Hotels in Margate

Choosing where to stay in Margate largely comes down to how central you want to be. The Old Town and harbour cluster puts galleries, antique shops and the main beach on your doorstep, with restored Georgian townhouses and boutique conversions occupying buildings that once housed sailmakers, merchants and sea captains. This is the obvious base for a short break built around Turner Contemporary, the Old Town's browsing streets and an evening at one of the newer wine bars, and it means leaving the car behind entirely if you have arrived by train. Properties here tend to be smaller and more individual, often with only a handful of rooms, so they book up quickly around exhibition openings and summer weekends.

Along the seafront and towards Cliftonville, the accommodation shifts towards larger hotels with sea-facing rooms, better suited to families or anyone who wants to fall out of bed onto the beach. Cliftonville itself, quieter and more residential, has a run of grand Victorian and Edwardian buildings converted into hotels and guest houses, generally at gentler prices than the Old Town, with the trade-off of a ten to fifteen minute walk into the centre. It suits visitors happy to prioritise space, value and sea views over being in the thick of the antique shops. Whichever part of town you choose, parking is worth checking in advance, since many older buildings were not built with driveways, and several of the best Old Town properties rely on nearby public car parks or on-street permits for guests arriving by car.

Margate also works well as a base for exploring the wider Isle of Thanet, with Broadstairs and Ramsgate both within easy reach by train, bus or a short drive, so a stay here need not be confined to Margate itself. Given the town's continuing popularity with weekenders from London, advance booking is sensible for anything from spring through early autumn, particularly around bank holidays and any of Dreamland's bigger events, when the town's limited stock of rooms fills quickly.