Devon Stoke Rivers
Stoke House Bed and Breakfast
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 Stoke Rivers / the Devon and want a pet-friendly anchor for day trips
- The wider guest experience is strong - guests rate this 9.6/10 overall on booking platforms
Worth knowing
- Pet fee and any size restrictions aren't published - confirm directly with the property before 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: 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 290 guest reviews overall across booking platforms, averaging 9.6/10 - 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-friendly summary
Stoke House sits in the hamlet of Stoke Rivers, a few miles inland from Barnstaple on the edge of Exmoor, and it is run as a proper small bed and breakfast rather than a room-letting operation. Dogs are welcome, and the thing guests with dogs mention first is the garden - a large, enclosed space their dogs can explore rather than a token strip of lawn.
The welcome is what the reviews keep returning to. Guests travelling with dogs describe being met at the door, walked to their room and talked through everything from breakfast times to suggestions for days out, with the dog folded into that welcome rather than tolerated at the edge of it. Several dog owners report their dog being offered something from the breakfast kitchen, and the cooked breakfast itself is the single most praised thing about the place. It is a home-from-home style of hosting, and the property holds a 9.6/10 guest score across nearly 300 reviews.
Stoke Rivers is genuinely rural. That is the appeal - the quiet and the birdsong come up repeatedly - but it also means you need your own car, which several reviewers flag as a practical limitation. The north Devon coast, Exmoor and the beaches around Woolacombe and Croyde are all comfortable drives, so it works well as a walking base.
Two things are worth knowing. The owners keep a dog of their own on site, which is a bonus if your dog is sociable and worth a call ahead if not. And the rooms, while comfortable and spotless, are described by some guests as a little dated - this is a well-run family B&B rather than a boutique refurbishment.
Best suited to dog owners who want a warm, old-fashioned B&B welcome with a big garden and a serious breakfast, and who are happy to drive to the coast.
Highlights from pet-mentioning reviews
What reviewers travelling with dogs consistently noted about staying here.
- Large enclosed garden for dogs to explore
- Dogs welcomed as warmly as their owners
- Cooked breakfast extends to the dog
- Quiet rural base for Exmoor walks
- Owners keep a dog on site
- Own transport needed to reach the coast
About this hotel
Stoke House is a four-star bed and breakfast in Stoke Rivers, a hamlet in North Devon a few miles inland from Barnstaple and close to the edge of Exmoor. It offers en-suite rooms, a large garden and a cooked breakfast made to order, and holds a 9.6/10 guest score across around 290 reviews.
Hotel facts
Photos
Location
Higher Davis, Stoke Rivers, Stoke Rivers, EX32 7LD