Mollies Hut, Trudoxhill

Mollies Hut is a shepherd's hut on a working farm outside Trudoxhill, a few miles from Frome in Somerset, and it is about as easy a dog holiday as this kind of stay gets. The hut sits in its own gated, grassed field, so the dog can be off the lead the moment you arrive - no shared corridors, no other guests to negotiate, just a fenced paddock, a log burner and a lot of quiet.

Dogs are genuinely part of the offer here rather than tolerated. Guests travelling with dogs consistently describe the enclosed field as the thing that makes the stay work: a whole area to run, sniff and settle in, with the hut door opening straight onto it. Some have reported dogs staying without an extra charge, but the property does not publish a pet fee either way, so it is worth confirming when you book. The hosts are the other reason the reviews run so warm - homemade cake and breakfast ingredients waiting on arrival come up again and again, as does a willingness to help out with the dog.

The setting is a real farm, which cuts both ways. There are horses, a Shetland pony, farm dogs and several cats living on site, and guests enjoy meeting them, but a dog that is reactive around livestock or other animals will need managing. The practical trade-off is the layout: the kitchen and bathroom are in a barn a short walk across the field from the hut, and there is no electricity in the hut itself. In wet weather that walk needs boots. Most people find it part of the charm; a few have found it a stretch.

The village pub is a couple of hundred yards up the road and the Somerset countryside starts at the gate, so walks are immediate. Best suited to a couple with a dog who want somewhere genuinely off-grid and private, and who do not mind crossing a field for a shower. It earns a 4.7/5 paw rating.