Derbyshire is one of those counties where the Peak District does most of the talking — Figo and I have spent many a weekend chasing sheep smells we’re not supposed to chase around Edale and Bakewell. If you’re planning a trip, here’s what we could actually verify about dog-friendly places to stay, from Derby city out to the Hope Valley.
As always on AboutDogs, we only list what we can confirm from a hotel’s own policy page, a named booking platform’s stated pet fee, or an official source. Where something couldn’t be confirmed, we say so rather than guessing.
Hotels and inns
- Holiday Inn Express Derby Pride Park — £30 per pet, per stay. Up to 2 pets, no weight limit, a pet walking area on site and a dog goody bag on arrival. Phone ahead to confirm before you travel: +44 371 902 1607.
- Holiday Inn Derby – Nottingham M1, Jct.25 — £15 per night, dogs only (no other pets), up to 2, no weight limit, pet walking area on the grounds. Worth knowing: this property is actually in Long Eaton, right on the Derby/Nottinghamshire border, so check the exact location before booking if you need to be county-specific.
- Rutland Arms Hotel, The Square, Bakewell — runs a “Paws & Relax” dog package and is clearly geared up for dogs of all breeds. The hotel doesn’t publish a fee online, so you’ll need to ring and ask before booking.
Campsites and touring parks
- Lime Tree Holiday Park, Duke’s Drive, Buxton, SK17 9RP — £2 per dog, per night. Dogs allowed all year on touring and tent pitches, kept on a lead and supervised at all times, max 2 dogs. The usual UK breed-specific-legislation breeds aren’t accepted. Worth knowing: dogs are not allowed inside the camping pods here, only on the touring/tent pitches themselves.
Chain hotels
We checked Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, voco, ibis and Mercure specifically. Derby itself has two confirmed dog-friendly IHG hotels (above). There’s no voco or Mercure anywhere in the county — the nearest Mercure branches are in Sheffield and Nottingham, both outside Derbyshire. An ibis budget does exist in Derby, but we couldn’t pin down its pet policy from Accor’s own site in this pass, so we’re not stating one either way. Outside Derby city — Chesterfield, Buxton, Matlock, Bakewell, Ashbourne, Ilkeston, Belper, Swadlincote and the Hope Valley cluster — none of these chains have a branch at all. (We don’t cover Premier Inn as a matter of house policy.)
What we couldn’t confirm
The George Hotel in Hathersage is flagged as pet-friendly on one third-party booking platform, but we couldn’t reach the hotel’s own site to confirm its policy directly, so we’ve left it off rather than guess. Darwin Forest Country Park near Matlock markets itself as dog-welcoming, but we couldn’t load its own site to verify current terms. Self-catering cottages are genuinely plentiful across the Peak District on the big booking sites, but individual listings weren’t verified closely enough in this pass to name one with confidence — the same goes for B&Bs in Ashbourne and Matlock, where searches only turned up generic aggregator pages rather than a specific confirmable business.
Figo’s tip: always ring ahead to confirm the pet policy and fee the day before you travel, especially for the smaller independent places — rules change more often than the big booking platforms keep up with. If your dog gets anxious in a new place, we always pack a few calming treats from Calmshops for the first night somewhere unfamiliar.
FAQs
Is there a dog-friendly chain hotel in Derbyshire?
Yes — Holiday Inn Express Derby Pride Park and the Holiday Inn at Derby–Nottingham M1 Jct.25 (actually in Long Eaton) are both confirmed dog-friendly, with published fees of £30 per stay and £15 per night respectively. No voco or Mercure exists in the county, and Premier Inn isn’t covered on AboutDogs as a matter of house policy.
What’s the cheapest confirmed dog-friendly stay in Derbyshire?
Lime Tree Holiday Park near Buxton charges £2 per dog per night on its touring and tent pitches, the lowest fee we verified — though dogs aren’t allowed inside the camping pods there, only on pitches.
Can I bring my dog to the Rutland Arms Hotel in Bakewell?
Yes, the hotel runs a “Paws & Relax” dog package, but it doesn’t publish a fee online, so you’ll need to call ahead and ask before booking.
