The Old Workshop, Bletchingdon

The Old Workshop is a modern self-contained apartment on a small farm site outside Bletchingdon, about fifteen minutes north of Oxford, and it is set up for dogs rather than merely resigned to them. Guests arriving with a dog regularly find bowls and a spare lead waiting, and the hosts have been known to make up the difference when someone has forgotten to pack food.

Walking is the strongest part of the offer. A large field sits next to the site and a bridle path runs close by, so the first outing of the day does not need the car, and the surrounding lanes are quiet. That quiet is also why the apartment gets booked by owners of anxious dogs: parties have chosen it deliberately to sit out fireworks night, and reported barely hearing a bang once the door was shut.

The apartment itself is compact and very well equipped, with a proper kitchen, milk and coffee waiting in the fridge, comfortable beds and parking directly outside the door. Oxford's northern park and ride is about ten minutes away, which makes it a practical base for the city without paying city prices or asking a dog to cope with a city-centre hotel.

There are real caveats. The walls are thin and the neighbouring apartment is close, which has left owners of reactive dogs working hard to keep them settled whenever they heard movement next door, so if noise sets your dog off this is worth weighing. The space is tight for four adults and two dogs. The site is a working camping ground, so bins can be untidy, guests have not found a dedicated dog-waste bin, and dog hair has been found left on the living-room carpet. It is also genuinely remote, with nothing within walking distance. With a 4.4/5 paw rating, it suits one or two people with a settled dog who want a quiet, well-stocked base for Oxford and the Cotswolds.