3 of a kind

Dog-friendly hotels

DOMAINE DE BEAUVOIS, LUYNES, FRANCE

Tel: 0033-247 555011, grandesetapes.fr

There are 140 hectares of Loire Valley parkland, with woodlands and a lake, surrounding this hotel affording plenty of opportunity for people and their dogs to stretch their legs and enjoy the landscape. There are hot-air balloon rides, should you want to take in an aerial view of the estate in frisson-edged serenity – although you might want to leave the dog behind lest your hound stages a re-enactment of Toto departing the balloon basket in the Wizard of Oz.

Dogs stay with their owners in their rooms (at €12 a night extra) and are free to go in any public area of this former chateau – dating from the 16th and 17th centuries – except the two restaurants. One of these overlooks a terrace and garden and lunch is served by the pool on sunny days.

The hotel is in Luynes, just to the east of Tours, in countryside with vineyards and the Loire chateaux, including nearby Villandry where vegetables become an aesthetic spectacle.

Rooms: classics with Persian carpets and crafted wooden furniture beneath high ceilings. Doubles from €157.

GLENAPP CASTLE, SCOTLAND

Ballantrae, Ayrshire, tel: 0044-1465 831212, glenappcastle.com

Mozzy and Midge (left) are the resident dogs at Glenapp Castle, just north of Stranraer and facing Northern Ireland, but other hounds are welcome to stay. Guests with dogs stay in a ground-floor bedroom that has a door into the garden. Beyond that there are 36 acres of grounds to walk in (and countryside beyond), which includes woodland, an azalea pond, rhododendrons, a walled garden with a Victorian glasshouse and lots of flowers (that are cut to adorn bedrooms). Views back homeward, across the Irish Sea, take in Arran island and the vast granite rock of Ailsa Craig.

Dogs stay for free and a dog-sitting service is available at £8 an hour.

The hotel, which has a Michelin-star restaurant, is in a castle that was built in 1870, in the Scottish Baronial style, and was once the home of the Earl of Inchcape. It was restored by the current owners Graham and Fay Cowan (Fay is from the MacMillan hotel family).

Rooms: there are 17 rooms all individually decorated and furnished. Guests with dogs stay in Knockdolian, which was once the butler's quarters. It has Zoffany wallpaper, deep blue curtains by Andrew Martin, a mahogany fireplace with flame gas fire, cast-iron claw-foot bath and antique four-poster bed.

Views are of the garden. Rates from £415 (€524) for two including a six-course, Michelin star dinner and full Scottish breakfast. Late availability offers (see the website) are from £175 (€221) a person with three-course meal.

BOVEY CASTLE HOTEL, ENGLAND

Dartmoor National Park, North Bovey, Devon, England, tel: 044-844 474 0077, boveycastle.com

This hotel is surrounded by Dartmoor National Park so there is plenty of scope for “walkies” in the area but dogs are made welcome in the hotel too. Reception can give advice on walks and provide estate maps with routes that suit dogs. The front desk has dog towels for a rub-down on return.

Dog owners often leave their pooches with the reception staff (who have a diverting supply of dog treats) while they are playing golf or visiting the spa and, if they get a spare moment, staff will take dogs out for a quick walk too.

Dogs stay in bedrooms with their owners (for £20 a night extra), where their overnight kit includes a cage, water bowl and poop bags. They are allowed in all public areas of the hotel except the two dining rooms, one of the quiet reception rooms, and the golf course.

The Bovey estate was bought by WH Smith (William Henry) in 1890 (four years after Charles Eason bought the Irish part of the business from him) and his son Frederick built the neo-Elizabethan Bovey Castle.

Rooms:there are 64 rooms in the manor house and mews. All have individual designs by Annabel Elliot, who has an antiques shop in Blandford, Dorset. They range from single, classic and castle rooms through superior rooms and suites to "Grand State".

The better rooms have views of Dartmoor and River Bovey running through the golf course. Suites have views of a valley, courtyard and golf course. Double rooms start from £249 (€315).