The New Inn

The New Inn is a family-run village pub with rooms above it, in Shipton Gorge a few miles inland from Bridport and about three miles from the beach at Burton Bradstock. It is the sort of small, owner-run place where the people behind the bar are the people who own it, and dogs are part of the normal run of things rather than an exception to be managed.

Dogs stay for £10 per pet, per night, and the inn asks that rooms are left in reasonable order: a £50 cleaning charge can be applied if a room comes back excessively dirty or covered in pet hair. Neither is unusual for a village inn, but both are worth budgeting for on a longer stay or with more than one dog.

What dog owners pick out is the atmosphere. There is a proper village pub downstairs with well-regarded food and a good cooked breakfast, bedrooms upstairs that have been brought up to modern en-suite standard despite the age of the building, and hosts who take trouble to get things right. Being able to eat in the bar with the dog at your feet is the practical win: no driving somewhere else for dinner, and no leaving the dog alone in the room.

The village is quiet, the walking starts at the door with views over the surrounding hills, and the coast is a short drive away. Parking is free and on site, which matters here because you will want the car for the beaches and the coast path.

The caveats are the ones any village inn carries. This is a pub first, so there is bar noise in the evening, there are only a few rooms, and shops and town facilities mean a drive into Bridport. Guest feedback overall is good rather than flawless, with a cold bedroom mentioned occasionally and the odd report of a booking problem on arrival.

Best suited to dog owners touring the Dorset coast who want a village pub as a base, with dinner, breakfast and parking all in one place; less suited to anyone who wants town-centre walking or hotel-scale facilities.