Walpole Bay Hotel Margate

The Walpole Bay Hotel sits right on Margate's seafront like a Victorian dowager refusing to budge. Built in 1927, this art deco confection of cream and white renders itself instantly recognisable - you'll spot it long before you arrive. The real draw is the museum tucked inside, a wonderfully eccentric collection amassed over decades by former owner John Kirby. Bathing machines, vintage seaside memorabilia, penny-in-the-slot machines that actually work, old photographs charting Margate's rise and fall as Britain's favourite coastal town. It's gloriously cluttered and deeply human - nothing sterile or corporate about it.

You're looking at 45 minutes to an hour if you move at a decent pace, longer if you get chatty with staff. Families with older children find it engaging rather than exhausting; the hands-on bits keep things interesting. Younger kids might fidget after 20 minutes. The museum's genuinely free - you just walk in from the seafront, past the working hotel. Call ahead though, opening hours are a bit variable depending on season and staffing.

For a wider holiday, you're well placed near Birchington Vale Holiday Park just three miles back. Margate proper offers proper amusement - the Turner Contemporary art gallery, the Dreamland amusement park, the beaches. The Walpole Bay itself isn't a detour; it's right here on the promenade. Worth half an hour of anyone's time.