Cornwall Saint Austell
Polgooth Inn, St Austell
Independent pet-friendly review by Four Legged Guests · updated September 2026 · paw rating built from 8 verified guest reviews mentioning pets
Bring your dog if
- You want a whole-property rental - no shared lobbies or corridors to navigate with your dog
- You're basing yourself in Saint Austell / the Cornwall and want a pet-friendly anchor for day trips
- The wider guest experience is strong - guests rate this 9.3/10 overall on booking platforms
Worth knowing
- Pet fee: £10 - the amount is published but not what it covers, so confirm the terms when you book
- 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: 8 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 145 guest reviews overall across booking platforms, averaging 9.3/10 - the paw rating reflects only the pet-mentioning subset.
- Last refreshed: September 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.
Pet policy at a glance
- Pet fee: £10 - the property does not state whether that is per night or per stay, so check when you book.
- Dog-friendly rooms: garden glamping pods, two of the three take dogs.
- On-site pet amenities: dog blankets, dog toys, dog treats, dog chews and a dog menu.
- Well behaved, quiet dogs are welcome in the pub, and there is one section where dogs are not allowed for allergy reasons.
- Say when you book that you are bringing a dog, so a suitable table can be set aside.
Pet-friendly summary
The Polgooth Inn is a village pub a couple of miles outside St Austell with a small cluster of glamping pods in its grounds, and it is the combination that makes it work for dog owners: somewhere self-contained to sleep, and a proper kitchen serving proper food a few steps away that is happy to have a dog under the table.
Dogs are welcome in the pods and in the pub, and guests travelling with them describe the whole place as relaxed about it, staff included. The food is the other reason people come back, with the pub kitchen turning out cooking that regulars rate well above the usual and a continental breakfast that guests say is more than enough. A £10 dog charge applies, and the kitchen runs a dog menu alongside the usual one.
Polgooth itself is quiet, with walks straight out of the village, and the south Cornwall coast is close: Pentewan, Mevagissey and the beaches around Charlestown are all a short drive, as are the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. The pods are modern, cosy and kept immaculately clean, with good bathrooms.
Now the caveats, and for dog owners they are the important part of this page. The pod area is not secured. There is no gate between the pods and the steps down to the car park and the pub, so a dog that wanders can get out to where the cars are, and there is only a hedge between neighbouring pods rather than a fence, so dogs move between the outdoor spaces. Guests have had a neighbouring dog walk into their pod uninvited and have found mess left on the grass outside. It works when everyone's dog is under control and it does not when they are not, so plan on keeping yours on a lead or a long line outside rather than loose. The pods also hold heat, and owners of thick-coated breeds have found them uncomfortably warm and suggest bringing a fan in summer.
Two smaller points: mattress firmness has drawn a few complaints, and the boundary hedge blocks part of the view.
It suits dog owners who want a pub-with-rooms feel and good food without driving, and who are content to keep their dog leashed in the outdoor space rather than off it.
Highlights from pet-mentioning reviews
What reviewers travelling with dogs consistently noted about staying here.
- Dogs welcome in the pods and in the pub
- Dog menu, treats and blankets provided
- Village walks straight from the door
- Pod area is not fenced or gated
- Keep dogs on a lead outside the pod
- Pods get warm for thick-coated dogs
About this hotel
The Polgooth Inn is a three-star village inn with glamping pods in its grounds, at Polgooth a couple of miles south-west of St Austell in Cornwall. The pods are self-contained with their own bathrooms, and the pub serves food through the day. Mevagissey, Pentewan and the Eden Project are all a short drive away.
Hotel facts
Photos
Location
Polgooth Inn Polgooth, Saint Austell, PL26 7DA
