On Margate’s storied Dalby Square, first-time hotelier Will Jenkins has rescued a handsome Victorian building from neglect and poor taste with the help of his longtime friend and part-time designer Charlee Allan-Quiton. (Her day job is mostly running the Borough Market establishment Fish.) The hotel sits within the now trendy Cliftonville area, just a step back from Margate’s small centre, in good company of the excellent bars, small-plates restaurants and cafes that have popped up as the seaside town rises to popularity. Commonly called ‘Hackney-on-Sea’ due to the influx of emigres out of East London to this patch of the Kentish coast, the opening of Margate House offers a smart boutique stay for creative weekenders.
Design notes
The interiors are warm and welcoming, with a cosy salmon-painted sitting room on entrance typical of a Victorian home, but with a modern spin: dusty pink velvet sofas and travertine coffee table in front of an exposed brick chimney breast, with a playful figurative painting overlooking the space. Alongside the artworks in the communal spaces, a selection of colourful retro Polish film posters decorate the bedrooms.
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High-impact shades of pink adorn the walls of the rooms and common areas, each custom-made in a collaboration with COAT Paints. The limited edition collection of six colours are available to buy online now, so you can get the look at home. The colours are directly inspired by Margate itself, named after local spots, such as the off-white ‘Shell Grotto’ and the dusky, muted rose of ‘Love Lane’. They have been designed and curated to be mixed and matched with each other in any number of combinations. In some rooms, for example, the deep, rich red of ‘Wilderness Hill’ on the ceiling might be paired with the pinkish neutral of ‘Evening, Ethel’ on the walls, and vice versa in another room.
Much of the furniture in the bedrooms, especially the carpentry, has been designed by Will and made by local tradesmen – checkerboard bedside tables, bobbin-framed mirrors and sideboards holding the coffee and tea area and snacks) or otherwise sourced from antique markets and shops. The window dressings were made in collaboration with The London Curtain Girls – an Instagram find. ‘We loved the French pleat curtains they had and knew we had to work with them’, says Will.
Why stay here
Staying here feels more like spending the night in the home of a close friend, with the owner often hosting afternoon rounds of orange wine or evening gatherings with guests in the sitting and dining area. It is intimate, friendly and familiar – yet stylish without a hint of pretension.
Rooms and facilities
Nine bedrooms are spread on the top three floors – without any complicated categories – and vary in size considerably, so do pay attention to this when booking. The lavish toiletries in the bathrooms are courtesy of Le Labo. Margate has no shortage of foodie hotspots these days, and Margate House's own restaurant Willy's (named after its owner) is one of the best, gaining a solid reputation for refined, well-executed modern British fare by chef Mark O'Brien: the menu boasts seasonal dishes such as chalk stream trout with seaweed butter sauce, and Earl Grey panna cotta served with rosemary shortbread. Breakfast is also served in the downstairs restaurant, with a selection of fruit, yoghurt, cereal and toast available, and coffee courtesy of Redemption roasters. Talks of an extending the hotel into the neighbouring property, and a spa are also in the works.
What’s around
Within a few minutes’ walk are Margate’s best wine bars and restaurants – with several backed by Hackney expats or part-time dwellers. Some of the best include Sargasso, an off-shoot of Brawn on the Columbia Road and with a similar menu of natural wine and small plates (think Cantabrian anchovies in rosemary oil, wild sea bass and pil pil sauce and more divinely fresh fish dishes). Angela’s is also great for seafood, Forts for sourdough sarnies on the Lido, and Margate Off Licence and Daisy for drinks. When it all gets too London, the queue for fish and chips at Peter’s will go by in a breeze over people watching in the more rough-and-ready, authentic side of this British seaside resort.
Booking essentials
Rooms from £200 a night. 6 Dalby Square, Margate, CT9 2ER
