Yew Tree Cottage, Coniston

Yew Tree Cottage is a whole-house holiday let at Torver, a couple of miles south-west of Coniston, and it is about as straightforward a place to bring a dog as the Lake District offers. The cottage sits on its own within a working farm, reached by a two-mile single-track road, with roughly a hundred acres of walled fields around it. There are no shared corridors, no other guests and no lobby to walk a wet dog through.

Those walls are what dog owners keep coming back to. Guests travelling with nervous or bolt-prone dogs describe letting them off the lead safely for the first time in a long while, simply because the boundaries hold and the road is a long way off. Owners of spaniels and other high-energy breeds mention dogs running themselves tired in the fields before dinner, and walks that begin at the doorstep rather than after a drive.

The owners live on the farm and keep a dog of their own, which sets the tone. Guests consistently describe a warm, low-key welcome and quick answers to questions during the stay, and the cottage itself is repeatedly singled out for being spotlessly clean on arrival, which is worth knowing if you have been let down by a muddy holiday let before. A private hot tub that is not overlooked and a jacuzzi bath round out the appeal for the humans.

Two things to plan for. There is no wi-fi and effectively no mobile signal, which several guests treat as the main attraction but which rules the cottage out if you need to be reachable. And the approach is a genuine single-track lane, slow in the dark and awkward to reverse if you meet a farm vehicle. The nearest village pub is a short drive rather than a walk, and Coniston Water and the Old Man are a few minutes further on.

Best suited to one or two dogs and a couple who want the dog off the lead and the phone switched off entirely. It earns a 4.8/5 paw rating.