Ashton Court Hotel

Ashton Court Hotel is a three-star hotel on Louisa Terrace in Exmouth, a couple of minutes from the promenade and the town centre. Dogs are a normal part of the trade here rather than an exception, and when a stay goes well the pattern is consistent: friendly staff, a good cooked breakfast with a view over the bay, and a secluded garden behind the building that guests find useful for a last walk before bed.

The practical arrangement to know about is breakfast. Guests staying with a dog eat in the bar area rather than the main breakfast room, with the food brought over to them, and dogs have been sent out a sausage and a bowl of water alongside. Most dog owners describe this as perfectly fine and some prefer it. Anyone expecting to be seated with everyone else should settle the point before booking, and travellers with assistance dogs in particular should get it in writing: at least one assistance-dog handler was kept out of the breakfast room and asked to pay the pet supplement anyway.

That supplement is the other thing to pin down. No pet fee is published on the property's booking listing, and what guests actually pay varies. Some have been charged nothing at all for a small dog and said so warmly; others were asked for a per-night sum at the desk on arrival with no warning, reported at £12 a night. Get the figure confirmed by email at the point of booking rather than discovering it at check-in.

Two more things to weigh. The owners keep dogs of their own on the premises and they are not always relaxed about visiting dogs, so think carefully if yours reacts badly to strange dogs in a small bar. And parts of the building are dated: mould on bathroom ceilings, extractor noise carrying up from the kitchen below in some rooms, seagull mess on window ledges and scalding water at the bathroom tap all come up. The Seaview rooms get the better feedback, so ask about room placement, and note that three people plus a dog in a standard room is a squeeze.

It suits couples and solo travellers with one small or medium dog who want good value and a genuine seafront position, and who are willing to confirm the pet terms in writing and ask for a Seaview room. It is a poor fit for assistance-dog handlers unless the hotel confirms equal access in advance, and for dogs that are reactive at close quarters. Ashton Court Hotel earns a 4.3/5 paw rating.