Stonecrubie – Dog Friendly Motel Mt Somers

As a new dog owner, I suddenly found myself limited on options for holidays with my family. The choice seemed to be find a dog friendly campsite or leave our pup with a dog sitter. I didn’t add a dog to our family to leave her behind on family vacations, so this really stung.

These school holidays I was determined to find somewhere to stay that we could take our lively pup. It’s still a bit cold at night to go camping – and lets be honest, as a single mum with 3 kids and a dog, camping is hard work. We love camping, and Lake Taylor we love you and your dog friendly campsite, but after working very long hours these school holidays I needed a break.

We’ve been to Mt Somers several times now, and we love it every time. It’s such a beautiful gem, so very close to Christchurch. In fact, we’d stayed at Stonecrubie before as well, though I didn’t know it was dog friendly. To be honest the first time we stayed was a little underwhelming accommodation wise. The kettle tripped the power every time I tried to boil it, the toilet made incessant noise all night, and with only 3 beds between 4 of us, I didn’t sleep much.

Nonetheless, I was rapt to find that it was listed as dog friendly and excited to stay again. Not 100% sure of the whole “take your dog to a motel” thing, I phoned first to confirm. The lovely owner assured me our pup was very much welcome. This was a first for us! Our pup could stay in our motel with us!

The motel also has a restaurant with some limited capabilities for breakfast and dinner. We didn’t use it this time though.

As luck would have it, our accommodation this time was Unit 7 not the dreaded Unit 6. Our room was larger, with 4 beds between the 4 of us. There was great wifi, the kettle did not trip the power, and the toilet functioned as it should. We all slept wonderfully.

I confess I still felt a little naughty; that I would be told off for having the dog in the room. But no, she was totally welcome.

The kids love the playground outside the motel units. And there are good old fashioned rope swings hanging from trees that have been there for many years.

The beautiful sweeping lawns were perfect for playing fetch with our pup. We even played racing games trying to get to the ball and back before the dog! We were a little disappointed that dogs are not allowed in the Mt Somers Conservation Park, but our pup was well worn out with the ball chasing on the motel lawns so it was ok.

If you are looking for a family friendly, dog friendly, affordable place to stay near to Christchurch, then I highly recommend Stonecrubie. Just don’t stay in Unit 6!

Have you stayed here? Let us know in the comments!