“This is the room where Tracey Emin says she had her best sex,” Jane Bishop informs me as she as she hands me the key to room 302 at the Walpole Bay Hotel Margate. “Lots of people have taken photos of the floor,” she adds when I enquire “where?”.
The famous contemporary artist who now lives in Margate first came to the hotel in 1995, when she brought her mother Pam for afternoon tea. Guests were looking askance as Emin started effing and blinding at her mother. Jane almost intervened, opting not to as the artist and her mother embraced.
Shortly afterwards Emin wrote in Time Out that the Walpole was the most romantic place to take your lover for a weekend. The phones kept on ringing disturbing the staff until they discovered the callers were not after a dirty weekend but just responding to the article. It was later in GQ magazine that Emin referred to her best sex. I did not enquire what phone calls they received then.
The Walpole Napery
Emin’s romance with the Walpole Bay continued throughout the 90s when she hosted her birthday parties here and into the last decade when she donated two signed napkins The Banshee of Margate and Special & Happy Place to the Walpole Napery, a unique collection of napkin art that commenced in 2009 when artist Curtis Tappenden who was taking tea at the Walpole demanded a linen napkin. When Jane explained they only used paper napkins due to the cost of laundering linen ones, Tappenden demanded she produce a linen one. He then created a work of art which he gave to the Walpole.
There are now 323 napkins in the collection. Anyone can add to them. The youngest napkin artist was four and the oldest 102. One has even been created by a dog, although Jane suspects its owners might have assisted. Jane’s only request is that it captures a “magical memory” of staying or having afternoon tea at the Walpole. One of the napkins represents an enigma code created by former staff at Bletchley Park.
Jane’s own love affair with Walpole on the Isle of Thanet started somewhat earlier as she would go courting on the beach with her future husband Peter and fell in love with the iconic hotel that had stood proudly since the start of the First World War.
Noting its gradual decline, in 1995 Jane and Peter vowed to restore Walpole to its former beauty, a process that has taken them most of the following three decades.
Walpole Bay Hotel Museum Margate
The couple bought the property off David Budge, grandson of the original owner Louisa, along with a collection of artefacts that in 2001 formed the basis of the hotel’s Social History Museum, which was opened by Emin, naturally enough.
Over the years the collection has grown as former guests bequeathed objects to Jane. It makes for the most unusual collection of household good, toys, nurses uniforms, ‘ugly’ dolls, uranium glass, clocks, typewriters and sewing machines.
“Bonkers”, is how Jane describes the collection as she takes me on the tour around the hotel. They were even gifted a piano which now stands in the bar.
However, perhaps the most amazing object is the Ottis trellis-gated lift that dates back to when the property was extended in 1927 and still transports guests to their rooms. Rivalling it is the old ballroom in the basement with its sprung maple floor which was also created in 1927.
Next to that is the snooker room which has a pink baize and plays to perfection, or at least it played better than I did on my solitary venture.
Adapting with the Times
Jane has described the Walpole Bay as a “period hotel full of the ambience of a bygone era”, but this is an epithet which no longer strictly applies.
While the four-poster bed in my room might still be the one Emin opted not to have her best sex on, the rest of the room has been updated. Many of the original rooms have been knocked through to create more spacious and modern accommodation. Some of the original furniture has been stripped back to give the rooms increased light.
I found my stay to be most comfortable.
Walpole Bay Hotel Afternoon Tea
Inevitably, I find myself invited to afternoon tea in the dining room. It is quite exquisite, with smoked salmon, cucumber, ham and egg sandwiches, served with lemon drizzle cake, a scone and choice of pot of tea or coffee. It is exactly how it should be with the crusts removed from the sandwiches and everything served in the best china, although the napkins are still paper.
It is undeniably one of the best afternoon tea experiences I have had in the UK. Swearing was not compulsory.
Although the kitchen is closed for dinner, Jane allows guests to have food delivered, which they can eat in the restaurant, only requesting them to purchase any drinks from the bar.
Walpole Bay and Walpole Bay Tidal Pool
My room has a small balcony from which I can look out onto Walpole Bay. The name took its name from a ship that sank here. It in turn was named after the former Prime Minister.
Walpole Bay also has a Grade II listed tidal pool which opened in 1937 and is said to be the largest in the UK. Jane has been known to greet swimmers with hot water bottles to warm more than their spirits.
Unsurprisingly the hotel has appeared in many TV shows and films including an episode of The Larkins. It also has drawn quite a following with creatives, many of whom are repeat customers, and whose photographs are on show in the restaurant.
The Walpole Bay Hotel is a curiosity, full of charm that exudes a certain timelessness. Perhaps this is best demonstrated by the view from my terrace across Walpole Bay and over the sea where on fine days you can see one of those “wonderful Wordsworth sunsets” as Jane describes them that have been drawing tourists since tourism started.
I might not have had the best sex in my life at the Walpole Bay Hotel – a double kiss in my frame of snooker the closest I came – but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my stay. I just hope that Jane’s love affair with the Walpole Bay Hotel continues for the next three decades.
The Walpole Bay Hotel Margate
To book a room or afternoon tea at the Walpole, click here.
Things To Do on the Isle of Thanet
For more information on the things to do in the Isle of Thanet, go to www.visitthanet.co.uk.
Wellness in Margate
The Walpole Bay tidal pool is just one of a number of options for wellness in Margate. Click here to discover more.
All images: Mark Bibby Jackson.
