Hotel Continental, Whitstable

Attractive-looking hotel right at the eastern end of Whitstable's beachfront, with a smart, modernised appearance of the three-part interior too. However, as the weather was still good, most customers were out on the narrow front patio terrace (partly under cover of the porticoed entrance. Being under the same ownership as the Whitstable Brewery, I was pleased to find five of their craft keg beers being served, including the seasonal Rocky Red (£3.25, half), plus a cider.

We found this place rather farcical. The layout hasn’t changed since the previous review, though there are now taps on the bar. These, however, proved pointless, as the first three things we ordered were ‘off’. The young barmaid was useless to the point of incompetence, while the other clients projected all the joy and conviviality of a clap-clinic waiting room, more incontinent than Continental. The emphasis now appears to be on the accommodation, the bar and restaurant being merely inconvenient adjuncts. The management and staff were genuinely unable to arrange a beer-up in a brewery-owned bar. Life is too short to return here.