Limestone Hotel, West Lulworth

The Limestone Hotel is a small hotel on the main road through West Lulworth, a short walk from Lulworth Cove, and its dog arrangement is better thought through than most. Three specific rooms take dogs, and all three open directly onto the garden, so you can let the dog out first thing without steering it through a lobby or past a corridor of other guests' doors.

Those rooms are the Hideaway Cabin, the Garden Room and the Chocolate Room. The cabin sits slightly apart from the main building and works more like a self-contained unit, with an open-plan bedroom and living space and a simple kitchen area, which suits a dog that settles better away from hotel noise. The hotel asks you to add a line to your reservation saying you are bringing a dog, so the right room can be held for you.

Staff are the other thing dog owners keep returning for. The welcome extends to the dog rather than stopping at the owner, and the hotel's general habits point the same way: luggage carried up, picnics made up for walkers heading out for the day, breakfast packed for guests leaving before service. The restaurant is genuinely good and most guests eat in of an evening, which is useful when you have a dog with you and would rather not go hunting for a table that takes one.

West Lulworth is the point of coming. The cove, Durdle Door and the coast path all start within walking distance, and the Purbeck ridge behind gives longer inland routes when the coast is busy. Worth knowing about the approach: there are steps and a steep slope between the car park and the hotel, the parking is tight for a large car, and the car park is poorly lit after dark, so a late arrival with a dog and luggage takes some managing.

It suits owners who want a comfortable coastal base with the dog in the same room and the garden door a few feet away. It earns a 4.7/5 paw rating.