My dog-friendly weekend in Eastbourne

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I’ve always felt that regular romantic mini-breaks are fairly key to a successful relationship, but due to our differing work patterns (he works nights/I work days) my boyfriend Liviu and I never seem to have our diaries aligned enough to squeeze in some time away together.

Suddenly we had a Friday night when we were both free. It seemed too good to be true.

‘Let’s go away somewhere!’ he suggested.

‘But I’ve promised to look after Harry…’ I replied, consulting my diary. Harry belongs to my cousin Nick. Harry is a dog.

‘Bring him with us?’ suggested Liviu. ‘It’ll be fun to pretend to have a dog!’

There are not many places within easy reach of London that you can take a dog, but the York House Hotel in Eastbourne is one of them — they even offer a special dog-friendly package.

Harry is a Tibetan Terrier. In my limited experience of dogs he’s pretty perfect, an ideal travel companion. Tibetan Terriers were bred in the monasteries of Tibet — they’re essentially temple dogs, so as long as he gets an occasional walk, Harry is happy sitting around keeping an eye on the world around him. If I was ever ready to settle down with a dog, then I would want a dog just like Harry.

We caught the train from London’s Victoria station— it’s an easy, direct train to Eastbourne that takes about 90 minutes. On the East Sussex coast to the south of London, Eastbourne is defined by its Victorian-era seafront with an impressively long, wooden pier.

We walked from the train station and easily found our hotel, located right on the seafront, with stunning views out across the water.

Check-in was a breeze and we were soon climbing the winding, narrow stairs to find our room. Large, spacious, with great ocean views, all three of us were immediately impressed. I loved the little touches — as well as the massive double bed for myself and Liviu, there was a small bed on the floor already set up for Harry.

‘These smell delicious!’ enthused Liviu, opening the jar of home-made biscuits that were waiting for us in the room.

‘I’m pretty sure they’re for Harry…’ I replied. Harry’s enthusiasm for them confirmed that they were delicious. There was also a bowl and mat provided for food and water for Harry — nothing was an issue.

Later, the three of us rugged up and went for a walk along the pebble beach to check out the pier. There’s something incredibly refreshing about a winter’s walk along a beach — the sky was clear and blue, and the fresh, cold wind quickly blew the cobwebs away and put a world of distance between us and the hustle and bustle of London.

There is a lot to explore in Eastbourne — the South Downs National Park, the Napoleonic fort, the Redoubt Fortress and Military Museum — but we were having the kind of mini-break where we really didn’t need to leave the hotel.

Sensibly, the York House Hotel doesn’t let dogs into their main dining room, but the staff helpfully suggested that they could set a table in the bar so that Harry could join us for dinner. It was perfect — the hotel prides itself on its use of local produce and we feasted on gammon steaks while Harry snoozed happily beneath our feet.

That night we all slept soundly, comforted by the rolling waves breaking gently on the beach beneath our window.

The next morning we were blessed with another brilliant winter’s day — clear blue skies and almost warm sunshine. After fuelling up on the generous breakfast buffet, we set out to explore. Stretching along Eastbourne’s seafront is a well-constructed promenade — we walked for miles, enjoying the sunshine, photographing the views and patiently waiting for Harry to thoroughly investigate and assess every new scent and landmark that he came across.

A cool dog to walk, a gorgeous man to put my arms around, a great hotel, and a new destination to experience — the perfect romantic mini-break.