The Bobster's favourite walkies - Virginia Water Lake

The Virginia Water area is very affluent with huge houses, and a small village at its centre. It is near to Great Windsor Park, and can be reached by train. There is a large car park at the entrance, which my humans have always found a space in, even at the weekends at the height of summer. There is free parking available on the main road but this can be scarce and not so appealing if one brings small children.

Right inside the park is a fantastic café, with plenty of both indoor (no dogs)  and outdoor seating areas (woof!🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾)

I usually lead the human around the lake starting from the left side of the entrance. The first spot worth a sit-down or selfie comes soon at the waterfall which can be a torrent or trickle depending upon the time of year.

Then there are the ruins, which were a gift from Tripoli, Libya, to the Prince Regent at that time and reconstructed within the great park in the 1800s.

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The walk around the lake is pretty much circular. The shorter route is 4.5 miles and is really beautiful. The first half is around the lake edge,  there is another small café about midway, and the second half veers into more of a country feel. Once you reach the totem pole your walk is almost done. There are only a couple of small areas of specially planted blooms where dogs are not permitted but I have never felt that this has lessened my appreciation for this wonderful park 5 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

The first time the humans took me there they remarked that it looked like Switzerland. This is as close as I will ever get to the Swiss lakes, but I ain't complaining.

 If it gets a little hot I can take a dip. The water is clean and fresh. This whole park is very well maintained and a gift on Londoner's doorstep.

After our walk me and the humans like to go to eat at the Wheatsheaf, which is just a couple of minutes walk from the lake exit. You can move your car and park there for free, or just the car where it is, as it is really just by the lake. It is dog-friendly in the restaurant's large bar area, has  a large outdoor seating area, which is perfect for summer. However,  dogs are not allowed to stay at the hotel itself. 4🐾🐾🐾🐾

The Bobster's favourite walkies - Castle Howard, Yorkshire

 My human drew this. Woof 5 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Castle Howard is a lovely stately home on the Scarborough Road about 15 miles from York. It has been in the same family for the last 300 years and is surrounded by the Howardian Hills. You can get a yearly membership, which is really good value, if you want to take in a few visits a year and sure, why wouldn't you? I am allowed in the gardens (yippee!) and there are lots of things for the humans to enjoy here with events throughout the year, fresh farm produce and a lovely gift shop. There is a lake too and a little train to take you from the gate to the house then on to the boathouse by the lake (both me and you humans can ride the train).

However, it is a short walk and scenic walk and one is rewarded with the great view there and a lovely café (woof)

Check me out guys, very Downton Abbey in my Barbour coat. Here I am, leading the way, as usual, along the path towards Castle Howard. There is obviously a café I remember well just at the side of that magnificent stately home. What's keeping you, human? They serve food, and coffee!!!

So many things to sniff, and roll in. Yay 🐾🐾🐾🐾

Sometimes I take my buddy Luca and those little humans love it here. There is a lovely playground by the lake (we're not allowed in there) so it's handy that there is a café right beside it where Luca and I can sit, have water and eat, and eat...

The Bobster visits Brighton

With its seafront with miles of promenade and colourful beach huts, marina, and vibrant café scene, Brighton is within easy access of London and a great place to visit with the fur family and humans. There's always fun to be had here whether its listening to buskers and watching streets performers, strolling through Pavilion gardens, or wandering the lanes and  I am welcome in many of the many open-air cafes ( and indoor ones)  and hotels.
In this post I am only mentioning those cafes and hotels I have had the pleasure to visit.

This is me posing with one of my human family. I love and miss her so much as she now lives in Los Angeles (Grrrrrr!!!) This is us sitting outside our favourite haunt, La Forchette in Hove where we have spent many the hour basking in the sun and watching the world go by.  

Then it would be a long stroll along the promenade. I am also allowed on the beach with restricted access during summer months.

