Hotels in Whitstable

Whitstable is a working fishing town on the Kent coast, built its name on native oysters, and still sells them by the dozen from shacks along the harbour and the Royal Native Oyster Stores. The high street has gone determinedly upmarket in the last twenty years, all weatherboard cottages, independent galleries and seafood restaurants trading on that same oyster reputation, which means summer weekends are crowded and prices for a small coastal town are not cheap.

The beach is shingle rather than sand, dotted with colourful huts, and better for a bracing walk or sunset over the Street sandbar than for actual sunbathing. It's a day-trip and weekend-break town, not a resort with much nightlife once the restaurants close.