I love taking my dog on holiday with me. I get so much joy from watching her have new experiences and enjoy a holiday as well! Also when you bring the dog along, you don’t have the hassle of trying to find friends or family to care for them while you are gone …. But you do have the hassle of finding the perfect dog friendly accommodation. It can really narrow down your options! Thankfully I’ve found the perfect dog friendly lodges in Cornwall that I can’t wait to share them with you. Read on to find out more.
Cornwall can be one of the best, but also one of the trickiest holiday destinations in the UK. The best because of the beautiful beaches, quaint towns and gorgeous countryside. Trickiest because it is just so popular that finding good accommodation can be a struggle, expensive and of course the traffic can be an issue too. If, like me, you are a pet parent with no human children, then you have the luxury of being able to go on holiday during term time. This is the best time to go to Cornwall to avoid the crowds!
Una St Ives Resort
I found Una St Ives on the popular holiday booking website secretescapes.com. If you aren’t familiar with this website, hotels can use it to put on special offers to get some patrons during their quieter dates. This luxury 5 star resort was advertising their self catering dog friendly lodges in Cornwall at an unbelievable price!
We booked a 3 bedroom lodge for just £175 per night – this was an absolute steal. It’s such good value if you split it between multiple people, which we did. Especially when you hear about all the amenities available. This price was for the first week of May 2024. As with many dog friendly accommodations, there was a charge for bringing a dog, which was £50. This is usually to accommodate for deeper cleaning after your stay. We received a little doggy welcome pack with some house rules, and local dog friendly recommendations when we arrived which was a nice touch.
Facilities at the Resort
Una St Ives is a collection of self catering one, two, three, and four bedroom lodges and villas. The lodges and villas centre around the main building which has 2 restaurants, a spa, gym, and outdoor pool. Dogs are not allowed in any of these facilities – hopefully you wouldn’t try and take your dog with you to go for a massage anyways!
The Spa
The Spa at Una St Ives is everything I hoped for. They have a full menu of different massages and beauty treatments. From a hot stone massage, to facials, to a pedicure – you can really pamper yourself. I had a one hour full body deep tissue massage on my second day for the cost of £80, and it was worth every penny. The experience from start to finish was totally relaxing and I was made to feel really comfortable by the massage therapist.
The best way to book a treatment is directly through the Spa reception in person – we had tried emailing & calling the day before arriving but didn’t get a response. Thankfully they had plenty of availability when speaking to them in person after our arrival and they were very helpful.
The Indoor Leisure Facilities
The pool area is one of the nicest I’ve been to at a hotel. It feels bright and airy, due to the wall to ceiling glass and glass panels on the roof. The pool is an infinity style pool with a disappearing edge. The hot tub was big enough for about 6 people to sit comfortably, same for the sauna and steam room. All the facilities, including the changing rooms were immaculately clean – I really can’t fault it at all.
There is a small childrens pool, and there were some families with small children staying on site as well. There are adult only swim times in the morning and evening. However I found that the adult only swim times were the busiest, and during the daytime there was hardly anyone in the pool.This is likely due to the fact it was still during term time, so there were no families with school age children staying.
On our second day at Una we went for a dog walk on the beach in the morning, then came back in the afternoon for my deep tissue massage, followed by a couple of hours of using the leisure facilities. It was truly dreamy!
The Outdoor Pool
The outdoor pool area is very trendy, and feels like a beach club in the med. There are sun loungers all around the pool on two levels. The pool was lovely and clean, and the temperature was 25 degrees which was very comfortable for swimming. You are able to get drinks from the bar at Una kitchen and bring them poolside. We were staying at the beginning of May, and got fantastic weather – lounging by the pool in the sun with a Gin & Tonic, I couldn’t believe I was still in the UK!
The Gym
I won’t get you too excited about the gym… To be honest I didn’t do more than stick my head in for a look, as I’m not really the kind of person who goes to the gym while on holiday. There are a few of the standard machines you would expect like treadmills, and a selection of weights. Enough to keep up your fitness routine. There was only ever one or two people in it whenever I walked past.
The Restaurants
One of the highlights for me staying at these dog friendly lodges in Cornwall was the fantastic food right on your doorsteap. Both of these restaurants are on site at Una St Ives. They are open to the public as well as available for use by guests staying in the accommodation. Both are dog friendly, and we enjoyed some meals outdoors with our pooch. If you would like to be able to enjoy taking your dog to restaurants and cafes, but are struggling to get them to settle, check out this blog post for some advice.
Una Kitchen
Una Kitchen is the A la Carte restaurant and bar. Their menu includes a great variety of dishes, there is definitely something for everyone. There are pasta options, fish, steak, burgers, and a wood fired pizza menu. In the spirit of being by the sea, on our first night I tried the ‘wood roasted local fish (hake) served with crispy parmesan polenta, creamed leeks and pancetta.’ It was so delicious – as someone who is not very confident with fish, I was blown away.
