Dog Friendly AirBnB Mount Dora Florida: Heirloom Retreat

I am so excited to share another amazing dog friendly Florida vacation spot as part of my dog friendly travel series. This one is a little extra special to me because it’s actually in my hometown of Mount Dora, Florida! Historic Mount Dora, Florida is an awesome small town located in central Florida and is known for it’s amazing festivals, shops and restaurants. Plus, its super dog friendly!

Since this town is so amazing (might be a little bias there, ha!), I knew I had to find a dog friendly AirBnB in Mount Dora, Florida to feature. We enjoyed a wonderful stay at The Heirloom Retreat on Highland Street which is less than a mile from downtown Mount Dora’s local shops and restaurants.

In this post I’ll share everything about this dog friendly AirBnB including its dog-friendly features, information about the property and helpful tips we recommend after staying!

The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB: Planning Your Stay

If you want to start traveling with your dog and have a more anxious pup, I couldn’t recommend dog friendly AirBnB’s enough. Staying at dog friendly hotels can get quite busy, but AirBnB’s that allow dogs tend to be quieter and more relaxed. These are great options for introducing your dog to travel!

When searching for any dog friendly rentals in Florida or dog friendly Air BnB’s, you first have to see if it’s dog friendly and if there are any fees, (daily pet fees, cleaning fees, etc.) for bringing your dog.

The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB in Mount Dora, Florida is an AirBnB that allows dogs (obviously, ha!) and the pet fee is $75 per stay. Service animals are of course always welcome.

Location:

This dog friendly AirBnB in Mount Dora is located on Highland Street which is about a mile from historic downtown Mount Dora where you will find all of the Mt. Dora shops and restaurants. The Heirloom Retreat has plenty of parking for its guests and since you’re a little up the road, you’re already closer to the highway if you wanted to drive to other areas of central Florida like Orlando.

Must-Have Packing Items:

Dog Poop Bags (you are gifted some, scroll down to kitchen area section)
Closed Toe Shoes (Will need for outdoors, scroll down to backyard area section)
Dog Leash (Will need for taking your dog out, scroll down to backyard area section)

Property Maintenance:

We arrived Thursday afternoon for our stay and were greeted to the kindest staff taking care of the plants. We didn’t know anyone would actually be coming to take care of the property that day and the dogs weren’t necessarily the biggest fans when they initially saw two strangers walking around. If you do plan on bringing your dogs, just be ready for some potential woofs and know that the staff is extremely kind!

The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB (Inside)

Living Room:

When you first walk into The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB in Mount Dora you will find a super open living room area with two couches (the darker grey being a queen size sleeper sofa!). If you have large dogs like me, staying somewhere that actually has enough room for your dogs to walk around in is key. Every part of this dog friendly AirBnB was spacious and truly gave our dogs enough room!

One thing I always love finding when I stay at AirBnB’s is a helpful book that shares places to visit in the area including restaurants, shops, and things to do.

The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB had a binder filled with helpful information like:

Wifi login
Property owner contact information
Local restaurants (including a special discount for breakfast for a restaurant right up the road!)

Being from the area, I knew pretty much all of the restaurants, but for those that are visiting Historic Mount Dora for the first time, this is super helpful!

Bedrooms:

Both bedrooms in this dog friendly AirBnB feature extremely comfortable king size beds which were immediately approved by Diesel and Annie, ha! Since day one, Diesel has always slept with us in the bed and when we got Annie, she tried to join us, but since the bed we currently have is a little small, Diesel always kicks her out. He’s such a jerk, ha! Because of this, she usually sleeps on a dog bed on the floor and will visit periodically throughout the night.

With this king size bed, Annie actually slept with us the entire night too and she was COMFY, ha! I looked at her while we were watching tv in the room and she was stretched out and was one happy doggo. This was the first time all four of us have slept together in the bed comfortably!

Pro Tip: If your dog doesn’t sleep in the bed with you and you want to bring a dog bed but don’t have a ton of space with all of your luggage to pack it, bring in your Big Barker SUV Dog Bed! I did a review on this SUV dog travel bed a few weeks back and because this orthopedic SUV dog bed expands out with the wings, and it’s already in your car, it’s a great option to still bring your dog’s orthopedic bed without taking too much space in the car with their actual bed!

Bathrooms:

Both bedrooms have bathrooms right next to them. What I loved most about them was how much room they had. As mentioned before, I have two big dogs and like every dog parent out there, my dogs follow me into the bathroom. Every. Single. Time! Ha! These bathrooms had a ton of room for all of us to be there together, ha!

