Hard to find a ‘No dogs allowed’ UK costal break

[MeganM3]

AIBU to be pretty fed up with most holiday parks and rental cottages in England allowing dogs.

I’d be very grateful if anyone could suggest somewhere ideally in Dorset or Devon, a chalet holiday park or group of cottages where dogs are not permitted to stay. We are three families holidaying together. Would be nice if there was a pool.

I have 3 dogs, and not once have I taken them knowingly into an area where dogs aren't allowed.

Piss off

I know right. I actually find my symbiotic relationship with my dog very special. When people talk about mean things like allergies and poo it really kills my mood because he is my baby and everyone should want to be around him, even when they are scraping things off their shoe or sticking that EpiPen in their body.

I rate your strawman as a B- at best.

I understand that if you don't want dogs around, a dog free site is what you're looking for.

However, if you're looking at places like Devon and Dorset, they are very popular with dog walkers so the surrounding areas, restaurants, cafes, beaches, shops etc will very likely be dog friendly and therefore full of dogs anyway.

You might therefore find more options looking at dog free properties but on a site which does allow dogs in some properties.

Not Devon or Dorset as per OP, but may be of interest to others seeking the same:

Cornwall: National Trust Cottages at St Antony’s Head. 4 cottages together - 1 sleeps 4; 3 sleep 2.

North Wales: Portmeirion Village. Cottages of all sizes as well as hotel accommodation. The entire estate is dog free. Not even day visitors can take dogs into the grounds (except for guide and assistance dogs).

I stayed in an AirB&B with a friend with an allergy, and she ended up in hospital because it wasn’t actually pet free, despite being advertised as such. I wish the ‘Aw diddums get used to it’ dog brigade would actually reflect more on their attitude.

I ve been looking too and it’s so hard to find one that doesn’t allow dogs, I have a severe allergy to animal hair and I can’t chance going to a pet friendly place just in case.

i end up clawing at my eyes and skin, dry throat and breathing difficulties. It’s horrendous.

Not sure about holiday parks as we stay in airbnbs but as pp mentioned Croyde beach is dog free in summer. As the whole beach is dog free it is actually dog free. Where beaches are half and half lots of dog owners don't take any notice.

Such an odd take. If we plan to take a dog away we accept we can’t go to a place that doesn’t take dogs.

I don't usually post but I thought I better just mention that I used to work in the tourism industry. If a holiday cottage is advertised as not pet friendly, that doesn't mean that the owner hasn't had a dog or other animal in the property. Therefore if an allergy is involved, even though the properties are cleaned between each guest it can mean that a dog has still been in the property. If you need it to be completely dog free, you are better off going somewhere that is just for holiday makers, rather than having individual owners who can do what they like regarding pets. Sorry I don't have any other recommendations but Gwel an Mor in Cornwall is lovely.

I sympathise op. We’ve actually stopped going to our favourite resort because the sheer amount of dogs - and more to the point - selfish dickhead dog owners have completely ruined it.

You can’t even search for dog free as any mention of the bloody things defaults the algorithm to ‘dog friendly’. I almost always use AirBNB now as they at least indicate whether pets are allowed or not. And we use Premier Inn as they are dog free.

I’d be gutted to arrive at accommodation and find it smelled of previous occupants, whether dogs, smokers or just the general odour of other people. Surely this is an issue if cleanliness rather than dog specific?

Bluestone in Pembrokeshire is pet free I believe. I haven't been for many years but it was fab....like a low key centre parks. Its not coastal as such a good location for lots of lovely beaches.

You're definitely not being unreasonable. We went on a family holiday in France and booked a chateau for 15 people. We have young kids and were really keen on the property. It had a high wall all around the grounds and the swimming pool had a solid fence to prevent tragic accidents. I thought we'd be able to let the kids run free without needing to constantly supervise their play.

There were two rental homes on the same plot, but they had separate gardens and swimming pools. We failed to pick up on the code 'dog friendly' and ended up staying next door to a family with five dogs.

Within a few hours of arriving they'd aggressively chased my 85 year old father-in-law. The owners completely failed to control the dogs and they kept running into our garden area and barking aggressively.

It completely ruined the holiday because I was constantly on edge worrying the dogs were going to chase down and attack my children.

I'm in Dorset and my local beach is seasonal when it comes to dogs, they can run around off lead on the beach autumn/winter but not late spring into summer, due to the volume of tourists on the beach at those times. You also can't take dogs into posher places like restaurants but they are definitely allowed in most little cafes and caravan parks I think.
I'd say your best bet is Airbnb and stay somewhere in summer when dogs cant run around on the beach, and eat out in more expensive places. Dorset is a lovely part of the world.

Hope you find somewhere OP, it's so difficult now the whole country is sadly dog crazy, especially with so many irresponsible owners. Also hard to find dog-free cafes, pubs, restaurants too, so we rarely go to these places anymore.

Some smells can be removed by cleaning, but the smell of dog is not easily removed from furniture, carpet etc, and I should think the owners of these properties aren't going to do any deep cleaning as the next occupants will also have dogs, and thus will not notice the stink ( and less cost for the house owner = more profit).

"If a holiday cottage is advertised as not pet friendly, that doesn't mean that the owner hasn't had a dog or other animal in them."

Yes my farmer friend has a strict no dogs policy in his cottages but it's possible his own dogs have been in them.

I don’t really agree - yes a house where dogs (or smokers) have lived for a while will likely be difficult to fully remove the smell. But a short stay? Not every guest will be bringing pets will they? I hope they are deep cleaning regularly, especially if I’m paying more to bring pets. I’m sure you’re right and places are not as diligent as we’d all like. But my point is that this is less an issue of dogs or smokers, and more of poor service.

That sounds fantastic

rife
/rʌɪf/
adjective
(especially of something undesirable) of common occurrence; widespread.
"male chauvinism was rife in medicine"

What do they do about guide dogs? It's illegal to restrict them from going anywhere.

I think you’ll find that guide dogs (and other assistance dogs) are trained to the highest of standards and do not go on furniture. They were never a problem. Untrained dogs belonging to entitled owners have created the problem for non dog owners and responsible dog owners alike.

The person I quoted said they had a life threatening allergy to dogs. Surely just being in proximity to dogs would be an issue - not just on the furniture. I had a guide dog on my bus this morning with a blind person.