The Powis Arms

The Powis Arms is a country inn at Lydbury North, in the quiet south-west corner of Shropshire between Bishop's Castle and Clun, and for dogs it is close to ideal: an old pub with rooms, surrounded by hill country, where nobody blinks at a dog coming into the bar. Guests travelling with dogs describe being able to bring the dog along as the reason the trip worked at all, and the staff draw consistent praise for being welcoming to both ends of the lead.

The location backs that up. This is walking country, with the Shropshire Hills, Offa's Dyke and the Long Mynd all within reach, and the inn has decent parking, which matters when you are unloading a wet dog at the end of a day out. The bar serves good beer and the kitchen has a strong local reputation.

The rooms are where this page has to be blunt, because the picture guests paint is not a flattering one. Recurring complaints describe rooms that are small, basic and cold, with heating that struggles even at full output, and at least one room sits directly above the kitchen and gets both hot and noisy. There have been repeated reports of plumbing that does not work properly: no hot water, showers that cannot be used, basins that will not hold water. Several guests felt the price did not match what they got, and there has been a report of a charge above the advertised rate on arrival. Cooked breakfast is no longer served.

None of that is about dogs, but it shapes who the inn suits, because a cold and cramped room is a harder night with a dog in it than without one.

Best suited to a walker with a dog who wants a proper old Shropshire pub at the end of the day, treats the room as somewhere to sleep, and confirms the rate and the room before arriving. It earns a 3.8/5 paw rating: the welcome for dogs is genuine, and the accommodation is what holds it back.