The hotels I have stayed at are:
The Grand Hotel Brighton is facing the sea, near all that Brighton has to offer, including the Brighton Centre, is a short stroll from the shops and Brighton Pavilion, and has a spa. If travelling by car, you can drive right up to the door and the car will be valet parked. Awesome! It is a famous Brighton landmark going back to Victorian times and busy during the Brighton conference. It is actually quite luxurious and the humans have enjoyed being pampered in the spa.
There is a hefty £30 charge for me to stay per night but I am allowed in the lounge and terrace, but no restaurant area. However,  if the human wants to eat, they will provide food in the lounge. I enjoyed my stay there and white the humans would rate it more highly, because of £30 fee, I give it  🐾🐾🐾

The neighbouring Hilton Brighton Metropole shares the excellent location on Brighton's seafront and also charges £30 per overnight stay to accommodate  me. I am provided with a bed and two bowls but am not permitted in any other part of the hotel.
It has a health club and spa for the humans and they LOVED the buffet breakfast but it's a 3 🐾🐾🐾 from me.

The Bobster visits Helmsley, Yorkshire

One reaches Helmsley from York via a drive through the Howardian Hills and it is a lovely drive.

The village is very quaint with many dog-friendly charming shops, pubs and cafes. The human likes to take me window shopping, and the shopkeepers are very welcoming.

I have stayed in two different hotels here:
The Feversham Arms has a spa, and very good restaurant, serving locally sourced produce,  which is highly recommended by my human companions. The bedrooms are cosy and individually designed and I am allowed to stay at no extra charge (ding dong!) but am not allowed in the bar or restaurants, though I may accompany the human to the library area. It is lovely in summer, and equally lovely and particularly cosy in winter 5 stars 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

The Black Swan is on the village square and also has a fabulous restaurant. The lounge and bar are open to me and are very cosy and relaxing, with a modern country feel but comfy tweed sofas.
The charge for me to stay here is £10 per night. It is a home away from home and I give it 5 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

The Bobster visits Filey, Yorkshire

Filey is in just over an hour's drive from York and is a small seaside town in North Yorkshire, with all that one would expect to find: great fish and chips, donkey rides, and miles and miles of sand. Dogs are allowed on certain parts of the beach, beyond the promenade mostly but that doesn't feel like a restriction as the beach literally does go on for miles.  I LOVED it 5 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

The Bobster visits York

me and my furry friend

I have human family in York, so have been visiting Yorkshire and staying in various locations since I was a puppy. It is an historic city with Roman walls and Viking heritage, birthplace of Guy Fawkes and W. H. Auden, and capital of God's own country.

My last visit to York was over the St. Patrick's Day weekend ( there's Irish for ya!) and the weekend commenced on St. Patrick's Day with an overnight stay at The Grange Hotel where I have stayed regularly during my 9 years of life. The Grange is on Bootham, and very close to York's centre and Museum Gardens, a very pretty well kept park, with Gothic ruins no less, which I LOVE for walkies.

The river Ouse is nearby too so I often drag the human companion along there first thing in the morning.

 

Then we are ready for breakfast. Breakfast at the Grange is huge, my human tells me. I am not allowed in the breakfast area but can sit in the bar area and their lovely sitting room whenever I desire. My previous stay here had been at Christmas and this time I was there for St. Patrick's Day, thus the donning of the green. There was a jazz night that night at The Grange  btw, which the humans enjoyed over dinner.

The Grange has recently undergone a bit of a revamp, with a newly installed lift and swanky new bedrooms, however, only some of the rooms are dog friendly - quite a lot in fact, and I've stayed in at least 10 different ones in my time, but for those of you who would hate a dog to have slept in the same room, don't worry, the best rooms are out of bounds for the likes of me. The charge for my stay is £20 per night, so what is provided? Well, more recently, there is a bed and bowls, which is a good thing. A treat would be nice, or a spare sausage at brekkie never goes amiss. Will I visit again? Of course, I am welcomed there and it feels like home. 5 paws 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾.

There are quite a few dog-friendly places to eat in York itself. One of the other places I sometimes stay is the Hotel Du Vin which allows me to eat in the bar or conservatory area, as well as outside (obviously) and the food is good.
I stay here quite often and was very impressed when visiting on last Guy Fawkes Day that they had upgraded me to a room further away from any fireworks. I am charged £10 per night to stay in one of their designated rooms and am provided with a bed, blanket and two bowls. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

I have stayed a couple of times at the Grand Hotel and Spa. It is indeed grand. There is a wonderful spa and swimming pool, a bar, which my human companion tells me serves a great gin with pomegranate,  a fabulous restaurant serving all sorts of  trendy dishes, and the dog friendly rooms on the ground floor are all spacious rooms with high ceilings, and large en suite bathrooms, with Molton Brown products.

