Luxury, in a dog friendly cottage, turns out to be less about marble and more about arrangement. The ten places below all carry a five star grading, yet what sets them apart is how they have been laid out for an animal: a garden room at the door of a Harrogate apartment built for drying a wet dog, a private lawn fenced off between a Shropshire terrace and a fishing pool, a second kitchen tucked behind the main one in a Victorian house at Alnwick. Some are small, like a shepherd hut for two with its own sauna at Pembridge. Others are enormous, like a seven bedroom house above Matlock that sleeps fourteen.
To a dog owner, the common thread matters more than the thread count. Every one was chosen from our map of stays against the same three tests: a five star grading, an enclosed garden described in the listing, and a dog allowance stated in writing. That allowance runs from one small dog at Bodcott to four at Ravenslaw House, and it rarely tracks the number of beds. Four of the ten have a hot tub, nine have a wood burner or an open fire, and they are spread from Perthshire to the Sussex coast, so read the dog number before you read anything else.
Five Acre, Perthshire
Five Acre sits on the edge of Auchterarder, a short run from Gleneagles, and it puts its best room upstairs. The lounge is on the first floor where the view is, while the kitchen, dining space and wood burner are on the ground floor with patio doors out to a decked terrace and an enclosed garden. A king bedroom with an en suite and a twin share the upper floor with the family bathroom, and a third shower room sits below. It sleeps four and takes two dogs, and the owners point guests towards secure dog parks nearby for a proper off lead run.
The catch is distance to open country on foot. The nearest walk we list, Dollar Glen and Castle Campbell, is 8.1 miles away in the Ochils, and the closest dog friendly sand is Aberdour Silver Sands at 22 miles, so most outings start with the car. In return you get Auchterarder's long high street, Gleneagles station 3 miles off, and Perth and Stirling either side for a day in town.
- Sleeps: 4 across 2 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Standout: An upstairs lounge for the view, a wood burner below and a welcome pack on arrival
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with a decked terrace
- Nearest walk: Dollar Glen and Castle Campbell Circular, 8.1 miles
- Best for: A couple or small family combining Perthshire walking with a Gleneagles treat
Riber House, Derbyshire
Riber House stands high on the hill at Starkholmes looking down over Matlock, and it is built for a crowd. Seven bedrooms sleep fourteen, there are five bathrooms, one of the bedrooms has a four poster, and a bedroom with a bathroom beside it sits on the ground floor for anyone who would sooner avoid the stairs. The hot tub is set on the patio facing the valley, indoor games cover the wet afternoons, and a fence runs round all of the grounds, no small thing for a house of this size.
Only two dogs come with fourteen guests, though, so a big family party with several dogs between them will have to decide who stays home. The walking is the strong suit: within 0.6 miles you can be on a loop over High Tor, a limestone cliff above the Derwent reached from Matlock Bath, and the shell of Riber Castle stands on the hill behind the house. A pub lies inside a mile.
- Sleeps: 14 across 7 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Standout: A patio hot tub facing the lights of Matlock
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with lawn and patio
- Nearest walk: Matlock Bath and High Tor Circular, 0.6 miles
- Best for: A large group bringing one or two dogs and wanting a hill walk from the gate
Bodcott - Pembridge, Herefordshire
Bodcott is the smallest place here and the most unexpected. It is a shepherd hut for two at Pembridge with a king size bed and a proper shower, and alongside it the owners have added an electric sauna and a separate heated sun room, which gives a single cabin a second space to sit in. Outside, the enclosed garden has a table and chairs, a fire pit and a rack for bikes, with space to park a single car.
The rule is one small dog, and the owners are clear that the size of the hut is the reason. A spaniel or anything larger rules itself out, so check before you book rather than on the doorstep. For the right dog it is a quiet base. Pembridge is a village of black and white timber framing with a bell tower standing apart from its church, and Croft Ambrey and Croft Castle is 3.7 miles north, an Iron Age hillfort with open ground on top.
- Sleeps: 2 in 1 bedroom
- Dogs welcome: 1 small dog
- Standout: An electric sauna and a heated sun room beside the hut
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with seating and a fire pit
- Nearest walk: Croft Ambrey and Croft Castle, 3.7 miles
- Best for: A couple with one small dog who want a sauna and nothing to organise
Scotstonrig Cottage, Scottish Borders
Scotstonrig is a farm cottage near West Linton, finished to a high standard: underfloor heating throughout, a range oven, a boiling tap, and a log burner in the sitting room, its first basket of logs left ready. A king bedroom and a twin share two bathrooms, one with a bath. The enclosed garden has furniture and a charcoal barbecue, and the cottage can also stable one horse, booked directly with the owner, which very few places on any list can say.
Two things are worth knowing in advance. Dogs are welcome on the ground floor but not upstairs, and the farm is a working one with livestock about, so dogs go on a lead until you are clear of the fields. Shops, pubs and restaurants are 4 miles away. The Pentland Hills rise above West Linton, Peebles and the Tweed are the gentler day out, and our nearest listed walk, Neidpath Castle and the River Tweed, is 7.5 miles off.
