Dale Cottage, Llanrwst

Dale Cottage is a large four-bedroom house on the edge of Llanrwst, ten minutes' walk from the village, and it works best for a group holiday where the dogs come too. Every bedroom has its own en-suite, there are two lounges and a big kitchen, and the gravelled parking area at the front takes four or five cars behind double wooden gates that shut it off from the road. Parties travelling with dogs have used that gated area, rather than the garden, as their safe outside space.

That distinction matters. The rear garden is not fully enclosed - the listing says so, and guests with dogs confirm it. Parties with dogs that like to explore have kept them on long leads outside; those with steadier dogs found it fine as long as the gates to the road stayed shut. Gates on the steps between the garden and the parking area come up repeatedly as the one change that would make the place genuinely secure.

The other pet-specific point is the route to the rear garden after dark. The slope is steep and unlit, and guests taking dogs out for a last toilet trip in the wet have slipped on it. A light over that side of the house would fix it; until then, take a torch.

Llanrwst is a good base with a dog. There is a supermarket, a bakery, a fish and chip shop and pubs within a ten minute stroll, walks along the river, and Betws-y-Coed, Gwydir Forest Park, Swallow Falls, Bodnant Garden and Conwy all within a short drive. The road runs close to the house and there is some early morning traffic noise, though most guests do not find it disruptive.

Practicalities worth knowing: there is no downstairs toilet and no dishwasher, the stairs are steep and deep with only a banister, and a skylight without a blind makes one bedroom bright very early. Cleanliness reports are mostly good but not unanimous. At 4.4/5, Dale Cottage suits a large party whose dogs are happy on a lead outdoors.