Kimberley Croc Motel

Kimberley Croc Motel sits on River Fig Avenue in Kununurra, the town at the eastern edge of the Kimberley where travellers stock up before the Gibb River Road or wind down after it. The motel is built for exactly that crowd: secure rooms for gear and vehicles, a communal kitchen, gardens and a pool for the heat, courtyards for the evenings and a walk to the shops when you need supplies.

Dogs at the motel

Per the motel's own site, pets are most welcome and pet friendly rooms are available, with a King Family Courtyard Pet Friendly room type listed. The clever part of the setup: pet friendly courtyard rooms come with a grassed caged area, so pets can be left briefly while you eat or run errands, which is rare enough out here that it shapes itineraries.

The designated pet rooms are set up rather than merely permitted: guests describe pet bedding, a food bowl and a doggy bag waiting on arrival, packaged into the room rate rather than added as a per pet surcharge, and the reviews repeat the theme of dogs pulling their owners through the door because they recognise the place. Travellers doing the scenic flight or the Ord River cruise that no dog can join ask the long serving staff quietly about local sitters, and the communal kitchen doubles as the information swap for that kind of arrangement.

The walking needs local knowledge. The lake and river banks are crocodile country, so regulars skip them and walk the quiet backstreets off River Fig Avenue at first light instead, or the shaded edges of the Mirima National Park perimeter before the bitumen heats, and when the red dirt wins there is a 24 hour dog wash a short drive away in town.

The caged run changes the daily maths for a travelling dog. Kununurra days are hot and the waterholes and gorges nearby are mostly not dog country, so a secure outdoor area at base plus early morning and evening walks is the honest pattern.

Book the pet friendly room type explicitly rather than hoping for a swap at the desk, and note that the motel's gardens and pool area give the property a settled feel that generic highway motels in the region lack.

Travellers working the west coast route can line the stay up with Discovery Parks Broome or Koolinda by the Bay at the other end of the drive. Stock up in town before the Gibb because the pet friendly room setup is easier to hold onto mid trip than to find again out bush.

The Western Australia stays guide covers the rest of the state for the longer legs.