Alice Cottage, Minehead

Alice Cottage is a thatched, single-storey cottage in Bratton, a farming hamlet about a mile outside Minehead, and it is one of the rare holiday lets that feels arranged around dogs rather than merely tolerating them. It sits on a narrow lane beside a ford, with a stream running along the bottom of a large, properly fenced garden - and it is that garden, more than anything else, that guests with dogs come back to talk about. Parties travelling with greyhounds and with self-declared escape artists all report the same thing: the fencing holds, and the dogs can be let off to run.

Three well-behaved dogs are welcome. A single dog carries no charge; a £25 fee applies once you bring two or more. One restriction is worth knowing before you book, because it is not obvious from the property's booking listing and guests keep raising it: dogs are not allowed in the bedroom wing. In practice a dog has to settle overnight in the lounge, and guests have described taking turns on the sofa to keep theirs company.

The cottage itself is warm and quirky, with stained glass, an Alice in Wonderland theme and a wood burner that earns its keep in winter, and the housekeeper is on hand and quick to sort out anything that needs attention. Walking starts at the gate: a safe off-lead path runs alongside the cottage, a side gate opens straight into woodland, and there are field walks to Bossington with a tea room halfway and a riverside route into Minehead. Dunster Woods, Horner Woods and Blue Anchor beach are all short drives, and there are plenty of dog-friendly pubs and tearooms in the surrounding villages.

A few practical points. There is no outside tap, so rinsing a muddy dog after a wet walk takes some improvising. The parking area is unmade and turns muddy in bad weather, and the path from it up to the cottage is rough underfoot. The property has no outside lighting at all, so bring a torch for late-night garden trips. Sheep graze close by, and the lane carries enough passing walkers and vehicles to set off a dog inclined to guard the window.

Alice Cottage suits dog owners who want a secure garden and walks from the door more than they want to be in town, and who are happy for their dogs to sleep away from the bedrooms.