Hunters Lodge

Hunters Lodge is a small pub with rooms in the North Devon countryside a few miles south-west of Barnstaple. It is an unfussy place, a handful of clean, quiet, recently refreshed bedrooms over a pub that does a proper carvery, and its standing among guests travelling with dogs rests on the welcome rather than on facilities.

The terms are clear. Dogs cost £10 per night. Only some of the bedrooms take them, so the dog needs to be mentioned at the time of booking rather than on arrival, and guests are asked to bring their own dog bed and blankets, which is worth packing for because nothing is provided.

What guests report consistently is that the hosts want the dog there. Rescue dogs and everyday family dogs alike are described as being made as welcome as the people, and the kitchen has been known to send out a sausage for the dog. The owners come across as accommodating to a fault, down to feeding guests who arrived after last orders. The rooms themselves come in for steady praise as spotless, quiet and comfortable, some larger than average and better than the two-star billing suggests, with breakfast, the pub meals next door and the Sunday carvery all singled out.

The setting is quiet farmland with easy road access down into Barnstaple. The Tarka Trail is a short drive for flat, long, lead-friendly miles, the North Devon beaches at Saunton, Croyde and Woolacombe are within about half an hour for off-lead time outside the summer restrictions, and the western edge of Exmoor is a straightforward run east.

The trade-off is exactly what two stars imply: this is a pub with simple rooms rather than a hotel, so the bedrooms are plain and the facilities stop at the bar and the restaurant. Best suited to dog owners using North Devon as a touring base who value a warm welcome and a good dinner over polish, and who are happy to bring the dog's bedding and to book the right room in advance.