Merewood Country House Hotel and Restaurant

Merewood is a country house set in its own grounds on the Ambleside road just north of Windermere, and it is one of the more thoroughly dog-friendly places to stay in this part of the Lakes. Dogs are welcome in all the bedrooms rather than being confined to a handful of ground-floor rooms, which is unusual for a house of this kind, and the charge is £25 per dog for the whole stay rather than a nightly rate that stacks up over a week.

The welcome is the part guests keep returning to. Dogs arrive to a pack of treats, bowls and waste bags, and staff are described as making a genuine fuss of them rather than simply tolerating them. There are dining rooms set aside for guests with dogs, away from the main restaurant, so you are not choosing between eating properly and leaving the dog upstairs. Dogs do need to be on a lead in the public areas and cannot be left alone in the room, which is the standard arrangement wherever dogs are allowed into the bedrooms.

The grounds are the other draw. There is enough space behind the house for a proper walk before breakfast without going near a road, and the hotel sits between Windermere and Ambleside, so the lakeshore at Waterhead is a few minutes away by car. Real fires in the hall make it a good winter choice, when the walking is quieter and the house is at its best.

The restaurant draws strong reviews overall, though the evening menu attracts the occasional complaint where breakfast almost never does. Merewood earns a 4.6/5 paw rating, and it suits couples and families who want a traditional country house stay, with fires, grounds and a proper dinner, without having to plan the evening around where the dog is allowed to be.