New Forest Sway
Passford House Hotel
Independent pet-friendly review by Four Legged Guests · updated October 2026 · paw rating built from 11 verified guest reviews mentioning pets
Bring your dog if
- You're happy with a standard hotel-room stay where the property welcomes dogs
- You're basing yourself in Sway / the New Forest and want a pet-friendly anchor for day trips
- The wider guest experience is strong - guests rate this 8.8/10 overall on booking platforms
Worth knowing
- Pet fee: £30 per pet per night (max 2 pets) - research-verified; confirm at booking
- Shared corridors and common areas mean nervous or vocal dogs may find it harder to settle
How this review was built Evidence, sources, refresh cadence
- Evidence: 11 pet-mention guest reviews sourced from major booking platforms - guests who explicitly mentioned travelling with a dog. Each review is screened for pet-relevance, then judged for sentiment to compute the paw rating.
- Not a personal visit. We don't stay at every hotel we cover - we summarise patterns from real guest reviews, paraphrased and never quoted verbatim. Full standard on our editorial policy page.
- Wider context: The property has 626 guest reviews overall across booking platforms, averaging 8.8/10 - the paw rating reflects only the pet-mentioning subset.
- Last refreshed: October 2026. Policies and pricing drift; we re-check on a rolling basis. Confirm specifics with the property at the moment you book.
- How the paw rating works: Full detail on the methodology page, including the three verification gates and known limitations.
Own or manage this property? Ask us to correct or remove it
Pet policy at a glance
- £30 per dog, per night
- Dog treats, a dog bowl and a dog towel provided
- Please note that well behaved dogs are permitted in the ground floor rooms upon request for an extra charge. There is a maximum of 2 medium-sized dogs per room that can be accommodated.
- Say that a dog is coming when you book
- A further charge applies if the room needs a deep clean
- The restaurant is not dog friendly, though the dog-friendly lounges serve bar snacks from noon until 6pm
- Dogs are not allowed in or on any of the leisure facilities, including the swimming pools and the tennis court
- Dogs must be kept on a lead in public areas
- There is a hose by the leisure centre for cleaning your dog after a walk on the forest or the beach
- Ten acres of landscaped gardens surround the hotel for walks straight from the door
- Owners are responsible for their dog at all times and for any damage it causes
- Dogs are also welcome in the two-bedroom self-catering Stable Suite, where the supplement is charged per stay rather than per night
Pet-friendly summary
Passford House Hotel is a family-run country house hotel on the edge of the New Forest near Sway and Lymington. It takes dogs seriously. Well-behaved dogs stay in ground-floor bedrooms, up to two per room, and the hotel sets out treats, a bowl and a towel for them. Some of those rooms open straight onto the gardens, which makes the late-night and early-morning trips outside far easier.
Guests with dogs talk about the welcome more than anything else. Staff greet dogs by name at reception and hand out treats, and older guests travelling with a small dog say they were made to feel as wanted as their pet. Families come here in large groups with the dog in tow, and the word that keeps coming back is relaxed: an old, slightly old-fashioned house with plenty of lounges and corners where a dog can settle beside you.
The grounds do a lot of the work. Ten acres of lawns and gardens surround the house, so the first walk of the day starts at the door, and the New Forest lies all around. The hotel keeps a hose by the leisure centre for rinsing a muddy dog after the forest or a trip to the beach.
There are limits. Dogs are not allowed in the restaurant, so dinner with your dog means bar snacks in the lounges, which are served from noon until 6pm. They are also kept out of the pools, spa and tennis court, and must be on a lead indoors. The £30 nightly charge per dog adds up over a long stay, and one guest felt the room was not cleaned well enough for the price. Another, who took the separate Stable Suite for its quiet with a nervous rescue dog, found the suite in need of repair, though the grounds suited the dog well. The house itself is traditional and a little tired in places.
For a New Forest break where the dog gets real space to roam and a warm welcome indoors, Passford House is a strong choice, especially for families and couples who want a pool and gardens as well as forest walks.
Highlights from pet-mentioning reviews
What reviewers travelling with dogs consistently noted about staying here.
- Staff greet dogs by name with treats
- Ten acres of gardens for walks from the door
- Ground-floor rooms opening onto the gardens
- New Forest walks right on the doorstep
- Dogs kept out of the restaurant
- Nightly dog charge adds up on longer stays
About this hotel
Passford House Hotel is a family-run country house hotel near Sway on the edge of the New Forest, close to Lymington. It sits in ten acres of landscaped gardens and has indoor and outdoor pools, a spa, a tennis court, comfortable lounges with log fires and a restaurant, plus a separate two-bedroom self-catering Stable Suite.
Hotel facts
Photos
Location
Mount Pleasant Lane, Sway, SO41 8LS
