Spring Bay Villas

Spring Bay Villas sits on Ocean Beach Road between Denmark and the Wilson Inlet, a quiet cluster of clean villas with inlet views, big gardens and BBQs, built for the large family getaways that the south coast does so well. Helpful staff and a settled, quiet property make it the kind of base people return to across seasons.

Dogs at the villas

Per the villas' own site, pet friendly stays are on request: guests call management to discuss the pet before booking. The house rules reported from the venue listing give the shape of a confirmed stay: a 100 dollar one off pet fee, one large or two small to medium dogs, pets off furniture and out of bedrooms, and unattended pets kept in the laundry.

The villas' own policy page confirms the fee as 90 dollars per pet one off, and asks that dogs stay off the furniture and out of the bedrooms. Extra cleaning runs at 50 dollars per hour where it is needed and damage is charged to the guest, so the usual crating and care habits are worth keeping.

The laundry arrangement is the practical thing to plan around: bring a bed and water for your dog and treat the laundry as its den for the hours you are out.

Management would rather pets come along on day trips, and the site is blunt about why: this is a peaceful location, so dogs that bark cannot stay. A dog with separation anxiety is the one temperament that does not fit here.

Between the laundry rule and the fee structure, the honest read is that this is a villa stay for travellers whose dog travels with them everywhere rather than a drop and go arrangement. There is no fully fenced private run at the villas either, so garden time stays on lead and supervised.

Ocean Beach itself is the draw: the inlet mouth and the surf beach are minutes away and Denmark's forest and coastline walks fill the rest of a day. Locals with dogs head for the designated dog exercise area at Prawn Rock Channel rather than the main surf beach, which is not dog friendly, and the sheltered inlet edges calm older or hesitant dogs that will not take surf.

South coast travellers can pair the stay with Acclaim Albany Holiday Park further along the coast or Margaret River Bungalows to the west. The Western Australia stays guide pulls the state's options together.