The Plough Inn

The Plough Inn is a country pub with rooms in Kelmscott, a small West Oxfordshire village on the upper Thames best known as the designer and writer William Morris's summer home. It is polished but unfussy - a working bar and restaurant downstairs, a handful of rooms above and alongside - and dogs are taken as a matter of course rather than as an exception.

Dog owners describe an unflustered welcome and no friction over having a dog around the place, which usually points to staff who deal with travelling dogs often. The rooms are comfortable and clean, the food is a genuine draw, and the setting is quiet: footpaths lead straight out into farmland and the Thames Path is within easy walking distance, so a proper morning or evening walk needs no driving.

Dogs are welcome in the restaurant as well as the bar, which is the main reason this works as an evening-meal stay, since the dog stays settled beside you rather than shut in the room. Not every diner is happy about it: the inn draws the occasional complaint from guests who object to dogs being up at table level in a room where food is served. It is worth knowing both halves of that, and worth keeping a dog on the floor beside the table.

Two practical caveats come up. Kitchen service can be slow on a busy night, so allow plenty of time rather than expecting a quick meal with a dog waiting alongside you. Booking admin has also gone astray, with reservation dates misread and a multi-night stay queried partway through, so it is worth reconfirming your dates by message before you arrive.

Best suited to dog owners who want a quiet, good-quality Cotswold-edge pub with rooms, who plan to eat on site with the dog beside them, and who value footpath walks straight from the door over a town-based stay. The inn does not set out a written pet policy on its booking listing, so confirm any charge, room restrictions and where the dog may go when you book.