Pen y Bont Bach, Red Wharf Bay

Pen y Bont Bach sits on the shore of Red Wharf Bay, and much of what makes it work for dogs is simply how the house is built. Everything is on one level, the floors are tiled throughout with underfloor heating beneath them, and there is a hosepipe outside for rinsing off a sandy, salty dog before they come back in. Anyone who has spent a week apologising for wet paws on somebody else's carpet will recognise the appeal.

The beach is the other half of it. A short path from the house drops onto Red Wharf Bay, which opens out at low tide into a vast flat expanse of sand, and the coastal path carries on from there towards Benllech and the pubs at the far side of the bay. Guests travelling with dogs tend to talk about the walking before anything else, and a good number of them come back year after year.

The garden needs a warning, though, and it is the one thing to weigh before booking. It is large and it runs towards open countryside, but it has no boundaries at all. A dog inclined to wander cannot be left out unsupervised, and the pheasants and rabbits that wander in - part of the charm from indoors - are a considerable temptation for anything with a chase instinct. Treat the outside space as somewhere to sit with your dog rather than somewhere to leave them.

Two other things are worth knowing. The house is genuinely large and laid out for groups, so a couple with one dog would be paying for a lot of room they will not use. And while the building itself draws consistent praise, more than one guest has arrived to find housekeeping or maintenance details unattended, including a dishwasher left unemptied and faults flagged on an earlier stay still outstanding.

Best suited to a group or extended family with dogs who want the sand within a minute of the door and are happy to keep an eye on an open garden. On that basis it earns a 4.5/5 paw rating.