Emeraldene Inn & Eco-Lodge

Emeraldene Inn & Eco-Lodge is an award-winning eco-lodge on Urraween Road, a few minutes inland from Hervey Bay's beach strip, set across two acres of tropical gardens and bushland. The headline for dog owners is straightforward: dogs of any size stay free with their owners, which is close to unique for the region's motels.

Dogs at Emeraldene Inn and Eco-Lodge

There is no pet fee, which removes the usual surcharge, but the practical constraint is room allocation: pet-friendly rooms are ground floor with private patios opening onto the gardens, they are limited in number, and management asks to be told in advance so a suitable room can be held. Call or email at booking rather than hoping one is free on arrival. The gardens themselves are the dog's domain, two acres of tropical planting with genuine birdlife, and the patio setup means no corridors or lifts between the room and the lawn. Standard rooms are air-conditioned with garden views, many with a kitchenette or full kitchen, and the property runs on solar power and rainwater harvesting.

Worth knowing

The location trades the beachfront strip for quiet: roughly a 12-minute drive from Hervey Bay Airport, five minutes to Stockland Hervey Bay shopping centre, and about ten to the Scarness foreshore for a seaside walk. Urraween itself is a residential pocket, so you drive five to ten minutes to most of Hervey Bay's draws, with the upside being garden space and self-catering instead of an Esplanade carpark view.

Getting there and out with the dogs

For an off-lead run, Urraween Dog Park and the fenced Augustus Estate Fenced Dog Park are both close by, and the Pialba-Scarness foreshore has a 24/7 dogs off-leash area. Henri's Gourmet Foods is the local food stop in Urraween. If you would rather a park with sites, Magnolia Village at Pialba also takes pets. More options are on the Urraween destination page and the QLD stays index.

Pepsi: Ground floor, patio straight onto the gardens, no fee. I have had worse work trips.