Min y Mor Hotel

Min y Mor sits on Barmouth's Marine Promenade with the beach on the other side of the road, which is about as good a position as a dog owner gets on the Cardigan Bay coast: you can be on sand a minute after leaving reception, and the flat promenade walk into town takes about ten. It is a large, traditional seaside hotel with its own car park, a bar and restaurant, and a big beer garden of picnic tables and shelters looking out to sea.

Dogs are a normal part of life here rather than a grudging exception. Water bowls are put out so you can take one to your table in the garden, staff make a fuss of dogs on the way through, and the welcome is not strictly dog-only; other pets have been accommodated too. On a summer weekend there will be a lot of dogs about, which most owners enjoy and a few find overwhelming.

The honest caveats are about the building and the crowd. Rooms are on the small side, and two things follow from that: a standard dog crate often will not fit, so a dog that only settles in one is a problem, and a room at the back can get very warm. The hotel is comfortable but dated in places, with tired furniture, erratic electric showers and cleanliness that is usually fine but not consistently so. Because so many dogs stay, barking carries, and guests have had an evening meal in the bar spoiled by it. If you want a quiet, adults-only hotel this is the wrong one; if you want somewhere your dog is completely unremarkable, it is the right one.

A charge of ten pounds per dog applies and up to two pets can stay. It is worth booking direct if you want breakfast included, as it is charged separately through some booking channels. For a walking or beach holiday on the southern Eryri coast with a dog in tow, Min y Mor earns a 4.3/5 paw rating.