Lavender Lodge, Sherborne

Lavender Lodge is a self-catering holiday home in Charlton Horethorne, a peaceful village on the Somerset border a few miles from the market town of Sherborne. You get the whole lodge to yourselves, so there are no shared corridors or reception areas to steer a dog past, and the layout suits travellers who want a quiet, self-contained base for a walking holiday with their dog.

Guests travelling with dogs consistently describe the lodge as an easy, relaxed place to bring a pet. The owners live nearby and are on hand if anything is needed, and they come up again and again as warm and genuinely helpful. The village shop and pub sit within a couple of minutes' walk of the front door, and the surrounding countryside is the real draw: this is proper dog-walking country, with footpaths and open fields on the doorstep and the Dorset coast within easy reach for day trips.

There is one caveat worth flagging. The back garden is a pleasant spot for a dog to potter about and catch some morning sun, but it is not fully enclosed. Guests travelling with dogs regularly mention that a side gate would make it more secure, and that there is little grass out there, so a dog that bolts could get out onto open ground. If your dog needs an escape-proof garden, keep them on a lead outside or plan to supervise. The owners also ask that dogs are never left unattended in the lodge, so this is not a base for long days out with the dog left behind.

Lavender Lodge is best suited to owners of one calm, well-behaved dog who want a homely, self-catering bolthole with village amenities on the doorstep and excellent walks all around. Dogs that need a secure, fenced garden are the one group who may want to come prepared or look elsewhere.