Church View, Hatherleigh

Church View is a cob cottage of about 1750 in the middle of Hatherleigh, and it makes an easy base for a dog in mid Devon. It is a whole-house rental, so there are no shared corridors, no reception desk and nobody to get past each time you come back from a muddy walk. Once the key is handed over, the cottage is yours.

Two dogs can stay, and they stay free of charge, which keeps the cost of a longer booking down. The one firm condition is that dogs are not left alone in the property, so this suits owners who plan to take the dog along rather than leave it behind for the evening.

Inside, the period features do the work: a log burner, a comfortable lounge, beams and a well equipped kitchen. Guests travelling with dogs tend to pick out the same qualities, namely that the cottage is warm, easy to settle into after a wet day on the moor, and furnished with more care than a standard holiday let. It scores 9.9 out of 10 across guest reviews.

Hatherleigh is a small Devon market town and Church View sits on the main street. A dog-friendly pub is a short walk away, the lanes leading out of the village give you easy circuits from the door, and both Dartmoor and the Tarka Trail are a short drive. If you would rather not get back in the car every evening, the position is a real advantage.

The trade-offs are the ones that come with a building of this age: rooms are cosy rather than large, and the layout is period rather than open plan. The rule against leaving dogs unattended is also worth thinking through if you had hoped for a long dinner out. With a 4.5 out of 5 paw rating, Church View suits couples or a small family with one or two settled dogs who will be out walking most of the day.