Rocksalt Restaurant and Rooms – with four boutique en-suite bedrooms – have a very enviable location on the South Kent coast. The glass fronted restaurant sits right on the harbour, overlooking the English Channel, whilst the rooms are just behind, on a cobbled street, above a restored and renovated fish market building, now a very funky and cool restaurant. (Although its website does state it is currently closed, at the time of writing). When we stayed, it was in December, and we arrived on a cold, dark early evening – check in was done in the hotel, which did look rather lovely, but as our time was limited, we just wanted to get into our room and relax, after a long drive up from south east France and a ferry crossing.
Our room was called “La La” and is classed as a standard king room, but I think it offers a little more than “standard” fare. With just four rooms, the B&B feels very cosy and intimate and has been styled exquisitely. Stripped back brick walls, and an industrial chic look – certainly in our room and en-suite – made the place feel very contemporary, but still retaining a nod to its past. We believe that each of the four rooms is individually decorated and each has its own style, but they all share certain features as standard – Egyptian cotton linen, antique wrought iron beds, Nespresso coffee machines, industrial wall lights, modern wet rooms and metro tiling.
The bare brick walls and industrial piping, to hide cables – hurrah, as exposed cables are the bane of my life and there is NO need for them! – were complemented with soft Victoriana wallpaper and chocolate brown fabric blinds.
The ensuite was small, but perfectly formed. White metro tiles ensured that the wet room was pristine – you can’t hide much when your room is white tiled – and much attention to detail was paid to the sanitary ware, including a Victorian cistern and a wall of bare bricks. The shower was modern and super effective – with a big rainhead and a hand held attachment, it was a pleasure showering in this room.
We’re not sure if they still do breakfasts in the way we received ours, as it was a few years ago that we stayed (Dec 2017), and it may now be served in the restaurant. But our picnic basket, delivered to the door at the time we requested, was perfect for us – croissants, pastries, French stick, museli. juice and fruit.
Next time we do a ferry crossing, we’ll definitely be doing a return visit to Folkestone and Rocksalt. And, hopefully, this time, we’ll take in the restaurant, too.
additional info:
- parking is available, in a nearby car park, at a daily fee
- the Port of Dover is approximately 14 minutes away (7.3 miles) via A20 and B2011
- rocksalt restaurant information here
We were not sponsored to write this post and we received no kick-backs. Full price was paid for our accommodation. We recommend it simply because we really liked it, and thought it was definitely worth what we paid.