A prominent former pub described as a “town’s roughest” has been transformed into an eye-catching boutique hotel with a fine-dining restaurant.

The former Gillespie’s in Folkestone is now the London and Paris Hotel after husband-and-wife team Ben and Lucy Cuthbert spent two years painstakingly restoring the 19th-century building.

The venue’s seafood restaurant opened last month and the hotel rooms, which all come with a sea view overlooking Folkestone Harbour, are set to follow at the end of September.

The prime site, close to the Grand Burstin, has a chequered past, with one Tripadvisor reviewer describing Gillespie’s as “a disgrace to Folkestone's image” in 2017.

While some praised its “good music” and “great prices”, others criticised the pub for having “lots of outdoor fighting” and a “rough clientele”.

But Gemma Aldridge, the new general manager of London and Paris Hotel, says customers local to Folkestone say the place is now unrecognisable.

“We have had some really positive feedback,” she explained.

“A lot of people in Folkestone only know it as Gillespie’s so the initial reaction when they walk through the door is amazement.

“They can see how much work has gone into it and how beautiful it looks.”

Mr Cuthbert added: “We have changed it as Folkestone has changed.

“What the previous owners did was great for Folkestone at the time, but now we want to do something different.

“It’s the next phase of the building's history.”

Mr and Mrs Cuthbert are behind L&B Restaurants and also own five other venues across the town including The Harbour Inn next door.

They got the keys in October 2020 and since then have worked non-stop to transform the building.

“It has been a difficult renovation,” explained Mr Cuthbert.

“At one point you could stand at the bottom of the building and look all the way up to the top, that was only last October.

“There was a lot of damp that needed to be repaired and we have restructured the building so all the hotel rooms now have a sea view.

“We spent a lot of time taking the render off the building and restoring the outside appearance as well as the interior to turn it back into a hotel which it was originally built for.

“The idea is for the hotel to be a place for people to fall in love, write their memoirs, and escape from everything.”

As well as restoring original features, the Harbour Street site has also reverted to its original name.

“It was built as the London and Paris hotel and it was to do with Folkestone becoming a tourist spot for the Victorians,” Mr Cuthbert added.

“As the train line came down, people would stay in Folkestone before crossing on a boat to France.

“When we did the refurbishments we took the paint back and found the original sign work for the London and Paris Hotel dating back to when it first opened.”

While the restaurant is open for lunch, dinners and drinks, the finishing touches are still being made to the 11 hotel rooms.

All of the rooms have been designed by Mrs Cuthbert who says some will have a French nautical theme, while others will be Parisian with a modern twist.

Those on the first two floors are set to open at the end of September, while the remaining rooms on the top floor will open next summer alongside a rooftop terrace.