- Sleeps: 4 across 2 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 2, ground floor only
- Standout: Stabling for one horse, arranged with the owner
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with furniture and a charcoal barbecue
- Nearest walk: Neidpath Castle and the River Tweed from Peebles, 7.5 miles
- Best for: Riders and hill walkers who are happy to keep dogs on a lead around stock
The Orchid, North Yorkshire
The Orchid is a ground floor apartment in Harrogate for six, and its cleverest feature is the entrance. You come in through a garden room the owners designed for wet dogs, with seating and a television so it doubles as a second lounge, and nothing muddy needs to travel further. Beyond it are a kitchen and diner with bespoke units, a formal dining area, a lounge with a wood burner, a large bathroom with a freestanding bath and a shower, and three bedrooms at the far end.
Only one dog is allowed for six people, and the enclosed garden with its hot tub under a gazebo sits at the top of stone steps, which is worth weighing for an older dog or anyone unsteady on their feet. Against that, few luxury stays put you this close to town. The Harrogate and Valley Gardens Loop is 0.6 miles away, Knaresborough's gorge, viaduct and castle are 4 miles east, and Nidderdale begins a few miles west.
- Sleeps: 6 across 3 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Standout: A garden room at the entrance for drying dogs off
- Enclosed garden: Yes, up stone steps, with a hot tub and barbecue
- Nearest walk: Harrogate and the Valley Gardens Loop, 0.6 miles
- Best for: Friends or a family with one dog who want restaurants and riverside walks within reach
Casasands, Sussex
Casasands is a six bedroom house behind the dunes at Camber, sleeping twelve with three bathrooms, and the sand is about 100 metres from the patio doors. Those doors open straight into a fully enclosed garden, so with a dozen people coming and going a dog can be let out without anyone checking a gate first. There is a ground floor bedroom with a bathroom beside it, and a wood burner for the evenings.
Twelve guests, but only two dogs, so settle who brings them before the group is fixed. Camber Sands is 0.4 miles away and runs for miles east of the village, and it is worth checking its page for the dog rules before a summer visit. Inland the levels are flat and open, Rye is 3 miles away on its hill, and Romney Marsh starts just east of the village.
- Sleeps: 12 across 6 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Standout: The dunes and the beach a short walk from the patio doors
- Enclosed garden: Yes, fully enclosed
- Nearest dog beach: Camber Sands, 0.4 miles
- Best for: Two families sharing a house and one or two dogs by the sea
Heron Lodge, Shropshire
Heron Lodge at Ashford Bowdler, near Ludlow, was built new rather than converted, and it shows in the details. Sliding doors open the living space onto a terrace along its full width, the floor is level throughout, and both bedrooms have their own bathroom. The patio, with a table and barbecue, looks over a fishing pool, and between the two lies a private enclosed lawn. Two dog bowls and treats are waiting on arrival, there is a wood burner for winter, and a lockable store outside has its own light.
The allowance is one dog, so a pair of couples with a dog each will need to look elsewhere. The pool is beyond the fence rather than inside it, which is the right way round, but a dog that loves water will spend the week staring at it. The River Teme runs below at Ashford Carbonell, Bircher Common is 4 miles off, Mortimer Forest is 3 miles away, and the nearest pub is under a mile from the lodge.
- Sleeps: 4 across 2 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Standout: A fenced lawn between the terrace and a fishing pool
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a private enclosed lawn
- Nearest walk: Mortimer Forest, 3.0 miles
- Best for: Two couples, or a couple with an older dog who appreciates level floors
Tallett Cottage Ford, Gloucestershire
Tallett Cottage is at Ford, a hamlet on the Guiting road in the high Cotswolds above Temple Guiting. It has two king bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a lounge with a wood burner, and an enclosed garden with two seating areas and a charcoal barbecue. Parking takes two cars, and the evenness of the layout makes it an easy house for two couples to share with nobody drawing the short straw.
The dog allowance does not share out so evenly: one dog for four people. Agree whose comes before you set off. The walking is good and uncrowded. Guiting Wood runs along a shallow valley behind the hamlet for nearly 2 miles, beech and ash over a stream that is the young Windrush, and the Stanton to Snowshill Circular is 2.8 miles away. The local pub is less than a mile off.
- Sleeps: 4 across 2 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Standout: Two king bedrooms, both en suite
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with two seating areas
- Nearest walk: Stanton to Snowshill Circular, 2.8 miles
- Best for: Two couples and one dog wanting Cotswold woods without the crowds
Pennant View, Flintshire
Pennant View, at Whitford a few miles inland from the north Wales coast, sleeps eight and takes three dogs, which opens it up to households that usually struggle to find room. In the large enclosed garden are a hot tub, a permanent outdoor kitchen, a gas barbecue and two tables, with a store for bikes and room for four cars to park. Inside, a lounge with the television sits alongside a snug with a wood burner and a door that closes, and there is a drying room for wet dogs.
