Grange Barn, Bury St Edmunds

Grange Barn is a restored barn in the Suffolk hamlet of Gedding, in the farmland between Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, and it is finished well above what a rural self-catering annex usually offers. Oak floors and doors, exposed beams, a super king bed, underfloor heating and a freestanding bath in the bedroom all come up repeatedly, and guests routinely say the photographs undersell it.

For dog owners the practical draw is the private enclosed courtyard and patio at the rear. It is a small paved space rather than a lawn, but it is secure, it catches the sun, and it gives somewhere to put a dog out in warm weather or at the end of a wet walk without opening onto the lane.

Walking starts at the door. Guests with dogs describe well-marked footpaths straight from the property, open arable fields with no livestock to work around, and a wood and nature reserve a short distance away. That combination, walks from the doorstep and no stock on the land, is mentioned more often than any other feature by guests who brought a dog.

The owners live next door and are consistently described as welcoming and helpful without being intrusive, and a welcome pack is left in the barn. A village shop and a pub are close by, and Bury St Edmunds and Lavenham are both easy days out. A car is essential, and the lane takes some finding the first time.

The one recurring criticism has nothing to do with dogs: the dining table and chairs are undersized for the quality of everything around them, which matters if you plan to eat in most evenings, as owners with a dog often do in poor weather. Otherwise this is one of the stronger properties of its kind for a dog owner, with a review pool from dog-owning guests that is close to unanimous.