Sea Campion, Thurlestone

Sea Campion is a self-catering apartment at Thurlestone Sands, on the stretch of South Hams coast between Hope Cove and Bantham where the South West Coast Path runs along the top of the beach. For a dog, that setting is most of the appeal: you can be on sand within a couple of minutes of the door, and the coast path gives you a headland walk in either direction without touching the car.

Two small, well-behaved pets are welcome. The apartment sits inside the Seamark development, which brings shared leisure facilities with it, and that format is worth understanding before booking. This is one apartment within a wider complex rather than a standalone cottage, so there are shared corridors and shared outdoor space. Most dogs take that in their stride; a reactive dog who finds strangers in a stairwell stressful may not.

The dog owners who have stayed here pick out the same three things: the location, how clean the apartment is, and how easy the walking is. Thurlestone and Hope Cove come up repeatedly, and both are among the better dog-friendly beaches on this coast outside the summer restriction months. South Milton Sands is the nearest, a short walk along the shore, with Bantham and Bigbury a little further west.

The apartment draws the usual self-catering caveats rather than pet-specific ones: the sofas are firm, the shower is tight, and a few fittings have been flagged as needing minor attention. None of it changes anything for a dog.

No pet fee, weight limit or breed restriction is published, so confirm those with the owner, along with the complex's rules on dogs in shared spaces such as corridors and the pool deck, at the time of booking rather than on arrival.

Best suited to owners of settled, sociable dogs who want a beach-front South Hams base for coastal walking, and who are comfortable in an apartment block rather than a private cottage.