A weekend away at The Restoratory with friends was exactly what I needed for relaxation and rejuvenation.   Coming down from London, we were on what felt like our own private beach in less than two hours – minus the hassle of airports and security queues. The main Tudor house provided a beautiful backdrop, but having our own separate drive gave us the privacy and seclusion we craved.  The photos on Unique Homestays didn’t do justice to the amazing location - right on the beach, with huge open skies, and views over the bay to Ramsgate.  Grabbing the keys from the key safe, we were greeted by a wonderful hamper of local Kentish products: Whitstable Pickle, Kent crisps, local honey, marmalade, and chocolates.

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The house is beautifully decorated, with amazing attention to detail - I loved the retro light fittings.  The kitchen had beautiful tiles, and open shelves with everything we could possibly need, and the bathroom was replete with Neal’s Yard products.

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The house is perfectly set up for relaxation: a massive roll top bath; an extensive collection of DVDs available in the playroom; throws to snuggle up with on the sofa enjoying our hamper of goodies; a well-curated selection of coffee table books; and an ice bucket for emergency wine chilling – it turns out that the hamper came stocked with sparkling wine!

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Picture-perfect Sandwich is just down the road, and ideal for breakfast – I recommend fresh croissants and coffee from the No Name Deli.  Sandwich is the oldest of the Cinque Ports, and is really unspoiled.  It’s lovely just wandering around the main street – The Strand -  apparently has more medieval and Tudor buildings than any other street in England.  However, I’d recommend getting the boat that goes up the river to see the Roman forts and a surprising number of seals! We went on a lovely walk down the beach to Deal for lunch on the pier with views back to the town.  Deal itself is bigger than Sandwich, but also lovely and a welcome change of pace from London.

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I meant to do much more during my stay: one of my closest friends has been raving to me about the Turner Contemporary in Margate; and Dreamland in Margate has recently re-opened – I have fond memories from my childhood days! However to be honest I loved the house and the beach so much I couldn’t bring myself to leave, and my friends and I passed a weekend curled up reading books, watching DVDs, swimming in the sea (I was dared to – it’s pretty cold!) and walking on the beach.

After such a wonderful long weekend I was really sad to leave. However, as Sandwich Bay is so easy to get to from London - I’ve already booked in my next stay!

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