Dover Kent Archives
'The Fort Road Hotel (previously the Fort Castle Public House) is one of the last surviving buildings in the area today that the artist JMW Turner would recognise. Turner spent fifteen years ‘weekending’ in Margate with Sophia Booth (whose house was opposite) and, as a noted drinker, it seems inconceivable that he did not visit the establishment.
The hotel also benefits from a fantastic position, facing the sea, overlooking (and overlooked by) the gallery. The two buildings share the same privileged view of Margate’s sunsets, that Turner declared “the loveliest in Europe”. These associations with Turner (historically with the artist and now with the gallery) give the Fort Road Hotel potentially iconic status.
Furthermore, the building is well situated on the main coastal route in and out of Margate, within close proximity of the harbour area; the Old Town; and Margate High Street.'
The hotel is in a prime seafront location. It's one of Margate's oldest historic hotel buildings. This building restored as a hotel will create badly needed jobs in a deprived area and be a place to be proud of with a great history for visitors to enjoy.<1><2>

The Isle of Thanet News
The dilapidated Fort Road Hotel in Margate will be returned to hotel use with a restaurant if Thanet council grants planning permission.
An application has been submitted to change the use back from one of multiple occupancy and to add an extra storey with a sunken roof terrace,
Applicant Mr Gidley is also proposing a replacement entrance canopy and timber windows at the property which has been empty for some 25 years.
The former Fort Castle pub was put on the market by Thanet council as part of its asset disposal programme. It sold at auction in June for double the guide price of £180,000.
A design document drawn up by Fleet architects says plans are to: “Reopen Fort Road Hotel as a characterful small hotel including 14 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.
“Within the large basement will be an additional self-contained suite, in addition to stores for the hotel and kitchen.
“An additional third floor, with a large roof terrace, will be added to the building at present roof level to contain 4 of the 14 en-suite bedrooms. The proposal also introduces a new staircase and a passenger lift to improve access to the upper floors.
“The ground floor will be returned to its former use as a dining room serving guests and visitors.
“Our intention is to retain internal features, such as hearths, to grant character and emphasis the scale and former uses of the spaces. Interventions for the hotel are characterful but contemporary without resorting to pastiche.”<3>

Ordinance Survey, 1872, Margate - Kent XXV 4_17 (Map). SKE56389.

<1> Dover Kent Archives, 1991, Fort Road Hotel, Margate (Website). SKE57168.

<2> Dover Kent Archives, Fort Castle Public House, Margate (Website). SKE57169.

<3> The Isle of Thanet News, 2019, Fort Road Hotel, Margate (Website). SKE57170.