Our favourite dog-friendly accommodation
A holiday without your dog isn’t really a holiday at all, but so often when you’re looking for dog-friendly accommodation in the UK, you’re forced to compromise on style and quality in order to bring your best friend. We inspect hundreds of places across the UK every year, accepting only the ones we think you’ll love. Below, we’ve chosen a handful of our favourite places, from inns to holiday cottages and hotels.
5&6 Porth Farm Cottages
Cornwall, Self-catering
A beautiful old cottage that perfectly captures everything dog-friendly accommodation in Cornwall should be. It’s down a little rutted lane, a few minutes’ walk to the beach, with trails through woods and fields or along the shore to the local pub. The nearest village even has a surf school and a chip shop, so you can have the classic Cornish day of smashing about in the waves then lazing in the sun with salty, battered goodness.
The cottages are part of a horseshoe of converted farm buildings that all share a communal garden which is itself a pleasant place to while away an hour or two, with swings and zipwires for the kids to play on while you lay out lunch on the picnic bench. Inside the original stonework and beams give the place a timeless feel and unfussy décor puts you instantly at ease.
Another Place
The Lake District, Hotel
Despite the unassuming name, there aren’t many places like Another Place. It looks like a classy spa hotel, with the pool and hot tub both looking out at the hills, but it feels like a beach bar. Being at the heart of the Lake District’s spectacular walking country means there are plenty of dogs around and while you can’t take them into the restaurant, they are welcome in the laid-back bar, where they can sprawl under tables as you tuck into a fabulous burger.
As well as the obvious choices of hiking and biking, you can also sail, swim and paddle board from the hotel’s private jetty and there’s a great program of events running all year as well as a dedicated kids’ zone where children can play or learn crafts and outdoor skills under qualified expert supervision.
Shangri-La
Norfolk, Self-catering
A simple, clean style and the most amazing location make this a great find if you’re after dog-friendly accommodation in Norfolk. The sea is just over the dunes and the beach has no restrictions about dogs at all, so you can walk any time of year, any time of day and be back in minutes to fall asleep to the sound of the surf. You might also hear the seals, with the colony at Horsey, Europe’s second largest, just down the beach.
The house itself is a Passivhaus, incredibly energy efficient and designed to make the most of the location, which the owners fell in love with years ago. Clear of clutter, with a linear layout and big windows, it’s an indoor-outdoor space where you can walk straight into the garden from every room.
The Meikleour Arms
Scotland, Inn
Just an hour from Edinburgh, this friendly foodie inn is a brilliant place to disappear into the Scottish countryside. A 20-minute walk takes you down to the river and the woodland on the estate and there are several good routes to explore without driving. If you don’t mind hopping in the car, then you can out to hike a circular loop along the river Tay and seek out the Hermitage waterfall.
The Meikleour Arms is the kind of dog-friendly place where your own best friend will make plenty of new ones. They’ll be found stretched out by the wood burner in the bar, where you can sample the estate’s own ale and choose from a dizzying menu of malts. Much of the food is home-grown and what isn’t is wonderfully local, from the hand-dived scallops to the venison from the Meikleour woods.
Stow House
Yorkshire, B&B
A stunningly stylish B&B that’s sprung up behind the unassuming frontage of an old rectory and made this place one of our favourite dog-friendly places in Yorkshire. Sarah and Phil have stocked the honesty bar and leave it open till midnight, having started you off with her own punchy cocktails. They take breakfast seriously too (and quietly if you stayed till closing time) with local meats, homemade granola and fresh, homebaked bread.
Four of the seven rooms are dog-friendly, giving you plenty of choice, and all of them have flair, colour and lovely views of the surrounding hills. Walks straight from the door lead along the banks of the River Ure or up Penhill and across the moors and Stow House is only 20 minutes from Wensleydale Creamery, where lovers of cheese can sample and buy the only cheese to rightfully carry the name.
Written by
Chris Elmes
Chris is our copywriter, who spins enticing articles out of rough notes and travel tales. Having grown up in rural Wiltshire with only cats, he defected to Team Dog and now roams the countryside with Porth, a gorgeous spaniel named after a Welsh town in what he considers to be a joke. They love disappearing into the hills and coming back hungry for a good pub meal, although Porth has not been convinced to follow Chris into vegetarianism.
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