Rock Mill, Stony Middleton

Rock Mill is a stylish, thoughtfully dog-friendly apartment in Stony Middleton, right in the heart of the Peak District and handy for Chatsworth House and miles of classic Derbyshire walking. It is the kind of place that has clearly been designed with muddy-pawed guests in mind, and dog owners consistently come away impressed.

The feature that wins dogs and owners over is the shared boot room with its own dog bath: a genuinely practical spot to hose down a happy, filthy dog after a day on the moors before heading back up to the apartment, alongside facilities for cleaning boots and bikes. Guests travelling with dogs mention it again and again as the detail that sets Rock Mill apart. The apartment itself is modern and smartly finished, with high-quality fittings, comfortable beds and a good entertainment set-up, and there is easy parking on site plus a restaurant right next door for evenings you would rather not cook.

A few practical notes for dog owners. This is a duplex apartment, and some units sit on the upper floors near the lift, which one guest found briefly unsettled their dog, so it is worth asking about the location within the building if your dog is noise-sensitive. A couple of guests also flagged that hot water ran in the morning rather than the evening and that the WiFi could be patchy, so set expectations accordingly.

It suits an active couple or family travelling with a dog who want a smart, comfortable Peak District base with a proper dog-washing setup and Chatsworth and the trails on the doorstep, and who do not mind a flight or two of stairs.