This summer in the UK has been particularly ridiculous. Since the end of June we’ve had one heatwave after another, and I even had the misfortune of waking up in the middle of the night with a dry mouth because it was so hot. By the weekend, I’d had enough, so it was time to escape to the seaside and cool down!
This time I finally checked out a hotel I’d been keeping an eye on for ages: voco the Clifton Folkestone. There were several reasons for the choice. First, it’s much cooler by the sea. Second, the hotel has pretty good reviews. And third, the beach is literally on the doorstep!
It also gave me an excuse to experience HS1, the UK’s only high-speed railway. From St Pancras, the train runs via Stratford and reaches Folkestone in less than an hour, making it faster than getting to places such as Brighton or Portsmouth.
One thing to note is that the St Pancras–Stratford section is also high-speed rail, so it can be considerably more expensive. If you tap in with an Oyster card or contactless, it isn’t charged according to London’s usual zone-based pricing.
After leaving the station, it’s about a ten-minute walk to the hotel. The little white villa looks very much at home in a seaside setting.
There’s a large lawn in front of the hotel, and on Saturday there seemed to be some sort of festival performance going on, so the whole place was rather lively.
The beach really is right outside the hotel. The catch, however, is the elevation difference. It turns out the name Clifton isn’t entirely coincidental – the area really is perched on a cliff. Getting down to the beach isn’t too bad, but climbing back up afterwards is quite a workout.
The water was fairly clean, although it’s a pebble beach rather than sand, so anyone specifically looking for a sandy beach might be disappointed.
Back at the hotel, the reception and public areas have that cosy boutique-hotel atmosphere, with classical touches everywhere.
The hotel is also surprisingly generous when it comes to room upgrades. I’ve actually made several bookings here before, even though I hadn’t stayed until now, and each time I was upgraded to a Premium Room immediately. This stay was no exception.
The room has something of a corner-room layout, and the decor is wonderfully fresh and bright. Many British seaside hotels are rather dated, so this was a pleasant little surprise.
You can also catch a small glimpse of the sea through the window.
I was particularly amused to find an electric toothbrush charging socket in the bathroom. I think this might be the first hotel I’ve stayed at with one!
Breakfast was just a standard full English breakfast, with nothing particularly memorable.
I also had dinner at the hotel. The restaurant is Marco Pierre White, a British chain that operates in partnership with a number of hotels.
I didn’t have particularly high expectations of the brand, but the signature steak turned out to be surprisingly good – looked great and tasted even better.
Check-out is at 11am. Since I was planning to head home fairly early anyway, I didn’t ask about late checkout. The hotel staff were also excellent throughout the stay. Overall, it was a very pleasant stay. voco is one of those IHG brands with a rather wide range of quality—the ceiling can be very high, but so can the floor be low. I’ve only stayed at the Cardiff property and this one so far, and I’ve been very happy with both. Interestingly, they also have a somewhat similar feel.
Finally, a few words about Folkestone itself. First of all, it really is cooler here! London was around 30°C over these two days, while Folkestone was only about 25°C. I finally felt like I could breathe again.
There’s also a very nice seaside promenade. Head east and you can eventually walk all the way to Dover, although that’s quite a long way. I went in the other direction towards Hythe instead, enjoying the sea breeze along the way.
As for Folkestone itself, it’s basically an ordinary small town and doesn’t have much in the way of major attractions. Parts of the town centre even feel a little run-down. But for visitors like us, most of the time is really spent by the sea—and from that perspective, it’s a pretty lovely place for a weekend escape.
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