Bumblebee Cottage, Exmouth

Bumblebee Cottage is a small, immaculately kept cottage on a quiet street in Exmouth, five minutes' walk from the town centre and around fifteen from the seafront, so a dog can be walked down to the water and back before breakfast. The private back garden is fully fenced, which is usually the first thing a dog owner wants to know about a terraced holiday let.

Dogs stay downstairs here. Guests report a no-dogs-upstairs and no-dogs-on-the-furniture rule with no dog bed provided, so bring bedding and plan where your dog will settle in the living room; if yours is used to sleeping on the bed, think about how that will go over a week. The cottage is compact rather than rambling, which suits a couple or a party of three with one dog.

What lifts it is the care taken over the place. Dog owners describe lovely decor, comfortable beds, a well equipped kitchen and a large modern bathroom, and they single out the host as helpful and friendly, with welcoming messages before arrival and an obvious effort to make the house pleasant to arrive at. Exmouth's seafront, the estuary path and the western end of the Jurassic Coast give plenty of walking options, and there is bike storage if you are mixing the two.

The gripes are the ones you would expect from an older cottage: the stairs are narrow and steep, the bathroom runs cold, and the fridge has occasionally needed a better clean before arrival. No pet charge or dog limit is published, so confirm both with the owner when you book.

Bumblebee Cottage suits one dog and owners happy for it to sleep downstairs and off the furniture. The fenced garden, the short walk to the sea and an attentive host make it a comfortable East Devon base, and it earns a 4.4/5 paw rating.