The bathrooms also had towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner and makeup remover cloths included which I thought was very sweet of them.

Note: If you’re a tall person like my boyfriend Chandler (he’s 6’2-6’3ish, is it bad that I’m forgetting that right now? ha!) you might feel quite tall in the shower and in front of the mirror. He said he had to crouch down a tad to be able to see in the mirror and that the water in the shower hit more of his chest than his head because of his height. All of my friends that are similar to my height though (I’m 5’5) you’re good to go!

Kitchen/Dining:

The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB in Mount Dora also has a fully equipped kitchen, complete with a range, fridge, microwave and dishwasher. Plus, there are pots, pans and silverware included! Since this dog friendly AirBnB allows long term stays (28 days or more), this is super convenient for families, or anyone visiting who wants to cook their meals while they stay. Within only a few miles driving distance are two different Publix locations, an Aldi and Target, so you’re set!

Also found in the kitchen of this AirBnB that allows dogs were two adorable dog features:

Dog bowl with Fromm Four Star Dog Treats & Poop Bags
Dog Feeder Set

Throughout this entire dog friendly AirBnB are so many cute dog amenities which really makes this place stand out amongst the rest! Of course, we had to take a photo with the pups and their treats after we found them. What kind of dog mom would I be if I didn’t, ha!

Florida Room/Sun Room:

Before we explore the outdoor area of The Heirloom Retreat dog friendly AirBnB, there’s one more room, the Florida room, a.k.a a sun room! This sun room is a great place to have breakfast in the morning or wind down in at night. It features a comfy lounge chair and table and chairs to sit at. There is an air conditioner in the room as well.

This sun room also has a cute dog-themed towel right by the door that leads to the backyard area. This will come in handy when coming in, which I’ll share more about next!

Note: If you plan to stay here in the summer, know that the sun room is going to be quite toasty when you first walk in. We turned on the air conditioner when we first got there to cool off the room. We took photos for this blog post for about an hour and after that we went to feel the room again and it was much better!

The Heirloom Retreat AirBnB (Outside)

Backyard:

Two super important things to know about the backyard area of this AirBnB that allows dogs, are:

Keep your dog on a leash at all times
1. The property isn’t fully fenced in. Towards the back of the yard there is fencing to separate the surrounding properties, but this doesn’t extend all the way around. Since this dog friendly AirBnB is also close to the road, ensuring your dog is leashed at all times when outside is the best option for keeping your dog safe!
The backyard area has more dirt than grass, so you’ll want to bring clothes toed shoes to walk around in and potentially a towel for your dog’s feet.
1. I went back in some sandals and had to wash my feet off after. If there’s any rain, having a dog towel to clean off your dog’s paws will come in handy as well. My favorites are the Dirty Dog Shammy Towel and the Dirty Dog Grooming Mitt. I’ve reviewed both and you can learn more about them here:

Seating Area/Lounge Area:

The last part of this Mt. Dora, FL vacation rental was the fun seating/lounge area in the backyard! Being a plant lady, I loved all of the hanging flower baskets that were set up around the table and chairs. Plus, right next to this was a hammock! It needed to be dusted off a little but it was well worth it.

Funny story about the hammock….

I really wanted some cute photos with either Annie or Diesel in the hammock with me. Diesel is always game for anything but getting him up there would’ve been a bit of a challenge. So, I decided to see if Annie would join me and she was GAME, ha! Not only did it take us a few tries but one of those tries we both ate dirt and it was the funniest thing ever. She went to jump up and I forgot to pick my feet up off the ground and we both went forward and the hammock went backwards, ha! It was one of those moments where you’re like man, why wasn’t anyone recording, I could’ve just won America’s Funniest Home Videos, ha!

I had to share the bloopers below:

If you’re looking for dog friendly vacations in Florida, I highly recommend staying at The Heirloom Retreat dog friendly AirBnB in Mount Dora, Florida and visiting historic downtown Mount Dora. Mount Dora, Florida is one of the most dog friendly cities in Florida, plus it’s in a great central location near many dog-friendly beaches and other dog-friendly cities!

I hope you loved learning all about this awesome dog friendly rental in Florida and are already excited to plan your stay at this pet friendly AirBnB! Have any questions for me and the pups? Ask away in the comments below and check out more of my dog-friendly travel posts below:

Plus, don’t forget to check out some of my most recent posts below:

And see a full recap of our stay on my YouTube channel!

Photography: Kate Kelley Collection