Hunter Valley Travellers Rest Motel

Hunter Valley Travellers Rest Motel is a family run motel on Colliery Street in Aberdare, a quiet pocket at the Cessnock end of the Hunter Valley that works as a base for wine country trips without the Pokolbin price tag. Guests travelling with kids mention the play area, and the topics that come up again and again in guest feedback are welcoming staff, comfortable beds and sleep quality, which is the combination you want after a day of cellar doors or a long drive up the M1. There is a BBQ area on site and rooms are set up for families as well as couples passing through.

Dogs at the motel

Per the motel's own pet-friendly page, dogs are welcome in designated ground floor pet friendly rooms with direct garden access, including the Family room. The fee is AU$30 per pet per night, dogs only, so leave the cat at home, and pets are not to be left unattended in the room.

Regulars with dogs ask for the rooms that open straight onto the garden strip, which saves hauling a tired dog down an indoor hallway and puts grass on the doorstep for the first and last run of the day. The motel sits back from the main road, and repeat guests suggest asking for a room away from the driveway end if your dog startles at passing trucks. If you are travelling with a second dog, ask when you book whether the room allocation can stretch, because the designated rooms are finite.

The BBQ area and lawn make the leg-stretch easy at either end of the day, and locals skip the Cessnock traffic lights on the way to Pokolbin by threading the backstreets rather than the main drag. Keep a lead on outside the garden doors, since the garden access is direct rather than fenced.

While you're out there

Cessnock sits ten minutes away for supplies, and the vineyards spread out from there. Ernest Hill Wines at Nulkaba is a family cellar door that welcomes dogs on the grounds, and Honeytree Estate up in Pokolbin is another dog tolerant cellar door option. If you would rather walk it off, the Aberdare State Forest Walking Trails start practically next door at Kitchener, with dirt tracks through regenerated bushland that the dog will appreciate more than another tasting room.

If the Travellers Rest is booked out, the Neath Hotel in the next valley offers pub rooms that take dogs, and you can browse more dog friendly stays in NSW for the wider Hunter and beyond.