Pet-friendly hotels in Reading, ranked

What pet-friendly means in Reading

'Pet-friendly' in UK hospitality covers everything from 'small dog, in a carrier, in one designated ground-floor room' to 'bring the labrador, he can eat sausages at breakfast'. Reading has both extremes and most points in between. The town has decent dog infrastructure — Prospect Park, Forbury Gardens, and the Thames Path all welcome dogs, and Caversham in particular is dog country at weekends. The harder task is finding a hotel where you don't feel apologetic bringing the animal through the lobby.

I've stayed with a 22kg lurcher at seven Reading hotels in the last two years. The rankings below reflect what the pet policy is on the ground, not what the website claims. Pet fees range from nothing (Premier Inn on their pilot rooms) to £36 a night (Malmaison), and some hotels charge per stay while others charge per night — the difference on a week's booking is significant.

Malmaison Reading — the top pick if you're spending

Malmaison likes dogs. The converted Great Western station has ground-floor rooms opening onto a courtyard, staff who keep treats at reception, and no size restriction. Rate £146 to £190 plus a £36 per-stay pet fee (not per night — this matters). Rooms are the nicest in Reading and the location is two minutes from the station, ten from Forbury Gardens for the morning walk. I've had a lurcher fall asleep on the room's velvet armchair without a raised eyebrow.

The catch is dinner: the ground-floor brasserie doesn't allow dogs in the dining room, only the bar lounge area. That's an evening-planning constraint if you're travelling solo. Book the courtyard rooms specifically — they're quieter and the door-to-grass route is thirty seconds, which matters at 6am. For a weekend break with a well-behaved dog and a £158-a-night budget, this is where I'd go every time.

Premier Inn Reading Central — the value pick

Premier Inn has rolled out pet-friendly rooms across select hotels, and Premier Inn Reading Central has around eight rooms in the programme. Rate £67 to £91 plus a £22 per-stay pet fee. Rooms are standard Premier Inn — clean, functional, hard flooring in the bathroom which is useful with a wet dog. Two-dog maximum, no size limit stated but staff will push back at anything approaching a great dane. Ground-floor rooms only.

The location is hard to beat for a walking-with-dog weekend — five minutes to the station, ten to the Kennet towpath, twelve to Forbury Gardens. There's no on-site restaurant with dog access, which is standard Premier Inn, so plan for takeaway or find one of the several dog-welcoming pubs on Castle Street. Book the pet room specifically at booking — the general reservation system won't automatically assign one. Ranks second for anyone under £119 a night.

The Roseate Reading — for the low-key luxurious weekend

The Roseate Reading accepts dogs in specified garden rooms at £24 per night (per night, note, so a three-night stay is £71). The garden runs to the Kennet and there's space for a dog to stretch, plus a reception that keeps water bowls and biscuits. Rooms £166 to £229. The whole vibe is quieter and more grown-up than Malmaison, so this works better for older dogs who sleep through dinner than exuberant puppies who don't.

The restaurant is not dog-friendly, which is a stricter policy than Malmaison. What The Roseate offers instead is a garden-room breakfast option where staff will bring food out if the weather cooperates. It's a fussier setup but the payoff is a beautiful stay. For a special weekend with a mellow dog, and if the per-night fee doesn't scare you off, this is a good third pick behind Malmaison and Premier Inn.

Holiday Inn Reading South — the road-trip base

Holiday Inn Reading South M4 Jct11 by IHG accepts dogs in ground-floor rooms at £20 per stay. Free parking, a big surface car park you can walk a dog around, and the property backs onto some scrappy but functional green space. Rate £91 to £119. This is the practical pick if Reading is a stopover on a longer trip: you can arrive, walk the dog, sleep, and be back on the M4 by 9am without ever going near the town centre. The pool doesn't allow dogs and the corridors are wide and unfussed.

The location is dull and the food is dull, but with a dog those are minor. Better to drive fifteen minutes to a proper pub for dinner — the Bull at Sonning welcomes dogs and does proper food. For anyone road-tripping to the West Country or the Cotswolds with a dog, Holiday Inn Reading South is a smarter overnight than the town centre options. Don't stay two nights unless you have specific reasons.

The ones that say pet-friendly but really aren't

Novotel Reading Centre accepts dogs at £14 a night but restricts to small dogs (under 15kg) and forbids them from public areas including the lobby beyond arrival and departure. That's a workable policy for a chihuahua and a nightmare for anything bigger. pentahotel Reading is genuinely welcoming but the ground-floor rooms overlook Oxford Road and the noise punishes a light-sleeping dog.

Crowne Plaza Reading and some of the corporate hotels on the western fringe accept assistance dogs only, not pets — worth knowing because they show up on some search filters as pet-friendly. The budget chains clustered around the M4 junctions vary: some take pets, some restrict to assistance dogs, and the policy often depends on which member of staff picks up the phone. Ring before you book. The overall Reading pet-friendly picture is thinner than it looks online; four hotels really work, three are marginal, and the rest are polite refusals dressed up as policies.

Walking your dog in Reading

Prospect Park in West Reading is the best serious walk — 60 hectares, off-lead areas, and a decent café that tolerates muddy dogs on the terrace. Forbury Gardens is small but central and fine for a pre-breakfast wander; the Reading Abbey Ruins are on-lead only. The Thames Path from Caversham Bridge east toward Sonning is a proper hour-long walk with river views and pub stops at the Roebuck. Kennet towpath from the station east to Sutton's Seed Trial Ground is a shorter option, mostly on-lead because of cyclists.

Dog-friendly pubs worth planning around: the Griffin at Caversham, the Fisherman's Cottage on the Kennet, the Nag's Head, and the Bull at Sonning (fifteen minutes out). Reading Museum and Reading Abbey Ruins don't allow dogs; the Museum of English Rural Life allows them in the gardens but not inside. Take a folded towel to any hotel — the Thames Path in October is a mud commitment, and no hotel appreciates a full-body wet dog on their reception carpet.