Wagon House, Lostwithiel

Wagon House is a single-storey cottage on a small Cornish smallholding about a mile outside Lostwithiel, and its main attraction for dog owners is the nine-acre field guests are free to walk in. Dogs can run there, sheep graze it seasonally, and there are ponds and mature trees around the grounds. The owners leave an information pack that guests rate highly, covering local walks, dog-friendly beaches and where to eat, and the beaches it points at, Lantic Bay, Polridmouth Cove and Holywell Bay among them, all allow dogs.

The important thing to know before booking is that the garden attached to the cottage is not secure. It is a block-paved, sheltered patio that catches sun most of the day and is private enough to sit out on, but it is not fenced in a way that will hold a dog that wanders, and guests with dogs raise this repeatedly: one as a straightforward warning to others, another as the single thing that would have made the stay perfect. The nine-acre field is the answer, but it does mean a dog cannot simply be let out of the door unsupervised.

Two other practicalities matter. The mile into Lostwithiel is along a narrow road with no footway and a steep climb back, and separate parties have said they judged it unsafe to walk and drove instead, so treat it as a five-minute drive to the shops rather than a stroll. The property is also awkward to find, sitting on an unnamed road at Sweethouse, and sat-navs send people astray without the postcode. The paving outside can get gritty and tread into the cottage, and the owners' own farm dog roams the grounds and will make itself at home if a door is left open.

Set against that, the cottage is comfortable, spotless and quiet, the welcome tray of scones, cream and wine is a fixture, and the position is genuinely central for both coasts. Wagon House earns 4.6/5 for dogs: excellent open space for a dog that recalls reliably, and less suited to one that needs a fenced garden to be let out into.