Kingfisher Barn, Staveley

Kingfisher Barn is a barn-conversion apartment right in Staveley, the small Lake District village between Kendal and Windermere, and its strength for dog owners is that everything is walkable from the front door. The riverside loop around the village is a favourite with visiting dogs, and the bakery, the brewery tap and the village pub are all a few minutes away, as are buses and trains towards Windermere and beyond.

One well behaved dog is welcome and there is no pet charge. The thing to know before booking is that the apartment has no garden of its own, so this is a base for owners happy to lead-walk from the door rather than open a back door and let a dog out. There is also a short flight of steps up to the entrance, worth bearing in mind with an older or arthritic dog.

Inside, the apartment is roomier than it looks, with a well equipped kitchen, modern bathroom fittings and a bed guests rate highly. Owners travelling with a dog describe it as comfortable and easy to settle into, and the arrival pack of milk, teabags and biscuits, with a cleaning kit, gets a regular mention.

The recurring complaint deserves weight if you are sensitive to it: the apartment has repeatedly been described as smelling strongly of dog on arrival, with dog hair left in the vacuum cleaner and, on occasion, in the bed. Cleanliness is not consistent between changeovers. Guests have also found the walls and floors thin enough to hear the neighbours clearly, and the decor is dated in places.

With a 4.5/5 paw rating, Kingfisher Barn suits one-dog couples and small families who want a Lakeland village on the doorstep rather than a garden, and who will forgive a slightly tired interior for the location.