Panteg, Cardigan

Panteg is a small stone cottage just outside Cardigan, and the reason dog owners keep booking it is the garden. It is large, mature and tree-shaded, and guests travelling with dogs describe letting theirs off the lead to potter and sniff without supervising every minute, which is a rarity in a holiday let this size. The house itself is a two-bedroom whole-house rental with a fire and a well-equipped kitchen, and the owners leave a welcome tray that regularly gets a mention.

The important caveat is that the garden is enclosed rather than dog-proof, and the cottage sits close to a main road. Most guests find the boundary better than the photographs suggest, but there are reports of a small dog getting out onto the road during a stay, and of determined dogs working the hedge line for gaps. If yours is an escaper, walk the perimeter before you let it out, and treat the front as unsecured.

Beyond the garden, the location does most of the work. Cardigan is a few minutes away for shops, cafes and pubs, and the dog-friendly beaches along the Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire coast, Poppit Sands among them, are within an easy drive. Lanes and tracks for a proper walk start close by.

Two other things come up often enough to plan for. The cottage runs damp: guests regularly mention fabrics feeling damp and clothes not drying indoors, which matters if your dog comes back wet from a beach day. And the back yard turns slippery in the wet while the rear of the garden is heavily shaded and can be overgrown, which makes clearing up after a dog harder than it should be. Road noise is audible with the windows open.

Best suited to a couple or small family with one or two settled dogs who want an inexpensive base for the Ceredigion coast, and who will check the boundary themselves rather than assume it holds.