The Royal Oak, Borrowdale

The Royal Oak sits in Rosthwaite, deep in the Borrowdale valley south of Keswick, which is about as good as a Lake District walking base gets: the Cumbria Way runs past the door, Scafell Pike is within reach for a long day, and the high fells start a few minutes' walk away. It is a small, recently refurbished hotel beside the river, and dogs are part of its identity rather than an afterthought.

The terms are clear. Dogs of any size are welcome at £30 per stay rather than per night, and the hotel asks to be told in advance if you are bringing one. Food and water bowls are provided, a treat box tends to appear on arrival, and a drying room takes wet coats and wet dogs after a Borrowdale day out. The lounges are dog territory, and guests travelling with dogs describe being made to feel the dog was a guest too, with a good number returning over many years.

Dining is the detail to settle at booking. The hotel says dogs are welcome in the rear dining area, while guest accounts describe dogs being kept out of the main dining and breakfast rooms, with owners eating from their laps on the lounge sofas instead. Some who did not realise that beforehand have said it would have changed their decision, so it is worth asking exactly which rooms apply to your stay and your dates.

The welcome is not universal. A small number of guests arriving with a dog have found the reality short of the billing, describing a reluctance to flex arrangements around what they needed and cutting the stay short as a result. The fixed-price dinner draws grumbles about cost and limited choice, particularly for vegetarians, and £30 reads as steep to some for a single night. There are no televisions anywhere, which keeps the lounges quiet and sociable but will not suit everyone, and the dog emphasis is strong enough that guests without one have remarked on it.

Set against that, the rest of the hotel is well regarded: spacious rooms with good linen, river views, memorable cooking at dinner and breakfast, complimentary tea and coffee through the day with fresh scones in the afternoon, and friendly, attentive staff. At 4.5/5 it stays a strong Borrowdale base for walkers, couples and families with a dog of any size who want a proper hotel with restaurant dining and a drying room on the doorstep, and who are happy to eat in the lounge if that is how their stay falls.