Walkers Rest, Windermere

Walkers Rest is a cottage in an excellent central position in Windermere, a minute from the main street but genuinely quiet once you are inside, and it has real appeal as a spacious base for a family holiday with dogs. It takes up to two pets per booking, which makes it one of the more accommodating options in the town centre for households travelling with a pair.

Dog owners are split on it, and the 4.1 out of 5 paw rating reflects that. The positives are consistent: the location is hard to beat, the cottage is roomy enough for a family with a large dog, the kitchen is thoroughly equipped and the beds draw praise. Guests who walk their dogs around Windermere and the lake, rather than relying on the property's own outdoor space, tend to leave very happy.

The recurring complaint is that outdoor space. The courtyard looks enclosed in photographs, but more than one party has found it is not sealed off, with a broken gate reported, so it cannot be relied on as a safe area to let a dog out unsupervised. There is a flight of concrete steps up to the front door to watch on the way in and out, no grass for dogs that want it, and no outside tap or hose, which makes rinsing a muddy dog awkward after a wet Lakeland walk. Cleanliness has also come up, with stains and hair reported on bedding and lounge soft furnishings, and feedback on how complaints were handled has been mixed.

Walkers Rest works best for settled, lead-walked dogs whose owners are happy to do all their exercising out in Windermere and treat the courtyard as somewhere to sit rather than a secure garden. If a properly fenced outdoor space or grass at the door is a priority, a cottage on the edge of town is likely to suit you better.