To start with the positives, the place does seem to have been refurbished (in bright red, perhaps with the advice of a trendy interior decor consultant) especially in the breakfast / dining / lounge area. The staff were helpful despite our arriving at c. 7am following a cancelled sailing from Liverpool. Breakfast was good every morning (though identical as far as we could tell; there was no menu so no obvious opportunity to express a choice). The room was clean and the bed confortable.

But ... and it's a big but ... the en suite bathroom seems to have escaped the refurbishment altogether and it's long overdue. The sliding door refused to remain shut (and it had no lock). The towel rail was hanging off the wall, as was the miniscule washbasin. The shower controller (in the wet area) had exposed wiring leading to it, and the shower head ought to fit on to the attachment on the wall but the two were of different makes and colours and the attachment was broken so showering had to be one-handed, the other hand holding the shower head. The whole appearance of the bathroom was tacky and depressing.

This may have been a one room exception, but the next point was endemic across most of all rooms. The electrtic showers fluctuated between hot or cold at random depending on who else in the building was using a shower. This is clearly unacceptable in a Bed and Breakfast. Everone was talking about it over breakfast, including visitors from Australia, New Zealand and the USA. It was so embarrassing and I was tempted to distance myself by saying it wouldn't be like that on the mainland (certainly not ain a place with 3 stars).

The whole place needs replumbing and/or rewiring (and it would have been sensible to do this before redecorating). The place seems to be fitted out with standard domestic plumbing instead of commercial quality. This sometimes reflected in the hot water supply to the basin too, though that was based on a different system.

The whole star classification on the island is somewhat suspect if they award a place with no meaningful reliable morning showering facilty a 3 star rating.

A couple of other points worth mentioning. The Adelphi is up a rather steep hill form the promenade, and has steep steps up tpo the front door, and seemingly hundreds of stairs up to the high altitude bedrooms; the upper floors are unsuitable for anyone who struggles with stairs. Also in some contexts (e.g. the canopy over the front door) the Adelphi describes itself as a "hotel". In a hotel I'd expect a reception area, and significant public areas such as a foyer, lounge, bar etc. I think it's fairer to think of it as a B&B with a small lounge area. Finally there are lots of notices saying the payment for the whole stay is required on arrial (though this wasn't enforced in our case).

Also never trust the steampacket ferries from Liverpool; ours was cancelled on both sailings, in and out a week apart. the locals seem to be unsurprised. The steampacket's small print means you get no compensation at all for significant disruption. We were transferred to sailings to/from Heysham (near Morecambe - a route on which they have a more reliable vessel), in one case departing at about 2 am.