Room 19 - click on image for room story inc audio commentary

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Scroll down for Audio commentary# Room 19 – The Royal Harbour Hotel

Welcome to Room 19 at the Royal Harbour Hotel.

And first of all, congratulations! You've made it up three floors of stairs to reach us. We know it's quite a climb, but hopefully you'll agree that the reward is worth the effort.

Because just look at that magnificent view!

Spread out before you is Ramsgate's Royal Harbour, with its fishing boats, yachts and occasional larger vessels coming and going. It's a constantly changing picture, from the early morning light dancing on the water to the harbour lights twinkling at dusk.

I never tire of it, and I hope you won't either.

Now, having caught your breath and admired the view, let me tell you a little about the room itself.

The walls are painted in a lovely shade called Copenhagen Blue, and there's a little story behind that choice.

The hotel stands on Nelson Crescent, named after Admiral Lord Nelson, whose famous victory at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 seemed a rather good excuse to choose a paint colour with the same name. I do like it when there's a story behind a colour, and the soft blue works particularly well with the sea and sky outside.

The bed has a dark wooden frame with an upholstered, checked headboard, which I think sits rather nicely against the blue walls.

The bedside tables came from Firmdale Hotels in London, where I used to work. They're beautifully made, solid and practical, and have found a very happy second home here. I've always thought it rather a shame when perfectly good furniture is discarded simply because a hotel is being refurbished. One hotel's cast-offs can be another hotel's treasures.

Now, the painting above the bed is by Dorothy Duval, a local artist who died in 2005. We have several of her paintings throughout the hotel, and this is one of my favourites.

It depicts Viking Bay in nearby Broadstairs, with people enjoying themselves on the beach beside the distinctive white weatherboarded building known as the Old Boathouse or Lookout, which is still there today.

If you visit Broadstairs, do go and see it for yourself. It's only a ten-minute drive from the hotel, or, if you're feeling energetic, a lovely forty to forty-five-minute walk along the beach, tides permitting.

I've always thought there's something rather special about visiting the places artists have painted, standing where they might have stood and seeing how much, or how little, has changed over the years.

On the opposite wall, you'll find another view of Viking Bay, this time an etching by Michael Blaker. I bought it in London many years ago and was delighted to discover, when I later moved to Ramsgate, that the artist was already living here. A rather pleasing coincidence.

It's rather fun having two different artists' interpretations of the same beach in one room, particularly when the real thing is only a short journey away.

There's also a small collection of pictures by Guy Le Gendre, including a colourful harbour scene and an exhibition poster for one of his exhibitions.

I first came across Guy Le Gendre while holidaying in France back in 1997, when I bought an artist's palette directly from him.

There's something rather fascinating about an artist's palette, with its accumulated colours and traces of paint. It's almost a work of art in its own right, and I particularly like the thought of owning something that was part of the creative process rather than simply the finished result.

And, nearly thirty years later, it's lovely to have that little connection with a holiday in France still very much alive.

There's also a rather dramatic painting of Saint-Tropez harbour, which I bought directly from the artist back in 2002. I probably paid a tourist price at the time, but that's the lovely thing about buying paintings when you're travelling. They always remind you of where you were, the people you met and the circumstances in which you found them. A painting becomes much more than something to hang on a wall. It becomes a little piece of your own history.

The old pine sideboard adds warmth and character to the room, with its mellow colour and the inevitable marks that come with age. You'll notice that the television sits on top of it, off to one side.

That was quite deliberate.

I could have mounted the television on the wall directly opposite the bed, but I didn't want a large black screen dominating the room. It's there when you want it, but otherwise it takes a back seat to the paintings, the furniture and, most importantly, that wonderful harbour view. I've always felt that a television should be part of a room, rather than the reason for arranging everything else around it.

The chest of drawers in the alcove is rather different. It was made to measure by Jali, a company based near Canterbury.

They have a clever system where you design the furniture yourself online, specifying the exact dimensions and style, and it arrives in kit form for you to assemble. It's particularly useful in an old Georgian building, where alcoves rarely seem to accommodate standard furniture. This allowed us to make proper use of an awkward space, and I rather enjoyed putting it together.

There's also a comfortable armchair beside the window, where you can sit with a cup of tea and watch the world go by.

And that's really what this room is about.

Whether it's the early morning light on the water, the fishing boats returning to their moorings or the harbour lights coming on at dusk, there's always something to look at.

Room 19 is a mixture of furniture and pictures collected over the years, a paint colour inspired by a famous naval battle, and a few practical ideas that have worked rather well.

Nothing has been chosen simply because it matches. Most things have found their way here because I liked them, they had an interesting story, or they were simply too good to pass up.

But ultimately, it's the view that makes this room special.

And that's something I couldn't have improved upon, however hard I tried.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.