Sunray Motor Inn

The Sunray Motor Inn sits at 96 McDougall Street in Wilsonton, on Toowoomba's western side near the airport end of town. It is a casual roadside motel that has gone further than most on the dog front, with rooms built specifically around travelling with a dog and a fenced exercise yard right alongside them, which is why it keeps coming up as a stopover pick for people driving the Warrego Highway.

Dogs at the Sunray

There are two dedicated pet-friendly rooms, both non-carpeted, and they sit directly next to a fenced dog exercise yard, so you can walk out the door and let the dog have a proper run after a long day on the road. Only well-behaved small to medium dogs are accepted, and pets must be approved in advance: call the motel direct on 07 4634 2200 or email before you book, rather than booking a standard room through a third-party site and hoping. There is an extra nightly cost for pets, which the motel confirms when you ring. Reviews repeatedly point at the dog area and the owners' willingness to help, which is the difference between a motel that tolerates dogs and one that plans for them.

Max: Ring ahead, because there are only two pet rooms and they go first on Toowoomba show weekends.

Worth knowing

Rooms are the usual motel spread of queens and family rooms, with guests calling out comfortable beds, spacious bathrooms and clean rooms. Wilsonton is a quiet suburb, so there is no city noise to unsettle a dog, and the Clarence Highway-side location puts you minutes from the Toowoomba Bypass for an early start.

Getting there and parking

McDougall Street runs through the heart of Wilsonton, about ten minutes from the Toowoomba city centre and close to Wellcamp Airport. Parking is at the door, which keeps unloading crates and luggage easy.

Close by with the dogs

Vann Street Park Dog Off Leash Area is the local off-lead option, and Cafe 63 Wilsonton does coffee nearby. If the pet rooms are booked out, Flying Spur Motel is in the same suburb and BIG4 Toowoomba Holiday Park in Harristown takes dogs on sites and in selected cabins.

More around the garden city is on the Wilsonton destination page, and the full list is in the QLD stays index.