disclosure: We received a complimentary stay with Viamede Resort, however, all opinions expressed are honest and my own.
My family has a passion for travel, but we also love having a furry member of the family and those two things don’t often mix. Our previous dog Riley often spent time at our local kennel and our hearts literally broke a little leaving her there each time. Our newest addition to the family is a Mini Australian Shepherd puppy, and I knew we had to find a way for us to take a holiday together, with every member of our family.
Viamede Resort doesn’t just allow pets, they welcome them!
Viamede Resort offer Pet Friendly Travel
I was beyond excited to discover that Viamede Resort on Stoney Lake, goes above and beyond for our four legged friends. Most of the other places I found, called themselves pet friendly, but then added a fee to your stay and a laundry list of restrictions and rules to follow. That doesn’t sound very friendly does it? At Viamede you’ll find none of that, in fact, when I was checking in I reminded the staff we had brought our pup with us and asked her if there was anything we needed to know, and she said “nope, just enjoy your stay!”
When travelling with a large family, space is always a big concern. I’ve stayed in plenty of accommodations where you could barely walk around the bed let alone set up a dog crate, so we breathed a huge sigh of relief when we opened our cottage door at Mount Julian Cottage #431. The two bedroom unit is quite spacious and had plenty of room to move around and set up Oakley’s dog bed and dishes. The Master Bedroom had lots of extra floor space to pop up a crate and still be out of the way. He felt right at home.
So now that we’d found the perfect accommodations for our family, of course we planned on frolicking in the woods all day together. Viamede has 6km of marked walking/hiking trails and 165km of wooded land to explore. We were ready to conquer Mount Julian! Mother Nature had other plans, she’s so moody in the Spring isn’t she? We were met with a cold windy rain for most of our stay and Oakley compromised by spending his day snuggled up by the fire place instead.
Okay, Oakley enough of the warm naps, let’s go play! Never having to ask Oakley twice to go for a run, we decided to brave the weather and go exploring! In addition to the hiking trails and forest, Viamede Resort also offers fur-guests a shaded, fully enclosed, off leash park to run to their hearts content! Oakley much prefers to be off leash and wasted no time being still while we were there! He could run all day!
It was also really nice to see a place where your pets can go for a swim. In hot weather it’s so important to give dogs a place to cool off! Toby’s watering hole is just the spot!
Despite the dreary weather, Oakley had every dog’s dream vacation at Viamede Resort and much like the boys, he’s begging us to go back this summer!
Viamede Pet-Friendly Guarantee
- Feel free to roam our grounds and 6 km of gorgeous walking trails.
- Enjoy free access to our natural, shady, and fully-enclosed off-leash dog park.
- If you forget your dog beds, treats, doggy bags, leash or food dish, give us a bit of notice and we’ll provide you with items from our secret stash.
- A donation in your dog’s honour made to the Maggy Fund in support of Golden Rescue. Viamede donates $10 ($20 if your dog is a Golden Retriever!) to bring over injured dogs from Istanbul and pay for vet care.
Viamede Resort is quite possibly the most pet friendly resort you’ll find!
Read our review on Viamede Resort’s other features and amenities such as their brand new pool and dining options.
This looks like a great place.
It really is!
I love the Maggy Fund idea! It’s so awesome that there is a place that you can enjoy a wonderful vacation with your whole family, which includes your doggie! 🙂
It’s a really nice way to support a charity
Wow that is an amazing place, and they sure are pet friendly!! growing up I remember my parents always looked for places where we could take our collie, and they really love going on vacition with the family as well, happy to hear Oakley enjoyed his stay!!
When I was little we did a lot of camping so we could bring our pet along, I would much rather stay in a cottage than a trailer though lol
Cool, we need more of those, I refuse to leave my dog behind on vacation so we always look for pet friendly ones and they are few and far in between.
They really are so hard to find and then often you find out there are extra fees to go along with it
This is really awesome! Pets are totally part of the family and it’s nice when resorts treat them that way. I have cats so they definitely prefer to stay in their own home.
The kennel can be really stressful for dogs, I would much rather he come along for the fun
Wow, I’ve never heard of anywhere actually encouraging dogs to stay, most won’t hear of having pets to stay. Sounds like a great place for humans and dogs alike
They are few and far between that’s for sure. I wish more places were like this.
What a fabulous place to bring the whole family. I love how they have a charity in place for Maggie.
It’s never nice to leave part of the family behind. We had a blast together!
I love this! It is always such a pain to have to leave a fellow fur baby behind! Bring them along is much more fun! I can’t wait to try this place!
your family would have a lot of fun here with the new pup!
So excited to read this!! We are heading there this weekend for a stay! I don’t have a dog to take with us but this definitely sets them apart! Love it.
It really does set them apart and we would choose Viamede again for that reason! Hope you enjoyed your stay!
What a great holiday! I love the idea of taking our pooch with us when we travel. Being hopelessly in love with my Sky, I always support pet-friendly business. Thanks for sharing!
I wish there were more out there!
First I have to say, Oakley is totally adorable, your boys must love him! The Viamede Resort sounds like such a great place for a vacation for the ENTIRE family and I love that the participate in the Maggy Fund!
Thanks Monica, we think he’s a cutie as well
This is an awesome place to stay especially because I don’t go anywhere without my dog and I love that they help other dogs in need.
Wow this looks like a great place to stay!
It is great that you can bring your pet here
The photos are amazing,they would be beautiful for a scrap book
What a wonderful place! I love that they give back to such a wonderful cause!
There needs to be more places like this around!
I like the fact it is pet friendly.
Looks wonderful! Not always easy to find a pet-friendly place, that’s for sure.
This looks like a great place! We are always looking for pet friendly resorts!