Cwmgilla Farm, Knighton

Cwmgilla Farm is a big farmhouse above Knighton on the Welsh border, set up for the kind of holiday where a large family group and their dogs take over a house for a week. The practical details give it away: hard wooden and tiled floors across the ground floor, an outside tap for rinsing muddy paws, and a utility room that dog owners repeatedly point to as the place to deposit wet dogs and boots after a walk. Up to two pets can come along.

Guests who bring dogs tend to make the same observation, that plenty of properties say they welcome dogs without thinking through what that actually needs, and this one has. There is enough indoor space for dogs and children to share the house without getting under each other's feet, and the owners live close enough to help while leaving guests alone.

Outside is where judgement is needed. The garden is large and some parties have let dogs run in it without trouble, while others found it insufficiently secure. The house is surrounded by working sheep fields, so a lead is the sensible default the moment you step beyond the garden. Knighton is a walk away rather than a stroll: downhill on the way in and steep on the way back, with buses and taxis if that is a stretch.

The weak points are age and upkeep rather than anything dog-related. Bedrooms and bathrooms are dated, mattresses divide opinion, and guests have reported plumbing niggles and, this being a farm, flies in warm weather. None of it has stopped groups rebooking.

For dog owners the appeal is straightforward: a large, forgiving, hard-floored house with a games room and hot tub, big Welsh border views, and walking from the door in the Teme Valley and Offa's Dyke country. It suits multi-generational groups with one or two dogs rather than a couple after a polished boutique stay, and earns a 4.6/5 paw rating.