Holly Cottage, Minster Lovell

Holly Cottage is a whole-house rental on a lane in Old Minster Lovell, a chocolate-box west Oxfordshire village on the edge of the Cotswolds, and the garden is what sells it to dog owners: an enclosed lawn and patio backing onto open ground, quiet enough that guests notice the birds rather than the traffic. It earns a 4.5/5 paw rating.

Up to two dogs can stay, at 25 pounds per dog. The listing does not say whether that is charged per night or per stay, so pin it down when you book. Dogs are asked to stay downstairs and off the furniture, which is a reasonable ask in a cottage this old and, as it happens, sidesteps the stairs entirely. They are steep, with odd little steps between rooms, so a downstairs dog is the easier arrangement anyway.

The walking is the other reason to come. The medieval dovecote and the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall are a few minutes from the door, with public footpaths through the riverside meadows along the Windrush, and there is a pub within walking distance. As a whole-house let there are no shared corridors and no other guests, so a dog that finds hotels stressful has the run of the ground floor.

The caveat is the plumbing, and it is a recurring one: several parties have reported the hot water running short or the boiler failing outright, with one group cutting a stay two days early over it. The cottage itself draws warm praise, the building and the furnishings and the garden especially, but the kitchen is basic and the bathroom fittings have been described as tired. Best suited to a couple or small group with one or two dogs who want a quiet Cotswolds-edge base with riverside walks from the door, and who will check the hot water on arrival.