Built 1868, the Cliftonville Hotel was an impressively large, well appointed, Victorian Hotel, with views across the lawn tennis grounds to the sea.
Hotel acquired by Gordon Hotels Company, Reopened in July 1893 after a 2-month refurbishment. Further refurbishments took place in July 1914.
Public Auction of Cliftonville Hotel’s fixtures and fitting by Cliftonville Hotels Limited, January 1950.
March 1952, one of the biggest fires since the war swept through the former Cliftonville Hotel, that had been converted into flats.<1>

In 1868 the Cliftonville Hotel, located at the eastward end of Dalby Square, was opened. It is noted
that at that time it sat ‘on an island site in the middle of corn fields’. The hotel had 250 bedrooms, a
dining room which could hold over 300 people, a ballroom, a palm court and facilities for croquet,
tennis and archery amidst formal gardens along the cliff top. In all, the hotel provided the
accommodation for about 50% of all hotel guests in Cliftonville, but by 1890 this figure had dropped
to around 15% as so many other hotels had been built.
The Cliftonville Hotel, the largest hotel in the area, was demolished in 1961 <2>

Ordinance Survey, 1872, Margate - Kent XXV 4_18 (Map). SKE56392.

Ordinance Survey, 1873, Margate - Kent XXV 4_19 (Map). SKE56393.

<1> Dover Kent Archives, Cliftonville Hotel, Ethelbert Crescent, Cliftonville (Website). SKE57121.

<2> Thanet District Council, PROPOSED CLIFTONVILLE CLIFF TOP CONSERVATION, AREA, CHARACTER APPRAISAL AND MANAGEMENT PLAN (Website). SKE57136.