Bayards Cove Inn, Dartmouth

Bayards Cove Inn is a 14th-century merchant's house on Dartmouth's Lower Street, a few steps from the quay, and it is one of the more thoroughly dog-friendly small hotels on this stretch of the South Devon coast. The welcome is not a tolerated-pets arrangement: dogs arrive to a bed, bowls, locally made treats and a food station, and there is a sausage for them with breakfast. Guests heading off on a longer journey have been sent away with a travel pack too.

What lifts it beyond the kit is the staff. The recurring theme across stays with dogs is that nothing is treated as an inconvenience - walkers coming in wet and muddy off the coast path get helped rather than winced at, and there are usually a few other dogs about the place, which gives the ground floor a relaxed, houseful feel rather than a hushed-hotel one. Breakfast draws consistent praise.

Dartmouth suits this kind of stay. The quay, the boat trips and the steam railway across the river are all within a short walk, the South West Coast Path is accessible in both directions, and the town has enough places that welcome dogs that an evening does not need planning around. Up to two dogs are welcome per room.

The building's age sets the limits, and they are worth knowing before booking. Rooms are small. Walls and floors between them are thin, so you hear your neighbours and they hear you, and a dog that reacts to footfall on a staircase will be audible. There is no parking at the inn, which is a Dartmouth problem more than an inn problem but a real one all the same. The car ferry runs close by and is audible into the evening, though it stops by around eleven. A dog charge applies on top of the room rate and the amount is not published, so confirm it when you book.

Best suited to a couple with one or two settled dogs who want a characterful quayside base with genuinely warm dog handling, and who will not mind a historic building's noise. On that basis Bayards Cove Inn earns a 4.8 out of 5 paw rating.