Brook Cottage, Dawlish

Brook Cottage is a quirky character cottage in the middle of Dawlish, a few minutes' walk from both the beach and the railway station, and it takes two dogs at no extra charge. For a town-centre cottage that is a genuinely useful combination: you can arrive by train, walk to the sea, and not pay a supplement for the dog.

The layout suits dog owners better than most cottages of its age. There is a ground-floor bedroom with its own en suite plus a further downstairs bathroom, so a dog that cannot manage stairs never has to. A private courtyard gives somewhere enclosed to step out into, and guests who brought a dog picked out the courtyard and the walks within easy reach as the reasons the cottage worked for them.

Inside it is spacious for its footprint, sleeping six, with a well-equipped kitchen, plenty of books and board games, and fast wifi. The character of the old building is what people remember, and there is one parking space at the property with pay-and-display nearby for a second car.

The stairs are the thing to weigh up before booking. Guests describe them as steep, painted and uncarpeted, and difficult to manage going down; the outside area is reached by a further awkward flight and a low doorway. An older, larger or less confident dog will be better off staying downstairs, which is a good reason to request the ground-floor bedroom. Television reception has also been a recurring complaint, and one guest reported a damp smell from the ground-floor bedroom.

It suits families and groups who want a central Dawlish base with the beach and station on foot, and who can plan around a steep staircase.