Monto Colonial Motor Inn

Monto Colonial Motor Inn sits on Thomson Street in Monto, the Burnett country town that markets itself as the art silo town of the north Burnett. This is a classic regional motor inn: comfortable rooms, good beds, mini bars, soft towels and the kind of friendly owner managers who remember your name at breakfast. Guests mention being able to walk to the pub, which in a town like Monto means everything you need is within a few blocks.

Dogs at the motor inn

Per the motel's own FAQ page, the inn is pet friendly with limited rooms available for guests travelling with pets, and a $25 pet surcharge applies. The critical detail is the booking channel: pet rooms must be booked directly with the motel rather than through third party platforms, so the online travel agent booking with a dog request buried in the notes will not get you a pet room. Call or email the motel, confirm the pet room is free for your dates, and settle any conditions on size or number at the same time.

For solo travellers the practical answer is the room service menu, which runs Monday to Thursday: eat in the room with the dog rather than testing whether an unattended dog stays settled. The dining room is indoors and out of bounds for dogs, though guests report the hosts are warm about a quiet small dog near your table when the wood heater is going in the cooler months.

The pet rooms open onto shared walkways rather than fenced yards, so the lead stays on for the late-night run; ask for a ground-floor room toward the quieter rear of the block. With limited pet rooms in a small town, availability during mustering season and event weekends is genuinely tight.

Worth knowing

Cania Gorge is about 20 minutes out of town and worth a half day, though dogs are not permitted on the national park tracks, so plan those as human hikes and use the town streets for the dog. Regulars with dogs head for Centenary Park and the heritage trails early, when the footpaths are empty and the air is still crisp. The silo art makes a good early morning walk circuit with the dog on lead.

On the Burnett Highway run, the Bundaberg Riverside Walk is the best leg stretch if you are continuing east to the coast, and Takalvan Motel covers the overnight end there. The Daph Geddes Park fenced dog park in Bundaberg East is the reliable off lead stop on that same route.

Close by with the dogs

The Queensland stays index lists pet friendly stays across the state for the rest of the trip.