Michaelmas Cottage, Drewsteignton

Michaelmas Cottage sits on the edge of Drewsteignton, a small village on the northern fringe of Dartmoor, and it is set up for dogs with more thought than most self-catering lets manage. The garden is a fully walled, fully enclosed space opening straight off the kitchen, which means the back door can stay open on a warm afternoon without anyone standing guard at a gate.

Inside, fitted stair gates are already in place at both staircases, so dogs stay on the ground floor without anyone improvising with a chair. The kitchen is large and stone-floored, which dogs gravitate to after a long walk, and because the cottage is a conversion of two smaller ones it splits into two bedroom-and-bathroom suites at either end. That layout suits two couples or two families sharing, and it keeps a restless dog's night-time wandering to one half of the house. Arrivals are met with a cream tea and local eggs, and guests travelling with dogs report a dog welcome pack alongside it.

The walking is the reason to come. Paths run from the door into the Teign gorge, with Fingle Bridge and Castle Drogo both a short walk or a five-minute drive away, and dogs are allowed in the Drogo gardens on a lead. The village pub, the Drewe Arms, is community-run and welcomes dogs, though it is a few hundred yards up a steep hill and the lane down to the cottage is narrow with passing places.

Two things are worth knowing before booking. Dogs are not permitted upstairs, and that rule appears on a notice in the kitchen rather than in the listing, so it has caught guests out on arrival. The garden gate, while secure for most dogs, has gaps at the bottom that a very small dog could work at.

Best suited to two-household groups and Dartmoor walkers who want an enclosed garden, walks from the doorstep and a dog-friendly pub at the top of the lane. It earns a 4.8/5 paw rating.