Modern Summerhouse, Sway

Modern Summerhouse is a self-contained garden cabin on the edge of Sway, and the thing that makes it work for dogs is the garden it sits in. The whole enclosed plot comes with the booking rather than being shared, so dogs can be let out of the door and left to potter without a lead. Guests travelling with dogs return to that point again and again - a gated, private space of real size is rarer in the New Forest than the number of dog-friendly signs suggests.

The owners keep dogs themselves and the welcome reflects it. Arrivals are met at the door, bags get carried in, and there is a folder of local recommendations covering takeaways, pubs and walks. Guests describe the cabin as clean, well decorated and more spacious than a garden room sounds, with a comfortable bed and a good shower. Once you are in, you come and go through your own entrance and privacy is respected.

Sway sits in the south of the New Forest, with open forest and heath a short drive away and Lymington and its sea wall walk about ten minutes on. There is a pub within walking distance, which guests with dogs have made use of.

Two caveats matter, and both are consistent enough to plan around. The cabin backs onto a road, and traffic noise is by far the most common complaint - light sleepers and noise-sensitive dogs should factor it in. It is also a single-skin timber building: fine in summer, but guests staying in late autumn and winter have found it cold, with heating that struggles. The approach is across grass rather than a made path, so it turns damp and muddy in the wet, and the owners' own dogs use that garden, so watch your step after dark. Washing-up facilities are minimal, amounting to a small basin and a bowl.

Best suited to a couple or solo traveller with dogs who want a private garden and forest on the doorstep, in the warmer half of the year, and who do not need silence at night. It earns a 4.4/5 paw rating.