Riverside Lodge Hotel

Riverside Lodge sits beside the water on the edge of Irvine, and its great advantage for anyone travelling with a dog is the land around it. Riverside fields and paths start directly behind the hotel, so the first walk of the day is a door-to-grass affair rather than a drive, and guests with dogs mention that repeatedly as the reason they picked it.

The hotel takes dogs seriously enough to have designated dog-friendly rooms and areas, which cuts both ways. It means dog owners are grouped rather than scattered, and guests who would rather not share a corridor with a dog are kept apart from them. There is no size limit, and the restaurant runs a dedicated dog menu. Dogs should not be left alone in the room, and because the dog-friendly rooms are limited and allocated on availability, the property asks you to contact them before arrival rather than relying on a note attached to an online booking.

That last point is where things have gone wrong for some guests. A booking note about a dog has failed to reach the hotel before now, producing a distinctly cool welcome on arrival, and dog owners have also reported a per-dog charge steeper than they were used to elsewhere. The amount is not published in the property's listings, so pin it down before you travel. Grouping the dog rooms has a downside too, and at least one guest on the floor above was kept awake by a dog barking through the night. Rooms are large and comfortable but the decor is dated in places, and the corridors are long.

Breakfast and the public rooms are well liked, the floor staff come in for warm praise even in the more critical write-ups, and the position works as a stopover on the way north or out to the Ayrshire coast ferries. Riverside Lodge earns a 4.4/5 paw rating, and it suits dog owners who want fields on the doorstep and a big room, provided they phone ahead and confirm the pet charge rather than assuming.