MainStay Suites Abbotsford

MainStay Suites Abbotsford is a serviced-apartment stay in inner Melbourne that takes dogs overnight. If you want an apartment-style base close to the city with your dog along, it works, but go in with eyes open about the cost: this is one of the steepest pet fees in Melbourne.

Dogs at the suites

Dogs are allowed with a non-refundable pet fee of AUD 350 per pet, per stay. Service animals are welcome and exempt from the fee. The listing does not spell out size or breed limits, so if you are travelling with a large dog, confirm directly before booking rather than assuming. The apartment format helps: kitchenette and separate living space give a dog room to settle in a way a single hotel room does not.

Max: budget for the $350 pet fee before you book, it applies per pet and it is non-refundable even if your plans change.

The vibe

This is a straightforward serviced-apartment property in the style of the area's other apartment-hotels, reviewed as a clean and functional base rather than a destination. The draw is practical: inner-city location, apartment room to move, and a dog policy in a part of Melbourne where most apartment-hotels refuse pets outright.

Getting there

Abbotsford sits north of the Yarra in Melbourne's inner east, served by the Victoria Park station end of the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines and the 86 tram along Johnston Street. The CBD is a short train or tram ride, and the river end of the suburb is walkable from the door.

Make a day of it

Victoria Park Fenced Dog Off Leash Area is the local run: the historic football oval is fully fenced, though dogs are only off-lead when the oval is not booked for sport. Battersea Off Leash Dog Park is the other neighbourhood option. For a walk, follow the Main Yarra Trail river path on-lead, then stop at The Farm Cafe, which sits in the Collingwood Children's Farm precinct and welcomes dogs outside.

If the fee puts you off, Quest Collingwood is the comparable apartment option one suburb over. More beds are in the Victoria stays guide and the locality page covers the rest of Abbotsford.