TV Restaurants

Is Walpole Bay Hotel Still Open? The Hotel Inspector Update (Margate, UK)

Open

As of October 2026, Walpole Bay Hotel is open — confirmed via the restaurant's current website/social account, accessed October 19, 2026.

Primary source
walpolebayhotel.co.uk ·
Secondary source
heritageopendays.org.uk ·

Last verified

What the source shows: The hotel's own site, last modified 2026-10-19, announces a winter closure from 2026-11-01, reopening on 2027-03-04, and bookings for the 2027 season.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 2
  • Original air date
  • Address Fifth Avenue, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2JJ

Interactive map — loads when you ask for it.

Everything on this map is also in the list below.

© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

What happened after The Hotel Inspector?

The Walpole Bay Hotel on Fifth Avenue in Cliftonville, Margate, was the second episode of series 5 of The Hotel Inspector (Channel 5), which aired on 2009-07-13. Wikipedia's episode list describes an Edwardian hotel in serious difficulty. Alex Polizzi returned for a follow-up episode that Wikipedia lists as Walpole Bay Hotel + B&B (Revisited), aired on 2012-08-30.

The hotel's own website, read on 2026-10-19 with page metadata showing it was last modified that day, says the hotel closes at midday on Sunday 2026-11-01 and reopens at midday on Thursday 2027-03-04, with the phone answered on weekday mornings in between. The site says the hotel is taking bookings for the 2027 season, online or by phone, and announces a new electric-vehicle charger available by advance booking at five pounds an hour. It describes the hotel as family-run by the Bishop family and carries pages on both Hotel Inspector visits, a museum and a gallery. Its footer copyright is dated 2022.

A Heritage Open Days listing for a historical talk by owner Jane Bishop and a self-guided museum tour runs from 12 to 21 September; a related event on the same page is dated 13 September 2025, which indicates the 2025 programme. The listing says the building dates from 1914, was extended in 1927 and has been owned by the Bishop family since 1995. A Google Maps listing for Walpole Bay Hotel Margate, checked on 2026-10-19, marks the business operational.

Series 9, episode 9 of The Hotel Inspector (Channel 5), titled "Walpole Bay Revisited," aired 2012-08-30. According to Wikipedia's episode list, presenter Alex Polizzi went back to Margate to see a hotelier she had advised earlier, and the welcome she received was cold. TVmaze's episode guide gives the same outline: a return visit to the Margate hotelier she had worked with before. The episode belongs to the show's run of follow-up visits to properties covered in earlier series. Neither listing describes what she found at the hotel or what happened afterward.

Featured on The Hotel Inspector

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 2
Original air date
Episode title
Walpole Bay
What was featured
Edwardian Margate seafront hotel with a museum, in difficulty, later revisited
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Walpole Bay Hotel
Season / episode
Season 9, Episode 9
Original air date
Episode title
Walpole Bay Revisited
What was featured
Follow-up visit to a Margate hotelier Alex had advised; cold welcome
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Walpole Bay Hotel

More from The Hotel Inspector

Every The Hotel Inspector restaurant

Other TV restaurants in South East England

All South East England locations

Nearest restaurants

  • Westbrook Lodge

    Margate, UK · 1.9 mi away

    The Hotel Inspector

    Open Checked

  • Garden Lodge Guest House

    Folkestone, UK · 21 mi away

    The Hotel Inspector

    Closed Checked

  • Westward Ho! Hotel

    Folkestone, UK · 24 mi away

    The Hotel Inspector

    Open Checked

  • Who'd A Thought It

    Grafty Green, UK · 34 mi away

    The Hotel Inspector

    Open Checked

  • Hotel Continental

    Harwich, UK · 38 mi away

    The Hotel Inspector

    Closed Checked

  • The Oakland Hotel

    South Woodham Ferrers, UK · 38 mi away

    The Hotel Inspector

    Open Checked

Visit info

Address
Fifth Avenue, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2JJ
Venue type
hotel
Official website
walpolebayhotel.co.uk

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Hotel_Inspector_episodes
  • walpolebayhotel.co.uk — http://www.walpolebayhotel.co.uk/
  • heritageopendays.org.uk — https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/historical-talk-and-tour-of-the-walpole-bay-hotel-museum-and-napery-gallery-margate.html
  • tvmaze.com — https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/3130/the-hotel-inspector/episodeguide

See something wrong?

We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.

See something wrong? Tell us →

Share this page

Record thi-024 · last verified .