Margate House is a restored home-turned guest house offering eclectic interior design, shoppable artwork and breakfast in bed. Jenny Southan reports
Created by Will Jenkins, a visionary, entrepreneurial property developer from London, Margate House is his first hotel and occupies a previously derelict building that has been given new life as a trendy boutique bolthole on the Kent coast.
Located in Margate’s slightly down-at-heel Cliftonville neighbourhood, the hotel opened this summer with nine en-suite bedrooms and a “make-yourself-at-home attitude”.
Although the seaside town looks somewhat scruffy, many families and Gen Y and Z creatives are moving there from London, drawn by more affordable homes and a lively cultural scene with art galleries, restaurants and independent stores.
The interior design of Margate House exhibits a playful approach to colour and pattern, creating joyful, dynamic spaces with lots of dusty pink, terracotta and burgundy (the paint is bespoke), which nicely complements the exposed brick fireplaces and wooden flooring.
On the walls are eye-catching vintage posters from Projekt26, and paintings and prints from Henrietta Dubrey & Cavel Rafferty (in affiliation with local gallery L’Absurd). There is also an ever-changing preview of emerging artists in the drawing room – Jemima Rowe’s collection was the first to go on show this summer. Everything is for sale.
The guest rooms come with Nespresso machines, free snacks, linen bistro curtains, scalloped lampshades, bespoke wavy headboards, vintage rugs, antiques, Roberts radios and bathrooms with Haeckel’s toiletries (made using seaweed handpicked in Margate). The largest bedrooms feature rattan easy chairs and bay windows with sea views. Stays cost from £155 per night (B&B).