The Royal Oak Keswick hotel is one of the most pet friendly hotels I’ve ever been to. The vast majority of people we saw staying at this hotel were staying with a dog.
The Royal Oak is perfectly situated right in the town centre. It is on the doorstep to all of Keswick’s bars, restaurants and shops. Only a 5 minute walk to the start of the Derwentwater walk also it was very well situated.
There is no on site parking as the hotel is directly on the main road. There is a paid car park nearby or there is free on street parking about a 5 minute walk away. The staff will give you directions when you check in. We offloaded our bags at the hotel entrance and then moved the car whilst they processed the check in.
We booked on hotels.com as it was cheaper than the hotel direct as we got their secret discount as Gold members. As we also like to build up our reward nights through them as you get 1 free night for every 10 you book. We booked the small double room which cost £199.75 for 2 nights including breakfast. My grandpawrents booked a standard double room and paid a total of £265. Both rooms were on the top floor of the hotel. There is no lift so it can be thirsty work!
Small Double Room
We booked the small double room and the rom type definitely did it justice, it was very small! There was a double bed and a small dressing table. We were only staying for 2 nights so we only had one small backpack and my bed. It’s a good job as there was little space to put anything else. It was a bit tight to get around the bed, but it was perfect for our needs. As long as there was space for my bed I was happy!
If you tend to bring a lot of luggage or were staying for a longer time, it might not be the best room. But for us it was totally fine. It was very nicely decorated with quality products and the bed was really comfortable.
Standard Double Room
My grandpawrents booked the standard double room which was a bit more expensive but I would say it was definitely worth it. The room was a lot bigger with a lot more space to move around. There was also a window seat you could sit and relax in. They had the corner room so had 2 decent sized windows also which gave the room a lot more light making it feel even more spacious. Both rooms had a tray left outside the room for muddy boots to be left in. This was a nice little idea for after your long walks.
Bar/Restaurant
Dogs were allowed in the bar/restaurant which is amazing. The only place they aren’t allowed is on the carpeted areas which was common throughout all the places we went to.
Included in the rate you get doggy sausage for breakfast. This was great and sooo yummy. It was served alongside the humans breakfast so kept me occupied whilst they were eating. I even got my own bowl to eat it from. Aren’t I lucky?!
The humans told me that their breakfast was also really yummy. Each morning they all chose the Cumbrian breakfast which had everything you could possibly want. Bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, beans, toast, black pudding as well as tea, coffe and fresh juices. It was soooo filling and so yummy. I always got some leftovers too, so I was a very happy boy.
The restaurant also had their own doggy meals that you could buy which were served from 12pm – 9pm every day. Unfortuantely I didn’t get to try any of these out but I heard from my friend Hamish that they were extremely tasty.
On check in they told us that the bar would close at 10pm but if it wasn’t busy may close earlier. Due to covid not everywhere was so busy so it made sense. One night we came back to the hotel about 9pm and had a drink in the bar. About 9.30pm we wanted to order another drink and there were still 3 other tables of people drinking. The bar staff wasn’t so keen to serve us and could tell he wanted an early finish. He did serve us but he did make it feel like we were putting him out. That was the only slight negative we had during our whole stay.
Pet Policy
The website states that a £15.00 pet fee would be charged per room per stay. It also says that some rooms include a water bowl and cushion. I didn’t get either in my room but I always bring my own bed and bowls with me anyway so this wasn’t an issue. On check out we didn’t actually get the pet fee added to the bill either. I’m not sure if this was a mistake, whether it was because we booked with hotels.com or wasn’t charged as I didn’t get the bowl or cushion.
Honestly, I would prefer not to have the cushion and bowl if it means no extra charge. I bring my own with me and I didn’t leave any mess. So I was very happy to not have had to pay the extra fee. As you all know how I feel about pet fees charged by hotels!
Dogs were allowed to be left alone in the rooms as long as they didn’t disturb the other guests. But as Keswick was such a pet friendly place there was no need for me to be left at all. I got to go everywhere with my humans. It was so much fun!
There was also another Westie staying there, Hamish. He was staying for a full week and he was soooo handsome. Look at how awesome he is, can’t beat meeting another Westie! Look at his amazing ears too!!
Conclusion
Royal Oak Keswick gets full marks of 30/30. It is truly a pet friendly hotel and the staff all love dogs.
Room quality : 5/5 (room was small but that’s what we booked)
Price per night : 5/5 (included breakfast and well priced for a town with only a few hotels)
Breakfast : 5/5 (excellent quality, lots of choice, included dog breakfast also)
Pet friendly areas : 5/5 (allowed in the bar & restuarant which is always a winner)
Pets allowed to be left unattended in the room : 5/5 (although not required as pretty much everywhere in Keswick lets you in with dogs)
Pet fee charged : 5/5 (whilst it does advertise a fee is charged we weren’t charged it so gave 5/5 based on this)
For more info on my travels, check out my travel pages. You can also check out my Youtube video of my exploits whilst in Keswick as well of the rest of my UK trip.
Let me know if you have any tips on places to go with doggos in the UK I can check out in the comments below.
Woof woof, Wylie x