Rowan Cottage, Usk

Rowan Cottage is a detached stone barn on a working farm in a small valley off the main road near Usk, and its most useful feature for a dog owner is also the least glamorous: the whole place is on one level. Guests travelling with elderly dogs pick this out repeatedly, and it matters, because steps are the quiet reason a lot of barn conversions do not work for a dog with stiff hips. Two bedrooms with a bathroom each at opposite ends, plus an open-plan living space, make it an easy property to settle a dog into.

The walking is the second draw. Paths run from the door into the valley, and dog owners describe the surrounding area as welcoming throughout, with dogs made a fuss of in the places they stopped. The farm sells eggs, the owners communicate well and have offered later check-outs, and it is properly quiet, though the mobile signal comes and goes.

The real caveat is outdoor space. The garden is communal rather than private, and it is not enclosed. Dog owners have raised this more than once, asking for a paddock or some kind of fenced run, and there is a pond on the site that has been flagged as a hazard as well. If your dog cannot be trusted off-lead, plan on a lead for every trip out of the door. Dog hair has also been reported left on the furniture, so the changeover clean is not always as thorough as it should be, and the beds draw more criticism on comfort than anything else in the cottage.

The owners charge £20 per dog for the stay, which covers the deep clean afterwards, and they do not publish a weight limit or a maximum number of dogs, so settle those at the booking stage. Taken together it is an honest 4.3/5: a good choice for an older or steady dog that will walk on a lead, and the wrong one for a bolter who needs a secure garden to be let loose in.