Thanet Hotel Annex

Lacks routine maintenance. Noisy doors closing. Could do with a complete refit.

One approaches a hotel with modest expectations: shelter, cleanliness, and the faint impression that somebody, somewhere, cares whether the establishment continues to exist. This particular specimen, however, appears to have been abandoned to entropy years ago and left to decay in a state of sullen resignation. The location is undeniably excellent, which is fortunate, for one quickly develops a desire to spend as little time as possible within the building itself. The room greeted me not with hospitality but with neglect. Dust lingered in corners like an inherited curse. The carpets seemed acquainted with every contaminant known to civilisation but entirely unfamiliar with a vacuum cleaner. The walls bore the accumulated smudges and abrasions of countless previous occupants, preserved with a curatorial devotion that might have impressed a museum of urban dereliction. What was most remarkable was not the extent of the deterioration but the apparent indifference to it. None of the defects required expensive renovation. A bucket of warm water, a sponge, a tin of paint, and twenty minutes of conscientious labour would have transformed the place. Instead, management appears to have embraced a philosophy of passive observation, watching the premises decline while making no discernible attempt to intervene. Indeed, upon arrival I was briefly tempted to request a vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies so that I might perform the duties that the hotel had so conspicuously neglected. It was an absurd impulse, though perhaps not as absurd as charging guests for the privilege of inhabiting the results of such chronic disregard. Nor was the price sufficiently modest to excuse any of this. One expects compromise from a bargain basement establishment. What one does not expect is to pay a respectable sum for accommodation that looks as though it has survived a minor siege and received only the most cursory attention in its aftermath. The hotel's greatest asset remains its location. Remove that advantage and one suspects the building would stand empty, serving as a useful case study in the distinction between wear and tear, and simple neglect. The former is inevitable; the latter is a choice. Here, it appears to have been made enthusiastically.

Staff were friendly and helpful. May stay here again.

The basic single room is not recommended for stay. It doesn't match with what have been posted in the website. The condition is quite bad, but luckily it is consider clean.