Lake District Keswick
The Borrowdale Hotel
Independent pet-friendly review by Four Legged Guests · updated June 2026 · paw rating built from 18 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 Keswick / the Lake District and want a pet-friendly anchor for day trips
- The wider guest experience is strong — Agoda guests rate this 8.9/10 overall
Worth knowing
- Pet fee and any size restrictions aren't published — confirm directly with the property before 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: 18 pet-mention guest reviews sourced from Agoda — 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 847 Agoda guest reviews overall, averaging 8.9/10 — the paw rating reflects only the pet-mentioning subset.
- Last refreshed: June 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: £25 per dog, per night (standard rate)
- Up to 2 dogs stay free on stays of 2+ nights, booked direct
- Maximum 2 dogs per room
- No disclosed weight limit or breed restrictions
- Dog beds, bowls, biscuits and towels provided in the room on arrival
- Hosepipe round the back for muddy paws; paddock across the road for off-lead exercise
- Dogs welcome in bar, lounge, conservatory and garden - including for all meals served outside the main restaurant
- Main restaurant: no dogs (use the conservatory instead)
- Dog-friendly and dog-free rooms - request your preference at booking
- Unattended dogs permitted in rooms
- No dog-sitting service offered
Pet-friendly summary
Paw rating: 4.5/5 based on 18 confirmed pet-traveller reviews across Agoda, Trip.com, and the dogfriendly.co.uk aggregator. The Borrowdale Hotel runs one of the more equipped dog-friendly setups in the Lake District - proper amenities, clear policy, and dog-friendly public spaces - though guest experiences are not unanimous.
Practical infrastructure is strong. Dogs are welcomed into bar, lounge, conservatory and garden (including for breakfast, lunch and dinner - meals taken with dogs go in the conservatory rather than the main restaurant). On arrival you'll find a dog bed, bowls, biscuits and dog towels waiting in the room, with a hosepipe round the back of the hotel for rinsing muddy paws after fell walks. A paddock across the road gives a secure off-lead exercise space. The hotel splits its bedroom stock into dog-friendly and dog-free rooms, so request the right type when booking.
Practical numbers: standard pet fee is £25 per dog per night. The hotel runs a long-standing direct-booking promotion where up to two dogs stay free on stays of two nights or more (worth booking by phone or via the hotel website to secure). Max two dogs per room. The hotel does not disclose weight limits or breed restrictions, and unattended dogs are permitted in rooms - useful if you want to dine in the main restaurant without your dog underfoot.
One pattern worth honestly flagging: a minority of guests have reported feeling that the welcome was more "tolerated than embraced", particularly at breakfast. The majority experience is much warmer - repeat visitors with their dogs are a recurring theme, and individual staff members are singled out by name for bringing out water bowls and biscuits - but if you've stayed at the kind of country-house hotel where dogs are openly fussed over by every member of staff, the Borrowdale's style is a touch more reserved. Knowing that going in helps calibrate expectations.
Highlights from pet-mentioning reviews
What reviewers travelling with dogs consistently noted about staying here.
- £25/night with 2+ night free promo
- Dog beds, bowls, biscuits and towels in room
- Hosepipe and paddock for muddy paws
- Dogs welcome in lounges and conservatory
- Welcome can feel reserved at breakfast
About this hotel
The Borrowdale Hotel is a 40-bedroom Victorian country-house hotel in the Borrowdale Valley at the southern tip of Derwentwater, just outside Keswick. Part of the family-run Lake District Hotels group, it has welcomed dogs since opening in 1866.
Hotel facts
Photos
Location
Borrowdale, Keswick, CA12 5UY
