Breaches Barn, Breamore

Breaches Barn is a converted barn on a working farm near Breamore in Hampshire, on the edge of the New Forest, and it is built for the kind of big, relaxed group holiday where several dogs come along. The whole barn is yours: a generous open-plan kitchen, dining and living space that keeps everyone together, bedrooms over two floors, and a log burner for the evenings. It earns a 4.8/5 paw rating.

Up to four dogs are welcome, at £60 per dog for the stay. Parties of eight, nine and ten adults with two, three and four dogs between them are common here, and the layout absorbs them easily, with ground-floor bedrooms opening straight onto the decking so the early dog walker does not wake everyone else. The farm setting is the other draw: the owners point guests to routes around their own land, there is gentle walking straight from the front door, and the New Forest, Salisbury and Bournemouth are all short drives.

The garden divides opinion and it is worth reading both sides. Plenty of guests describe it as completely enclosed and let their dogs run freely in it. Others found it noticeably smaller than the listing photographs suggest and not fully dog-proof, and in wet weather the approach and the field down the drive churn to mud. If you have a digger or a climber, check the fencing before you commit. The garden also sits next to fields with sheep and cattle, so recall matters on the walks.

Otherwise the picture is consistent: comfortable, well equipped for a crowd, warm and helpful owners on site, and a peaceful spot. The wifi is slow to non-existent, the tennis court and pond nearby are not part of the let, and the barn has been called tired around the edges for the price.

Breaches Barn suits larger families and groups with several dogs who want a sociable countryside base near the New Forest with room for everyone. It suits a single couple with one dog less well, being a house sized and priced for a crowd.