The Hobbit Hole, Zelah

The Hobbit Hole is a small glamping hut in the grounds of a private house at Zelah, in the middle of Cornwall between Truro and Newquay, and it suits dog owners who want somewhere quiet and outdoorsy rather than somewhere with facilities. The hut stands in a large garden with a pond and a view over farmland, the beaches around Newquay are about fifteen minutes away, and the central position puts both the north and south coasts within an easy drive.

Dogs are made welcome in practical ways. A dog bed and bowls are put out, there is a drying room for wet coats and towels, and the hut is well heated, which matters more than it sounds when you come back off a Cornish beach in November. The grounds are big enough to walk a dog around without leaving the property at all.

Whether a dog can be off the lead in those grounds depends on the time of year. Some guests describe their dog roaming freely; others have been asked to keep dogs leashed because moorhens were nesting on the pond, and that restriction has come as an unwelcome surprise on arrival. If off-lead space is the reason you are choosing this place, ask before you book rather than when you get there. The owners keep a dog of their own on site, and there has been a complaint about mess near the hut going uncleared.

Two other things to weigh. There is a working dairy farm opposite that produces a loud bang every half hour or so, unremarkable to most guests but worth thinking about with a noise-sensitive dog. And because the hut sits in the hosts' garden, it is quiet without being especially private, with nothing in walking distance; the local pub is a short drive and Perranporth a few minutes beyond it. The bathroom hut alongside is clean and well maintained, and the doorway is low enough that guests have suggested it needs a warning sign.

Best suited to dog owners who want a genuinely different Cornish base with space to walk a dog on the doorstep, and who are comfortable with glamping-scale facilities. It earns a 4.6/5 paw rating.