Countryman Motor Inn

Countryman Motor Inn is an older style motel on Kendal Street, Cowra's main road, and it plays to its strengths rather than pretending otherwise: tidy, spacious rooms with kitchenettes, microwaves and electric blankets, at rates that keep regular travellers coming back.

It suits tradespeople on working stays, road trippers crossing between the Hume and the central west, and visitors in town for the cherry season or the Cowra vineyards who want function over gloss.

Dogs at the Countryman

Per the motel's own policies page, it is a pet friendly motel with two firm conditions: prior arrangements are required, and an extra charge of 25 dollars per room per night is added to the room rate.

Pets must not inconvenience other guests. That is unusually clear for a country motel, and the $25 figure is the motel's own published number rather than a platform guess.

Make the arrangement when you book, not at arrival, and the policy is straightforward from there. The published policy saves the usual phone negotiation, but guests still recommend a direct call after booking online to avoid confusion about the charge at the desk.

Communal grass around the grounds gives a dog a stretch after a long drive, and the garden patches work for a quick last thing at night break. Ask about inside sleeping arrangements when you book if your dog has never slept in a car or on a verandah, since regional motels vary on that detail.

Worth knowing

The per room rather than per pet charge is worth noting if you travel with more than one dog; it does not scale. The kitchenette rooms help you keep a dog settled at mealtimes.

Being on Kendal Street means some highway noise, which the electric blankets and solid curtains largely account for.

Getting there and parking

164 Kendal Street sits on the main street's eastern end, with drive up parking at your room door. Nothing about arriving with a van or a dog trailer is complicated here.

While you're out there

The POW breakout site and the Japanese Garden are Cowra's signature visits, and both pair with a dog in the car for the drive out. For more stays across the state, see dog friendly accommodation in NSW.

Pepsi: tidy room, everything worked, and the $25 pet charge was exactly what the website said.