That thread, sadly overlooked at the time, almost makes me want to rethink the entire trip.

I was just about to reserve a room in Rye when my younger brother called with a potential itinerary snafu, a medical wait and see. I might not be on my own those two days, after all.

I really appreciate all the suggestions; could be happy at any of them.

My brother is cleared to fly, so I'm back on track.
I had settled on Rye, but it was making me nervous that the nice B&B's had hefty cancellation fees, or were non-cancelable.
So I started looking around at the excellent suggestions. Norwich room prices doubled there from the previous week: £173/night even for Premier Inn. Something going on in town.
Maybe I'll wait and see what the weather looks like, whether I want a museum-rich town or something coastal. Isle of Wight sounds fun, if warm and sunny, and if I can keep the Beatles song out of my head.

You could do worse than Whitstable. Nice walks along the shore, buses to Margate, which used to be a dump but is now trendy. Canterbury is not far away. I doubt you could get a table but if you can the Sportsman's at Seasalter is worth the effort believe me. We used to go there when visiting SIL but then it got discovered. She occasionally snags a table still because they know her, but not very often nowadays.
Same SIL used to have a beach hut at Tankerton, just a walk away from Whitstable.. Nice front row spot. Someone made her a silly money offer for it so she sold it. It sold again for more than twice what she got for it!

Nice. Thanks, hetis.

Hetismij, we head to Whitstable tomorrow for a day trip, brother's request. Would you happen to have an alternate seafood restaurant suggestion?