Whitley Haven, Whitley Bay

Whitley Haven is a ground-floor apartment a few streets back from the seafront at Whitley Bay, and the feature that matters most to dog owners is the back yard: a small, high-walled, fully enclosed space off the flat where a dog can be let out safely without a lead. On a coast where most self-catering sits in terraces with open frontage, an escape-proof yard is worth a lot, and guests with dogs mention it before anything else about the place.

Being on the ground floor helps too. There are no stairs and no shared corridor to walk a dog through, the long beach at Whitley Bay is a short walk away, and the sands at Cullercoats sit just round the headland. A convenience shop is at one end of the road and the sea at the other, with pubs and places to eat within a few minutes on foot, so the dog does not need to be left alone for long stretches.

The apartment is well equipped, with a washing machine, a coffee machine, plenty of storage and throws on the sofas, and the owner and his team have a good record of fixing things quickly when guests report them.

Two caveats are worth taking seriously. The beds have drawn repeated criticism, and more than one party has said the mattresses were the single thing that would stop them returning. Cleanliness has also been inconsistent: guests have arrived to dead insects on a bedroom floor, dog treats left on the living-room carpet from a previous stay, an unscrubbed shower and greasy cutlery, with damp smells in the kitchen reported separately. If you are the sort of dog owner who scans the floor for anything a dog might hoover up, scan it here.

Best suited to dog owners who want an enclosed yard and a walkable seaside base, and who will forgive a firm mattress and give the place a once-over on arrival.