A takeover of the former Sands Hotel, facing the Main Sands in the thick of it all, No. 42 is part of a boutique brand that has hotels in York, Bath and Brighton. Neutral-toned rooms with Crosley vinyl players feel like the Balearics-meets-Kent coast, and there’s little messing with Whitsable oysters and Kentish ribeyes at the Art Deco-ish Pearly Cow restaurant with stellar terrace views. The rooftop bar buzzes come summer, and there are treatment rooms and a copper bath in the basement spa.     

Holder of one of the UK’s first Green Michelin stars, everything’s just so at this little Old Town spot with Thonet chairs and tactile recycled plastic tables – not least the seafood caught fresh from local dayboats, from Thornback ray or skate wing to buttery Dover sole with cockles. The pure vision of owners Lee Coad and Charlotte Forsdike, and head chef Rob Cooper, extends to ceramic dishes made from fish byproduct. A stay at one of the three bright Angela’s Rooms above guarantees a reservation. 

Okay, Margate has more great restaurants than we can mention here, but at a certain point you need to sit on the steps overlooking the Harbour Arm  with a fish supper from Peter’s, which never fails – even when the deals get eyebrow-raisingly good, like £4.50 for flaky haddock and chips. Don’t worry: as the seagull’s also know, it’s still good. If you want to be classy, pair with a Little Swift cocktail or beer from the Xylo microbrewery.  

When did a museum last make you LOL? The brainchild of brothers Bertie Terrilliams and Ned Suesat-Williams, with their friend Chase Coley, it’s hard to explain this place – essentially an idiosyncratic joke with a serious message, which uses crab facts to explore climate change, capitalism and the history of pretty much everything. Imagine a spotted reef crab moonlighting as a trade unionist, or a video of a human failing to shed armour in the way a crab would. Or just go and see for yourself.