Cotswolds & Oxfordshire Cheltenham
Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham Town Centre
Independent pet-friendly review by Four Legged Guests · updated July 2026 · paw rating built from 5 verified guest reviews mentioning pets
Bring your dog if
- You're happy with a standard hotel-room stay where the property explicitly welcomes dogs
- You're basing yourself in Cheltenham / the Cotswolds & Oxfordshire and want a pet-friendly anchor for day trips
- The wider guest experience is strong - guests rate this 8.6/10 overall on booking platforms
Worth knowing
- Pet fee: £15 per pet (max 2 pets) - research-verified; confirm at 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: 5 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 3,407 guest reviews overall across booking platforms, averaging 8.6/10 - the paw rating reflects only the pet-mentioning subset.
- Last refreshed: July 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
- Pet fee: GBP 15 per dog, per night.
- Up to two dogs per room.
- Guide and assistance dogs stay free of charge.
- Dogs are not allowed in the restaurant or other public areas, and cannot be left unattended in the room.
- Food and water bowls are provided in the room.
Pet-friendly summary
Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham Town Centre is a straightforward, well-located town-centre hotel that makes a practical base for dog owners visiting the Cotswolds, the racecourse or Cheltenham's festivals. It is an unfussy three-star where the welcome for dogs is genuine rather than grudging, which is exactly what most people want for a short stay in town.
Dogs stay for GBP 15 per dog, per night, with up to two dogs allowed in a room, and the hotel provides food and water bowls in the room. Guide and assistance dogs stay free of charge. Dogs are not permitted in the restaurant or other public areas and should not be left alone in the room, so this suits owners who are happy to keep their dog with them or settled in the room rather than roaming the building.
Guests travelling with dogs consistently describe the staff as friendly and genuinely welcoming towards their pets, and the central location is the other big draw - you can walk straight out into town, and Cheltenham's parks and the wider Promenade area give easy options for morning and evening walks without needing the car.
The trade-offs are the usual ones for a busy town-centre hotel. Rooms are on the compact side, so a family of three or four plus a dog can feel cramped, and the climate control has drawn some complaints in warmer weather. There is no on-site car park - the NCP next door is the nearest option and is charged separately. For dog owners who value a central, fuss-free Cheltenham base over space and parking, it earns a solid 4.4/5 paw rating.
Highlights from pet-mentioning reviews
What reviewers travelling with dogs consistently noted about staying here.
- Dogs welcomed for GBP 15 per night
- Central town-centre location
- Friendly staff and bowls in the room
- Up to two dogs per room
- Easy walks to Cheltenham's parks
About this hotel
Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham Town Centre by IHG is a three-star hotel on Dunalley Street in central Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It offers modern, clean rooms and breakfast within easy walking distance of the town centre, parks and the Promenade, and welcomes dogs for a nightly charge.
Hotel facts
Photos
Location
Dunalley Street, Cheltenham, GL50 4AP
