The sea walks out twice a day.
Fourteen rooms and an oyster bar on the Whitstable seafront. When the tide drops, a shingle bank called the Street runs half a mile out to sea from the end of our garden.
The building was a sail loft for a hundred years, then a net store, then nothing much at all. We opened it as a hotel in 2019 and kept the long windows, the salt-stained beams and the view.
Every room looks at the water or the garden, and none of them has a television. There are books, a radio, good coffee and a pair of boots in every size by the back door.
Whitstable station is a twelve minute walk away, with direct trains from London in a little over an hour. We can collect you if the bags are heavy.
We plan the day around the water.
The Street is safe to walk for about two hours either side of low water. Reception chalks the times on the board every morning, and breakfast runs late on the days the tide is out early.
Times shown are for a typical October day. Check the board by the front door before you walk out.
Fourteen rooms, four kinds
See every room and rate
Sea viewOyster Rooms
from £185Our first-floor rooms face straight out over the estuary, with a king bed, lime-plastered walls and a window you can open to hear the shingle.
Room type 1 of 4
Top floorLoft Rooms
from £165Tucked under the old sail loft roof, these are quiet and bright, with sloped ceilings and a deep window seat for reading through a grey afternoon.
Room type 2 of 4
SuiteBath Suites
from £245A roll-top bath sits in the bay window so you can watch the tide come in from the water. There's a separate sitting room and a sofa bed for a third guest.
Room type 3 of 4
Dogs welcomeTerrace Rooms
from £175On the ground floor, each with a small terrace and a gate that opens onto the beach path. Dogs are welcome here and get a towel and a bowl of their own.
Room type 4 of 4
The Oyster Room
Oysters from the beds you can see from your table.
Natives come in from September to April, rock oysters all year. The rest of the menu follows the boats and whatever the farm at Faversham has too much of.