I am not allowed to be in any other part of the hotel, other than the bedroom, but it is just across the road from Museum gardens, and 2 minutes from the train station. In fact, the hotel was once part of the Railway headquarters. My stay at the Grand Hotel and Spa cost the human around £20. For that I was given a very comfy bed and two bowls. The hotel itself is definitely a 5 star, of that there can be no doubt, but for the dog-friendliness and because I am confined to the room when there, I give it 3 paws🐾🐾🐾

I usually am driven in the human's car but have travelled to York from London by train. It takes half the time but I prefer to travel by car and chill, as lots of people want to come and pet me on the train and some are a bit weird. Humans!

Besides Hotel Du Vin, a favourite place to eat of mine is Judges, where I never have to ask for water, it is brought, and the food is yummy. Here I am welcome in the bar area and also in the conservatory. I've always found a place here and at Christmas it is really festive.

For fresh Juices, delicious cakes, gluten-free fare, and a vast array of vegetarian food (amongst other things),  I go to Filmore and Union on Petergate. I can eat anywhere there, so often do.

life imitating art?

The newly open Botanist allows me to eat in the bar area. The food is great and the restaurant busy and bar area is on a first come basis, so it is not easy to get a seat. However, it's worth trying. You won't be disappointed.
The Bistro Guy allows me and well-behaved fur friends in the garden,
and I very much look forward to trying Osbournes@68 on Gillygate on my next visit to York

Dog friendly places I like to visit near York

Filey is on the coast and about an hour's pleasant drive from York centre. The beach is fabulous when the tide is low and stretches for miles and I am allowed on a large part of it, but not all in certain months.

The Bobster visits Oulton Hall, near Leeds

Just recently I visited the lovely Oulton hall with my humans. It has a spa, a swimming pool, which the big and little humans loved, and lovely grounds, which I loved too.

On arrival, we waited in the bar area, overlooking the sumptuous grounds, but were soon moved to another room, as food was about to be served.

We had arrived there early so decided to have lunch there and were very well tended to in the main lounge, even the humans ate there. Lunch was very good. Dinner (which the humans said was awesome) was served in the main restaurant, so I stayed in my room, resting after a day's exploring the grounds.

The charge for my one night visit was £20. What was provided for me for that cost? Sadly nothing. My human had to request a dog bowl, which was then provided, so I give Oulton Hall 2🐾🐾 paws only, as I am always grateful for the fact that dogs can stay at all.

However, the staff are wonderful, and welcoming, and the place is very relaxing, so I am sure Oulton Hall will do better on any subsequent visits. Overall, I recommend it. Would I stay there again? Woof! (you betcha!) as my humans LOVED it. And, if they're happy...

If you are in the area you can benefit from a visit to Harewood House, which is 14 miles away. I am allowed in these beautiful grounds, which the whole family would love,  but I am not permitted inside the house.

The Bobster visits Bath

Let's start with my most recent trip to Bath. Bath is a lovely city and really dog-friendly. That said, I was not allowed to stay at the same hotel as the rest of the group so had to stay in a nearby hotel. Lucky me! I am going to give The Villa at Henrietta Park a big 5 paws 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾.

On arrival I was taken to the room, which my human loved. It is a boutique hotel, all the rooms are individually decorated and it really is very cute indeed. Best of all was what awaited me. There was comfy bedding, a bowl, and a treat box containing lily's dog food, a bag of bone biscuits, doggie bags, and (my favourite) a ball that squeaked (handy, as a very pretty park is right across the street!!!) My human was charged £15 for all of this, which must have been great as she had a great big smile on her face. There was only one small thing, which my human did not like, and that was I was unable to be left alone in the room, which meant she skipped breakfast. That said, we were out and about early next day, so this was okay with her. Would I stay here again? Woof, Woof!! (yes, indeed)

villahenriettapark.co.uk

While in Bath I ate dinner with my humans at Hall and Woodhouse, which has a very good menu and lots of space downstairs for dogs and their owners. However, there is a limited menu compared with upstairs. Nevertheless, it was very good indeed and we were all made very welcome. If you want to take your humans too then visit.hall-woodhousebath.co.uk