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Seafront Hotel & Restaurant in Deal, Kent
Family-run since 1987 • Sea-view rooms • Fresh local seafood • Warm coastal hospitality
About us
Now heading into their 40th year in business, Ian and Linda Dunkerley have spent almost four decades at the helm of Dunkerley’s Hotel & Restaurant on Beach Street, Deal. What started in 1987 as a modest restaurant has grown over the years into the family-run 16-bedroom seafront hotel, restaurant and bistro it is today.
The Dunkerley family roots are firmly embedded in Deal’s rich maritime history. ‘The Signal Man’ hotel room is named after Ian Dunkerley’s grandfather, Edward Hall, who spent 36 years as a local lifeboatman.
Ian’s own working life started early. At the age of 14 he held down six jobs while still attending school, including running his own business on Ashford train station selling Sunday newspapers, dishing up meals at Stanhope council estate’s chip shop and, enterprisingly, scraping winkles from the walls at Folkestone harbour and flogging them for one shilling and sixpence a cone.
Ian later trained at Thanet College before going on to work at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair in 1973 and then heading up some of South Kent’s biggest hotels and restaurants. But family ties — and childhood summers spent running around Walmer Green while his grandad served on the lifeboat — eventually drew him back to Deal.
1979
With Linda — whom Ian met while working as head chef at The Woolpack in her home village of Chilham — by his side, the pair opened The Cambridge Room above the “Drum Major” pub on Dover Road in 1979.
Ian, a keen cricket enthusiast, remembers: “We ran it for a couple of years, but it was never going to get me any further.”
1981
In 1981, Ian joined the Mermaid Group at the Royal Hotel as head chef and, within six months, trade had trebled. Ian and Linda went on to take management roles together, during a period when specialists had told them they were unlikely to be able to have children.
1984
The next move took them to the 100-bedroom Abbotts Barton Hotel in Canterbury, followed by a directorship with Mermaid Cellars and Shipping. By 1987, however, Ian and Linda were ready to take a chance on something of their own — a small café-restaurant on the seafront in Deal.
1987
In 1987, Ian and Linda bought the “modest” Pegasus restaurant on Beach Street, Deal — and the Dunkerley’s story really began.
Ian recalls: “The Pegasus proved a lucky charm. Over the next seven years we produced four children and, like our family, the restaurant grew too. Initially, with two part-time staff and a 40-cover restaurant, it just continued to evolve — as did our children, who helped out in the business along the way.”
1994
Never ones to stand still, Ian and Linda converted the building above the restaurant into six bedrooms, transforming Dunkerley’s from a restaurant into a restaurant with rooms.
Expansion continued when two garages were demolished following a land swap, making way for a new modern kitchen as the business continued to grow.
1997
In 1997 came another big chapter when Ian and Linda bought the neighbouring Pier Hotel. By knocking through into the adjoining building and creating a further ten bedrooms, Dunkerley’s became the 16-bedroom hotel and restaurant it is today.
Ian — a former President of the Deal and Walmer Chamber of Trade and an active Rotarian — attributes the success of the business to a positive outlook, hard graft and the loyal and talented staff, past and present, whom he still talks about with enormous warmth.
2000
Awarded South East Best Small Hotel
2007
A terrace was created in front of the Bistro and Dunkerley’s Alfresco was born — giving guests a place to sit out and enjoy life on Deal seafront.
2017
By 2017, the next generation was firmly at the heart of the business, with Ian and Linda’s son Ben Dunkerley leading the kitchen. Having grown up around the restaurant and built years of experience of his own, Ben continues the family’s passion for food and keeps the kitchen very much at the heart of Dunkerley’s.
2026
Almost four decades after Ian and Linda first took a chance on that little restaurant on Beach Street, Dunkerley’s is now heading into its 40th year.
The business may have grown into a 16-bedroom seafront hotel, restaurant and bistro, and another generation may now be helping to carry it forward, but at heart it is still what it always was — a family business built around good food, hard graft, loyal people and a genuine love of Deal.
Still got our faces to the sunshine
A lot of talented chefs have passed through our hands over the years and gone on to enjoy incredible careers of their own. We have people who have been with us for years, but we have always believed in giving younger staff opportunities too. It is incredibly rewarding to watch them grow in confidence, work ethic and people skills, and some have even returned later in their careers to take on senior roles, bringing all that valuable experience back with them.
We have weathered challenging recessions along the way, not forgetting the interruption of Covid, but we have always believed that in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. There have been countless refurbishments and changes over the years — and that evolution continues today.