percent of respondents felt that complimentary Wi-Fi was "important" or "very important" and 96 percent felt that the location of the hotel and quality of the shower were also "important" or "very important".

Mark continued: "What people want nowadays is what they have at home. People also commented on the size of the bed so we have tried to implement a very large bed as the key element in the room and then build around it." 

The rooms have super king-size beds with Tempur memory foam mattresses and hypoallergenic bedding.

All rooms have free high speed Wi-Fi internet access, iPod docking stations, and 32" flat screen TV's with Blu-Ray DVD players. Guests also get complimentary DVD hire. 

The bathrooms are fully tiled wet rooms with double glass sinks and luxury Aveda toiletries. The Honeymoon Suite even has a TV in the shower. 

Mark said the upgrading process was part of the hotel's drive to raise its grading accreditation. He explained: "The Claremont is currently a three star but the overall aim is to get this up to a 4* grading by 2011."

Room prices start from £75 per night although corporate clients will pay a standard rate year round. The majority of customers between Monday and Thursday are business people but the hotel attracts leisure business at the weekends.

Mark concluded: "This is a major investment in international-standard business accommodation in the heart of Douglas.

"We believe that it will reflect well not just on us as a hotel but also on the Isle of Man as a whole. The experience visitors to the Island have of their hotel can be one of the most lasting impressions of their entire trip.

"By providing a high quality environment, we hope to give them a positive impression of the Island as a place to do business in the future."

For more information on The Claremont click here.