Sherwood Castle by Liv Retreats, Ollerton

Sherwood Castle is a lodge park on Rufford Lane, a couple of miles south of Ollerton and on the edge of Sherwood Forest, and it is set up to take dogs in a way most holiday parks are not. The important qualification is which lodge: pets are welcome only in the lodges that carry a pet marker on their own listing, not across the whole park, so the unit you pick is the decision that matters here. There is a pet-specific lodge type in the booking options, and the grounds are big enough and quiet enough to walk a dog around without leaving the park.

Practically, it works well for dogs. You park directly alongside your own lodge, which makes loading a muddy dog in and out straightforward, and the hot tub comes with every lodge rather than as a paid upgrade. Several lodges have wipe-clean leather sofas, which dog owners appreciate rather more than the interior designer intended. The forest walks and Rufford Abbey grounds nearby give you somewhere proper to head for, and a small animal area on the park with sheep, goats and chickens is a reason to shorten the lead as you pass.

Budget for the dogs separately, because the arithmetic changes with how you book. Reserved through a booking listing, every dog is £30. Reserved direct with the park, the first dog is £30 and each of the next two is £15, so a party with two or three dogs is worth pricing both ways. Up to three pets are allowed either way.

The honest problem is housekeeping, and dog owners should hear it plainly because it cuts both ways. Guests have arrived in pet-permitted lodges to find a previous animal's hair over the furniture and their clothes, and lodges carrying an odour that had not been cleaned out between stays. Cleaning between changeovers is the complaint that recurs most on this park, and if you are the one arriving after a heavy shedder it is worth looking the lodge over before you unpack.

The rest of the caveats are about age rather than animals. The lodges are dated, the pool draws consistent complaints for being cold and tired-looking, the castle attraction disappoints against its billing, and privacy is limited by how close the lodges sit. At 4.3/5 on the paw rating, this suits dog owners wanting an inexpensive, genuinely pet-relaxed base with a hot tub and forest on the doorstep, who will book a marked pet lodge and forgive a park that needs money spending on it.