At other times of day they have an afternoon tea menu, and a lunch menu. The lunch menu is a selection of sandwiches and sides. The BLT and fries hit the spot out in the sunshine after a morning walk at the beach. There is also a Sunday lunch menu which I sadly did not get to sample. You can order the pizzas in takeaway boxes, to enjoy back at your lodge which was a great touch. It meant the stay was relaxing and if you didn’t feel like going out for a meal but didn’t want to cook in your lodge, you had a convenient takeaway option on your doorstep.
Cargo
Cargo is a street food grill which had just opened the day prior to us arriving. It serves deliciously tasty food from the grill including steaks, burgers and tacos. For dessert you can get loaded waffles, which are deliciously decadent. The only downside to Cargo is that the opening days are just Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We only managed to get one meal on Friday lunchtime before the long drive home.
The Dog Friendly Lodge
Our Lodge was number 53. It was a 3 bedroom lodge, all with king size beds though I believe they could be separated into twin beds if needed. The master bedroom has a balcony with seating overlooking the site and an ensuite. There is a master bathroom and a downstairs loo. The beds are very comfy and I slept fantastic for the entirety of our stay. When you check in at Una everyone in your party is given a wristband which is your key to enter your lodge and the leisure facilities. This was really handy, as is meant everyone could come and go from the lodge as they pleased without worrying about who has the key, or remembering a passcode.
Downstairs the lodge has a very open plan layout with one large kitchen/dining/living space. The TV was fairly modern and equipped with chrome cast, though we just took our amazon fire stick with us to use all our usual TV apps. The kitchen was well equipped with all the cooking equipment you might need, and there is a washer/dryer for any washing you might want to do. This is incredibly handy as when we take our dog to the beach we come bag with sandy stinky towels! There was plenty of space for us to set up our dog’s crate, which is essential for us. (you can check out my guide on how to have the best staycations with your dog here).
Outside space
The garden area of the lodge was mostly decked, with a huge hot tub. The hot tub is ready for use the entirety of your stay, the maintenance team at una keep it clean and up to the right temperature which is fantastic. There is also outside dining table and seating for 6 people.
My only complaint about the lodges would be that the garden is not enclosed enough for a dog. It is private and screened with hedges and foliage for you to enjoy your hot tub, however you can wander out from your garden into the rest of the site/other people’s gardens. This means you have to have your dog on a lead for every toilet trip so they don’t escape, you can’t just let them out. The likely reason for this is so the maintenance team can get in and access the hot tub easily, however a fence and gate would be much more practical for a dog friendly lodge.
The perfect location for your dog friendly stay in Cornwall!
Una St Ives Resort is based less than a ten minute drive from St Ives in nearby Carbis Bay. The resort is tucked away down a country lane, so it is best accessible by car. You can walk 5-10 minutes from the resort to get to the main road running through Carbis Bay into St Ives. From here you can easily catch a bus into St Ives. Although you could walk to St Ives, it would take about an hour. As we were staying in May and not peak season, we easily drove into St Ives most days and had no trouble parking. However I know from experience in July and August this would be a different story, and parking in St Ives can be very difficult.
Plenty of local beaches to choose from
You are absolutely spoilt for choice for beaches to visit when staying at these fantastic dog friendly lodges in Cornwall. During our stay every morning we went to a different beach for a lovely long dog walk.
Walking distance from the Una resort is Carbis Bay beach. This takes about 25 minutes to walk to. Bear in mind it’s down quite a steep hill, so it feels a lot longer on the way back up! Carbis Bay is a beautiful secluded cove with just a few dog walkers on, and at the far end there is a dog-friendly cafe where we enjoyed coffee and bacon sandwiches.
These beaches are all a short drive from Una, around 10 minutes. Gwithian, Hayle, Porthkidney, and Porthgwidden. My favourites of these had to be Gwithian for just how vast it is – we did a very long walk with the dog off lead having a fantastic time here. My other favourite was Porthgwidden, for its stunning views of St Ives and the lovely greek restaurant serving coffees.
Something very important to know about Cornwall is there is a seasonal ban on taking your dogs on some beaches during the daytime over the summer. This is in place from mid-May to the end of September. The times you can’t take your dog on the beach is from 10am – 6pm during these months. Thankfully this doesn’t include all beaches and is just the main tourist ones – this article has some great information about which beaches are dog friendly.
What’s the verdict?
If you are looking for dog friendly lodges in Cornwall, I don’t think you will find anywhere better than Una St Ives. The lodges are sleek and modern, the facilities and food on site are exceptional, and the proximity to local beaches is amazing. This place is the perfect base for a relaxing stay where you are happy to stay local and make use of the facilities on your doorstep. We were so well looked after by all the staff, we couldn’t have enjoyed our trip more. I would highly recommend booking a stay here!
