Wildflower Eco Lodges

Wildflower Eco Lodges is a small cluster of timber lodges and pods set in open Aberdeenshire farmland a few miles inland from Fraserburgh, and dogs are part of the plan rather than an afterthought. Each unit is self-contained with its own decking, and the owners ask before you arrive whether you would like a dog bed and water bowls put out, which tells you a good deal about how the place is run.

The appeal for dog owners is the space and the quiet. There are fields on every side, a pond with resident ducks in front of the lodges, and a wood burning stove to come back to after a wet walk. Guests with dogs describe their animals settling in straight away, often parked at the glass doors watching the pond. The smaller pod has its own fenced terrace, which is useful if you want the door open without keeping one eye on the dog.

Be clear-eyed about the setting, though. There is no enclosed communal area where dogs can run off the lead, and some guests found the lodges sit closer together than the photographs suggest, so a reactive dog will need managing. Nothing is reachable on foot either: the beach, the coast and the shops are all a drive away, so this is a car holiday. The free-ranging ducks are a genuine charm of the place but do mean keeping a bird-interested dog on a lead near the pond.

The property charges £10 per pet per stay, which is modest for what you get, and the beaches and the lighthouse down the coast make good outings once you are in the car. Sound travels between the internal doors, which is the one grumble that comes up indoors. For couples and small families who want somewhere genuinely quiet with the dog, and who do not mind driving to everything, Wildflower Eco Lodges earns 4.8 out of 5 paws.