The Wonderful Washingborough Hall Hotel near Lincoln (WHH), or Washy Hall as it is known locally, is a privately owned, doggy-friendly, country house hotel with all the charm of a private country home. The building dates back to the 1700’s and it is full of character, with oodles of original features. These sit happily alongside more contemporary touches, and together the old and the new create a lovely environment in which to spend some time.
Located just 3-4 miles outside Lincoln (map) it is perfectly placed to use as a base to explore this lovely city. We came because we were travelling north to Northumberland and the village of Washingborough was roughly half way to our final destination.
Upon arrival the warmth of the welcome from the staff was rivaled only by the warmth emanating from the wood burning stove in the entrance hall. Hoover was greeted enthusiastically by Jess, who came to say hello armed with doggy biscuits. They instantly became firm friends as he tried to 
flatten her and smother her with love. So many places say they are doggy friendly, when actually they are doggy tolerant. Not so at the Washingborough Hall Hotel: almost the first words we heard were: “we love dogs at Washy Hall”…in fact we heard it often…and they really do!
The hotel is lovely. The entrance hall is full of comfy chairs positioned around the aforementioned log burner, and the bar (which is where you can eat your meals with your pooch alongside you) is comfy and cozy. Dinner was delicious: The was a nice selection on the menu, and I had a veggie option to start with of leek cannelloni with a gorgeously gooey sauce, followed by pork belly on some sort of scrumptious noodles in an oriental-style prawn sauce with pak choi, and then I squeezed in the salted caramel ice cream, which is home made by the hotel chef. He even makes fudge, which they serve with your latte. Scrumptious!
The bar is welcoming and relaxing: some of the other diners in the bar had doggy guests 
with them too (Hooves fell for a lady Cockapoo), and the guests that don’t have dogs tend to have their drinks in the bar before they move through to the restaurant for their dinner. At no point did I feel that H and I were in the way – in fact every single person that walked through the door came to say hello. Again we felt extremely welcome
Our room, as lovely as the rest of the hotel, had everything we needed to make us feel at home: comfy bed, flat screen tv, tea & coffee making facilities, and a smart bathroom with toiletries from L’Occitane…what a treat! We were in room 18, which I thin is used regularly for doggy guests, but there was no hint of a dog ever ahving been in the room. Not a whiff or a single hair.
Breakfast is also served to dog owners in the bar area, and a table was laid up ready for us when we went downstairs. It was as delicious as dinner the night before…in particular the Lincoln sausage.
To sum up, the hotel is lovely, the staff are warm, friendly, & efficient, the gardens are pretty, and the food is delicious. I recommend Washy Hall very highly as a lovely place to stay with your furry friend.
