1 Lake View, Coniston

1 Lake View is a small self-catering cottage at Bowmanstead, just outside Coniston village, with a lounge that looks straight down Coniston Water through French doors. It is a whole-house let with a wood burner, a well-equipped kitchen and parking right outside the door, and it takes up to two pets - which makes it one of the more practical Coniston bases if you are travelling with a dog and want to cook for yourselves.

The cottage does the important things well. It is warm, it is comfortable, the kitchen has everything you need for a week of self-catering, and the shower gets a mention from almost everyone. Coniston village is a walk away for supplies and pubs - The Ship is the local of choice - and the lake, the Old Man and the woodland paths on the eastern shore all start within a short distance. Guests with dogs describe it as somewhere they settled into quickly.

The one thing to be clear-eyed about is the road. The cottage sits directly on it, the traffic is busy and fast, and there is no enclosed garden. Every guest travelling with a dog raises the same point: doors have to be watched, dogs need holding or tying when you are sitting outside, and the walk along the roadside to reach the village or the footpaths is not relaxing with a dog on a lead. If your dog has shaky recall or bolts at engine noise, this is not the cottage for them. The road noise also carries into the front bedroom well into the evening.

Elsewhere the picture is mixed. The beds are soft and several guests found them squeaky enough to disturb light sleepers, and the linen and towels have been showing their age - stains on towels and the bath mat come up more than once, and one visit turned up condensation mould around a bedroom window. For the price, the finish should be better than it is.

Best suited to a couple or small family with one or two calm, lead-trained dogs who want the Coniston Water view and are confident about managing road safety for the whole stay.