The Old Pottery, Totnes

The Old Pottery is a self-contained rural conversion at Staverton, a small village in the countryside a few miles north of Totnes in South Devon. It sits alone among fields with far-reaching views, and guests rate it exceptionally highly, with the bathroom - a deep bath under a big outlook - the single most praised feature.

The handful of guests who have brought dogs report it working well: the private, secluded garden suits a dog, and the owners put out dog treats for canine arrivals alongside the milk and flowers for their humans. The welcome is deliberate rather than incidental.

Two things about the setting need weighing. The owners' own dogs live at the property and roam it freely - guests consistently describe them as friendly and part of the charm, but a dog that reacts badly to other dogs would meet them daily. And this is farmland: cattle graze the surrounding fields, so leads are needed on the walks that start from the door.

The location is genuinely rural. Birdsong is the main soundtrack, walks run through the Dart valley countryside with Dartmoor's edge close by, and Totnes is a short drive for shops and dog-friendly pubs, with well-regarded Sunday lunches nearby. The trade-offs are the usual rural ones: sat-nav apps disagree about the final approach, so arriving in daylight is easier, the wifi can drop out and the television depends on it, and not every bedroom window has a blind.

Best suited to a couple with a settled, sociable dog who want seclusion, countryside walking and a long soak at the end of it. Owners of dogs uneasy around other dogs or livestock should think twice.