Goodbye boarding house, hello boutique hotel. Margate’s new generation of places to stay is all about cool Independents – guest houses, pubs with rooms and some quirky one offs. Our top ten includes more than one townhouse, a rock-and-roll guest house, an art deco B&B, a jazzed-up vintage caravan and a prison cell.
As Sam Mendes’ new film Empire of Light turns the spotlight on Margate, we take a look at the Isle of Thanet town’s architectural landscape – highlights include a chalk cave, a mysterious shell grotto, a derelict lido, a 1960s Brutalist tower block, a vintage roller coaster and the Grade II* listed Dreamland cinema (the fictional Empire of Light in the aforementioned film).