Two bathrooms for eight people is the tight spot here: a family bathroom and one en suite shower room across four bedrooms. The shop and the pub are 2 miles away. For walking, Greenfield Valley Heritage Park is 1.5 miles off, Gronant Beach is 5.7 miles, and in a field near the village stands Maen Achwyfan, a carved wheel headed cross about a thousand years old.
- Sleeps: 8 across 4 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 3
- Standout: A built in outdoor kitchen and a hot tub in the garden
- Enclosed garden: Yes, large
- Nearest walk: Greenfield Valley Heritage Park, 1.5 miles
- Best for: A family of eight travelling with three dogs
Ravenslaw House, Northumberland
Ravenslaw House was built in 1892 for William Hardy, of the Alnwick fishing tackle firm, and it now takes eighteen guests in nine bedrooms, every one of them with a bathroom of its own. Five bedrooms have four posters and three are on the ground floor, one with a private sitting room. Downstairs run a sitting room, a conservatory, a reading room, a grand piano, and a dining room where the open fire is lit, plus a butler's kitchen behind the main one with its own oven and fridge. A hot tub stands out on the patio, and a gate at the side leads to an enclosed garden.
Four dogs is the most generous allowance on this list, but spread across eighteen guests it still means most of the party will be borrowing somebody else's. The house is a walk down the hill from Alnwick, with the castle and its garden, Barter Books in the old station, and Hulne Park for miles of estate walking. A riverside walk across Alnwick Pastures begins 0.8 miles away and Alnmouth Beach is 3.4 miles east.
- Sleeps: 18 across 9 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 4
- Standout: Nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms, so nobody shares
- Enclosed garden: Yes, through a side gate
- Nearest walk: Alnwick Pastures and River Aln Walk, 0.8 miles
- Best for: A celebration for a big group with up to four dogs
Practical Advice for Booking a Luxury Dog Friendly Cottage
A five star grading is awarded for the house, not for the dog's experience of it. Before you book, check:
- The dog number against the guest number. Riber House sleeps fourteen and takes two dogs, Casasands sleeps twelve and takes two. Pennant View, with three dogs for eight people, is the most balanced.
- Size limits. Bodcott takes one small dog only, because of the size of the hut.
- Where dogs may go indoors. Scotstonrig keeps dogs on the ground floor.
- Steps to the garden or tub. The Orchid's garden and hot tub are up stone steps. Heron Lodge is level throughout, and Riber House and Ravenslaw House both have ground floor bedrooms.
- Livestock and water. Scotstonrig is on a working farm, and Heron Lodge looks over a fishing pool beyond its fence.
- Keep dogs out of the hot tub. Treated water is hard on their eyes and skin, and claws can damage the shell.
Map of Luxury Dog Friendly Cottages in the UK
Spread out on a map, the ten form a long thin line from Perthshire down to the Sussex coast, with two in the Scottish Borders and Northumberland, a cluster along the Welsh Marches around Ludlow and Pembridge, and single houses in Flintshire, Derbyshire, Harrogate and the Cotswolds. Open the Wildpack map to find the walks and beaches closest to whichever one you choose.
10 stays on this pageMap these stays, and thousands more
The Wildpack Map plots every dog friendly walk, beach, stay and attraction we have listed across the UK. Open it to see what else is within reach in UK, filter by what your dog needs, and get directions to the car park.
What's Nearby?
Other guides to read alongside this one:
- Dog friendly cottages with hot tubs across the UK: If the tub matters more than the star grading, the national hot tub selection.
- Dog friendly hot tub cottages near a beach: For a coastal treat with sand close by, as at Casasands.
- Dog friendly off grid cabins in the UK: The opposite kind of indulgence, with fewer comforts and more quiet.
- Dog friendly farm stays in the UK: Canvas and campfires on working farms, for a break that costs less.
- Dog friendly hot tub cottages in Derbyshire: More choice around Matlock and the Peak if Riber House is too big.
To see every dog friendly stay in one county, start with Northumberland or North Yorkshire.
Final Thoughts
Luxury with a dog works best when the house has thought about the dog, and the strongest places here are the ones where that thinking shows: the garden room at The Orchid, the fenced lawn at Heron Lodge, the drying room and three dog allowance at Pennant View. They suit owners who want a proper treat without leaving the dog in kennels, and who are prepared to read the small print on dog numbers.
A couple with one small dog should look first at Bodcott for the sauna, or Heron Lodge for the level floors. Two couples sharing a single dog will be happiest at Tallett Cottage. A family with three dogs has Pennant View, and a big celebration with up to four belongs at Ravenslaw House. Anyone who wants the hill and the hot tub in the same weekend should book Riber House and leave the car parked.
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