Fort Road Hotel

Originally opened in 1820, perhaps nowhere sums up resurgent modern Margate quite as much as this former seaside boarding house, now a funky boutique hotel opposite the Turner Gallery on the edge of the resort's Old Town. After 30 years standing idle, Fort Road Hotel was bought in 2018 by a group of local creative entrepreneurs and re-opened after a full-scale renovation in 2023 – as a hotel and restaurant offering grown-up Margate hospitality that's very much of its time and place.

The hotel’s 14 guest rooms, smart yet relaxed ground floor restaurant and cool basement bar make for one of the best places to stay in a town that's increasingly full of good options. Views from some of the rooms and the hotel's roof terrace are of the Turner, Margate’s harbour arm, and the sea, while inside things are properly local and right up-to-date, with Margate's very own Haeckels toiletries in the bathrooms (made from seaweed handpicked from local beaches), work by local artists Tracey Emin, Matthew Darbyshire and Hannah Lees in the bar, and lots of wonderful old postcards and photographs of Margate in the hallways. Even the bedtime reading you'll find in the rooms is from and about this stretch of the Kentish coast and around. It's dog-friendly too, and there's a lift to all floors.

If it’s the coast you’ve come for, you really ought to opt for a sea view room or suite, but whichever you choose you’ll find stylish rooms that have been individually designed with a mid-century aesthetic, including vintage pieces here and there and artworks hung on neutrally-painted walls (one of the owners is a founder of the Frieze contemporary art fair) – together with the books on shelves and plants in pots, they add life to the light and airy spaces. Every room has tea- and coffee-making facilities, a mini fridge, and a homemade cookie is a welcome sight on arrival. No bed is smaller than a king, no room without a Roberts Bluetooth radio and there are no TVs in all but three of the rooms. It all adds up to a relaxing place to stay that encourages reading, exploration and conversation.

The shared spaces help with that, too. The bar, with its exposed brick walls and bare bulbs, is very much part of the local scene, often hosting events, while Colina, the all-day Southern European-inspired restaurant is more refined but not at all formal. Portuguese-born Luis Freitas is at the helm, whipping up tasty morsels like soused bream crudo, Greek salad, crispy cod bites and delica pumpkin risotto. It too attracts lots of non-residents, and is well worth eating in at least once while you're here. However, don't by any means forget why you came – nice as Fort Road is, you need to get out and discover what all the fuss is about: the art, sea, style, food and fun of Margate in the 2020s is right on your doorstep!