31 Caledonia Place, Aviemore

A whole-house let on Old Meall Road, a short walk from Aviemore's main street, 31 Caledonia Place sleeps six and is set up for the kind of group trip the Cairngorms attract: boots and bikes in the hall, hills more or less at the end of the road. The garden is enclosed, and that is the detail that matters most here - guests travelling with dogs consistently single it out as the reason the house works for them, letting the dog out first thing without reaching for a lead.

Inside it is warm and roomy rather than boutique. Six people fit comfortably, the kitchen is fully equipped for self-catering, and there is parking, which is worth having in a village where street space gets tight in ski season and again in high summer. Because it is a whole-property let there are no shared corridors or communal areas to cross with a dog in tow. The sofas sit low, which is worth knowing if anyone in the party has mobility trouble.

Location is the other draw. Aviemore is small enough to walk end to end with a dog on a lead, the Craigellachie woods and crags rise directly behind the village, and Loch Morlich and the Rothiemurchus forest tracks are a short drive - all of it dog-walkable, much of it off-lead once you are clear of livestock. Several pubs and cafes in the village take dogs, and the railway station is close enough to reach on foot.

One thing tempers the picture. Changeover cleaning has not always been thorough, and that has included dog mess left in the garden from a previous booking, which is an unpleasant thing to find before you let your own dog out. It is not a pattern across the whole guest record, but it is a reason to walk the garden before the dog does.

Best suited to families or groups of up to six with a dog who want a walkable Aviemore base and a garden they can simply open the back door into.