Isle of Wight Sandown
The Drey, Sandown
Independent pet-friendly review by Four Legged Guests · updated October 2026 · paw rating built from 2 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 Sandown / the Isle of Wight and want a pet-friendly anchor for day trips
- The wider guest experience is strong - guests rate this 9.5/10 overall on booking platforms
Worth knowing
- Paw rating is based on 2 reviews - limited sample, treat as directional
- Pet limits: up to 22.7 kg, Medium size dogs and smaller - research-verified; the fee isn't published, so confirm the charge 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: 2 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 36 guest reviews overall across booking platforms, averaging 9.5/10 - 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.
Pet policy at a glance
- Restricted sizes: medium size dogs and smaller.
- On-site pet amenities: food and water bowls, dog blanket, dog treat, hard floors in the bedroom, towel and watering can for muddy paws, outdoor water bowl, hose.
- Dogs must be on a lead at all times in the pool area and any mess cleared up straight away.
- The garden is not available for dogs to toilet in, but there is a dog friendly park two minutes' walk away.
- Dogs must not be left alone in the room.
- Dogs are not allowed on the beds or the furniture.
- Dogs need to be fully toilet trained and clean before coming into the house, especially after a walk.
- The bedroom needs to be free at a suitable time each day so it can be cleaned.
- An extra cleaning charge of up to 50 pounds may be added if the room needs it.
Pet-friendly summary
The Drey is a small bed and breakfast in Sandown, and it is one of those host-run places where a dog is treated as a guest rather than tolerated. Dogs have been handed treats on arrival, and owners describe a warm welcome that starts before the bags are down. For a B&B rather than a whole-house let, that matters: you are sharing a building, and the tone the host sets is most of the experience.
The rooms come in for consistent praise - clean, comfortable, with spacious en-suites - and guests travelling with dogs mention early check-in being offered when it suited. The house is a couple of minutes' walk from Sandown railway station, which makes it a practical choice if you are coming to the island as a foot passenger and bringing a dog rather than a car. There is a large grassed play area round the corner for a quick leg-stretch, and the house keeps bowls, a blanket, a towel and a hose for the state a dog comes home in.
The seafront and Sandown Pier are about ten minutes away on foot. Owners should know that the main town beach is not open to dogs year-round: guests report driving to the dog-permitted stretch at the eastern end of the bay, so factor that in if beach time is the point of the trip. Away from the sand, the coast path and the downs behind the town give plenty of walking.
Two things to settle before you book. The house takes medium-size dogs and smaller, so a big dog is out. And the rules are firmer than the warm welcome suggests: dogs off the beds and furniture, never left alone in the room, on a lead in the pool area, and toileting in the dog-friendly park round the corner rather than the garden. No pet fee is stated either way, but a cleaning charge of up to £50 can be added if the room needs it, so the towel by the door is there for a reason.
Best suited to a couple or solo traveller with a settled small-to-medium dog who wants a walkable, station-side base for Sandown and the island's east coast.
Highlights from pet-mentioning reviews
What reviewers travelling with dogs consistently noted about staying here.
- Dogs given treats on arrival
- Two minutes' walk from Sandown station
- Grassed play area round the corner
- Town beach restricted - dogs use east end
- Medium-size dogs and smaller only
- Bowls, blanket and hose for muddy paws
About this hotel
The Drey is a small four-star bed and breakfast on Nunwell Street in Sandown, on the east coast of the Isle of Wight. It sits a couple of minutes' walk from Sandown railway station and about ten minutes from the seafront and pier, with clean en-suite rooms and a host-run, home-from-home feel.
Hotel facts
Photos
Location
16 Nunwell Street, Sandown, PO36 9DE
