£20 million renovation proposed for historic Margate hotel

A historic hotel on Margate’s seafront could be getting a £20m refurbishment into flats, holiday lets and restaurant years after closing its doors.

Developers Arcvelop and Brede Hotels have submitted plans to revamp the Nayland Rock Hotel, once one of Margate’s grandest establishments.

In its heyday, guests included the the likes of Charlie Chaplin and TS Eliot.

In the 1990s, Rolling Stone’s Mick Jagger used the hotel to celebrate the wedding anniversary of his parents.

The hotel was used to house asylum seekers in the early 2000s, but since shutting in 2008, the Nayland Rock has largely been used as accommodation for workers and foreign students, as well as being used as a filming location for projects such as Killing Eve.

In plans submitted to Thanet District Council, the developers have proposed converting a row of Victorian buildings that overlooks the seafront – which includes the former hotel – into 50 flats, 16 holiday let apartments and a two-storey commercial unit.

The proposal says Nayland Rock Hotel is “reportedly in an extremely poor state of repair”, but developers hope to “restore the former grandeur of the building” and “bring a locally significant historic building back into active use and will be a positive boost to regeneration efforts in Margate”.

Plans suggest historic features of the listed building will be preserved, while others, such as entrance pillars, will be reintroduced.

Arcvelop told The Independent that it sees Nayland Rock “as one of the most exciting architecture-led regeneration opportunities in the South East today.

“The project will focus on enhancing, restoring and redefining the Royal Crescent, with works anticipated to commence in late 2026 and a construction programme of approximately 30 months.”

Thanet District Council will either approve or reject the planning application, but a date has not yet been set by its planning committee.

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