Dolphin Bay Suites

Dolphin Bay Suites sits right on the shore at Ardersier, a village on the Moray Firth between Inverness and Nairn, and the position is the reason to bring a dog here. The beach is on the doorstep, the walking around the village is flat and easy, and the apartments look out over the water and the garden.

The apartments themselves are spacious and well equipped, with good-sized bedrooms, comfortable beds, a proper kitchen and a washing machine, which is more useful than it sounds after a week of wet walks on the firth. Parking is on site and the setting is quiet enough that guests routinely mention barely seeing another soul. Dogs are made welcome rather than tolerated, and visitors bringing more than one report no difficulty.

Two things need saying plainly. Guests report that a charge applies for dogs, and the amount is not published on the listing, so confirm it with the property when you book rather than assuming it is nominal. Second, and more important if your dog is elderly, large or unsteady on stairs: the apartments are spread over more than one floor, and a ground-floor request made at the time of booking has not always been honoured. Guests have arrived to find themselves upstairs with a dog that had to be carried up. If ground-floor access is a requirement rather than a preference, get it confirmed before you travel.

Beyond that, the caveats are about condition rather than pet-friendliness. Sound carries from the apartment above, so a lively dog overhead is audible. The bathrooms are dated, and a single bathroom is thin provision for an apartment sleeping six. There are recurring small maintenance complaints too: sliding veranda doors that do not seat properly, broken blind cords, and storage heaters that take a night to work out.

Best suited to dog owners who want a beach on the doorstep and flat, easy walking, and who are willing to press the property for a ground-floor apartment before they arrive. It earns a 4.4/5 paw rating.