Otters Holt, Staindrop

Otters Holt is a single-storey lodge for two in the grounds of Alwent Hall, a working farm in the quiet countryside between Winston and Staindrop in south-west County Durham. It is one of three lodges on the estate, set far enough apart that each keeps its own privacy, and it comes with a wood-fired hot tub outside and an open-plan layout inside.

Both couples who have written about staying here brought dogs, and both went straight to the walking. The lodge opens onto farmland and the estate grounds, so the first outing of the day starts at the door rather than after a drive, and there is enough ground to make a proper circuit of it without leaving the property. The hosts leave welcome touches in the lodge, and guests have described it as clean, private and comfortable.

Because it is a working farm, there is livestock and a good deal of wildlife around, which is a genuine plus for the setting and a genuine consideration for the dog. The grounds are open rather than fenced, so there is no secure patch to let a dog out into last thing at night, and a dog that will not settle around sheep, deer or ground-nesting birds is worth thinking hard about here. The grounds are shared with the two other lodges, so it is not solitary, just spread out.

The other thing to say plainly is that this is a new listing with only a couple of guest reports behind it. Both are enthusiastic and both involved dogs, but there is not yet the length of track record you would get on an established property.

Barnard Castle is about seven miles west, with the Bowes Museum and a decent run of places that take dogs, and upper Teesdale and High Force are beyond that. Darlington and the A1 are an easy run east.

Best suited to a couple bringing one or two well-behaved dogs who want somewhere genuinely quiet, with a hot tub and walking on the doorstep, and who are content to keep them on a lead around the farm.