A long-neglected hotel on Margate seafront will relaunch next month following major renovation.

Fort Road Hotel was snapped up at auction for £360,000 in 2018 and now, four years down the line, the once-dilapidated venue is set to open under its new ownership.

The historic building is thought to be one of the only structures left that JMW Turner would have visited and still recognised to this day.

Once open in August, the hotel is to boast 14 bedrooms, a roof terrace and 35-cover restaurant.

A subterranean mezzanine will also be on offer, with a private vault catering for 24 guests available.

Bosses say the interior of the Fort Road site has a key focus on art, with work by the likes of Tracey Emin and Lindsey Mendick on display.

The new hotel is the brainchild of Frieze magazine Matthew Slotover, private residential developer Gabriel Chipperfield, and artist Tom Gidley.

The building was acquired by Thanet District Council in October 2010 with a view to looking for expressions of interest from potential developers through a compulsory purchase order.

But a structural survey deeming it in a state of disrepair and unsuccessful negotiations meant the 18th century property was transferred from the council’s general fund to its housing revenue account for use as social housing.

Despite public backlash, it was poised to be demolished to make way for homes, however the project fell by the wayside.

The council then decided to sell off the site at auction, going for double the guide price of £180,000 in 2018.

The vision to breathe new life into the abandoned site was revealed a year later, and with planning permission then gained, work on on the hotel is now almost complete.