River Country Inn

River Country Inn is a modest country motel on Meninya Street in Moama, the river town that sits across the Murray from Echuca and doubles as the southern gateway to the Murray Valley. It is the sort of place travellers book for a simple base with a pool and a garden rather than a resort: topics that come up in guest feedback include the solar heated pool, the garden and BBQ areas, and spacious rooms with big bathrooms. Moama itself runs on river traffic, with houseboats, waterslides and the paddlesteamer trade across the bridge, so a quiet room at the end of a hot day matters. The inn sits on the main drag, close enough to walk to the pub and the river frontage, far enough back that traffic noise stays manageable.

Dogs at the inn

Booking listings report that the inn keeps one pet friendly room, with proof of current vaccinations required and a charge in the order of AU$20 per pet per stay for up to two pets, dogs and cats. That is reported practice rather than a published house policy, so confirm by phone before you book: which room is the pet room, whether your dog fits the reported cap around 40 kg, and whether vaccination proof needs showing on paper.

Because there is a single pet room, availability is tight in school holidays when the river town fills, so booking early is the difference between bringing the dog and kennelling it. Guests travelling with dogs describe an easygoing welcome from the owners.

Worth knowing

The reported pet set-up is the whole story: one room, one fee, one call to make. Guests otherwise describe a straightforward, well maintained motel, and the topics that recur are the pool and the space inside the rooms.

If the pet room is taken, Moama and Echuca between them have a handful of other dog tolerant options, but none are walkable from Meninya Street, so have a second choice ready.

For the run that tires a dog out properly, Murray River Council lists a fenced off lead dog park at the Moama Recreation Reserve on Perricoota Road, the one place in town the lead comes off.

Make a day of it

Moama's river frontage makes an easy leg-stretcher with the dog, and the wider district is wine country: the Burnbrae Wines style of dog tolerant cellar door is well represented across the river towns further north, and more dog friendly stays in NSW cover you if the pet room is booked out. Day trippers pair a Moama stay with the river beaches and state forest tracks, lead friendly outside signed off lead areas.