Black Forest Motel

Black Forest Motel sits on Black Forest Drive at Macedon, at the foot of the Macedon Ranges for travellers splitting the difference between Melbourne and Bendigo or the spa country beyond. The guest feedback describes a quiet setting with the signs of recent investment: updated rooms, new bathrooms, a BBQ area, a camp kitchen and a fire pit, which reads as a country motel that has kept its rooms current.

Macedon itself is a small mountainside town with the Hanging Rock country, forest drives and day spas of the ranges all within a short drive, and the motel's position on the road up the mountain means you are out of the highway traffic the moment you turn off.

Dogs at the motel

Per the motel's own booking setup, the Deluxe Queen Room is available as the pet friendly room, at $50 per dog or cat per day with a maximum of 2 pets in each room, and guests select the number of pets during the booking process. Other room types stay no pets, so booking the Deluxe Queen specifically is what secures the dog's spot.

Cats are on the guest list as well as dogs, which is unusual for a country motel and worth knowing if you travel with both.

While you're out there

Macedon's streets and the forest edges around town make easy on lead walks, and the ranges offer bigger outings when you want them. The motel sits around 600 metres from the village shops and train station, so dinner becomes a walk rather than a drive, with rabbits and the occasional roo on the dusk margins to keep a dog's attention.

There is no fenced run at the motel, so a high-energy dog needs a plan that starts with the lead.

Rooks Edge B and B at Bullengarook is the nearby bed and breakfast alternative on the other side of the ranges, and Blackwood Mineral Springs Caravan Park continues the pet friendly run up into the Wombat Forest country.

More dog friendly stays in Victoria are listed if the ranges trip becomes a two base affair.