Ground Floor Apartment, West Bay

The ground-floor apartment at West Bay sits a few steps from the seafront in one of Dorset's prettiest little harbour villages, and it has become a firm favourite with guests who travel with animals. Being on the ground floor with its own front door means there are no shared corridors or stairs to negotiate, which makes arrivals and late-night garden trips much easier when you have a dog in tow.

What sets this apartment apart is that it welcomes small pets more broadly than most, not just dogs. Guests travelling with cats have been pleasantly surprised to find somewhere that accommodates them, which is genuinely rare among self-catering lets on this coast. Owners with dogs single out the little fenced-off area by the front door, an enclosed spot that makes it easy to let a dog out safely without heading straight onto the promenade.

Location does a lot of the work here. West Bay's beach is dog-friendly along part of its length, and the promenade is only a short walk away, with plenty of nearby paths and reliable litter and dog-waste bins for longer walks toward the harbour and cliffs. Cafes, pubs and a well-regarded fish and chip shop are all within a few minutes on foot, so the car can usually stay parked once you arrive.

Guests consistently praise how clean, warm and well-equipped the flat is, along with a host who responds quickly to messages before and during a stay. A couple of visitors have mentioned a faint dog smell or stray dog hair on arrival, worth flagging simply because this is a genuinely well-used, dog-friendly let rather than a pet-free rental. The trade-off, most agree, is a place where dogs are truly welcome rather than merely tolerated.

It suits couples and small families after a relaxed, walkable base by the sea, especially those who want their dog or cat along for the trip. Parking can be a little awkward to find on a first visit, so it is worth reading the access instructions carefully before you set off.