Trillberry Guesthouse

The Trillberry is a recently renovated guesthouse on Weymouth's Esplanade, and it is one of those places where the dog gets a better welcome than most owners expect. There is a resident house dog, breakfast has been known to include a sausage for visiting dogs, and guests arriving with pets are met with treats rather than a list of rules. Dog owners have been allowed to keep pet food in the communal fridge downstairs, which gives a fair sense of how relaxed the arrangement is.

The location does a lot of the work. The guesthouse sits directly on the seafront with the beach across the road, the town centre is a short walk along the Esplanade, and Weymouth's dog-friendly stretch of sand and a community garden are both close by. Free parking at the rear is a real advantage on a seafront where parking is otherwise difficult, and it means you can arrive, unload and walk the dog without moving the car again.

Beyond the pet side, breakfast is what guests talk about most - cooked to order, generous, and rated by several above what they had eaten in far more expensive hotels. Rooms are clean and newly done, beds are comfortable, and the hosts come across as helpful without hovering. Tea, coffee and milk are topped up daily, and guests who skip breakfast still report being looked after.

The one caveat worth knowing is road noise: rooms at the front face the Esplanade and light sleepers have noticed it, so ask about a room at the back if that matters to you or to a dog that wakes easily. Otherwise this is about as easy as travelling with a dog in Weymouth gets, and it suits owners who want a proper cooked breakfast, parking on site and hosts who are pleased to see the dog.