HAVE HOTELS GONE TO THE DOGS?

Have you noticed the increase in pet friendly hotels these last few years?  We have! Finding a dog friendly hotel just 5 years ago was a big challenge.  Now smart hotels, B&B's and hotel chains are laying out the welcome mat for Fido.  Even smarter ones are laying out the red carpet for their canine guests!

Phoebe loves to sleep in between my husband and I in a king size bed
My husband and I travel frequently, both for pleasure and business.  We loathe leaving our furkids behind, we take them along whenever we can!

Like the Goddess she is, Isis prefers a queen size bed... all to herself of course!
Road trippin' with the furkids is one of our favorite things to do! 

No! I don't wanna get up! Go Away!
Many of the Comfort Inn hotels are dog friendly and the staff is usually really welcoming.  We have found Holiday Inn Express sometimes welcomes pets too.  We haven't found Hyatt hotels that welcome pets though.  We recently discovered a fabulous dog friendly DoubleTree hotel in Springfield, MO.  It was one of the best dog friendly hotels we've ever stayed in!


The Springfield DoubleTree hotel even had Doggie art in the bathroom!
Many smaller boutique hotels and Bed & Breakfasts are very pet friendly, it helps them compete with some of the larger hotels. My greatest resources for finding pet friendly hotels are The AAA Pet Book, Bringfido.com, Petswelcome.com and I've just recently been introduced to GoPetFriendly.com, which has lots of great information & tips on travel with pets.  I really enjoy their pet travel blog, Take Paws.

One of the primary attributes we always look for in accommodations is their level of pet friendliness.  Some hotels are merely pet "tolerant", which is often evident in high pet fees, lengthy pet policies & restrictions, and not allowing pets anywhere but inside your room.  They also tend to offer the worst rooms to guests with pets. 

One way to tell if a place is truly pet friendly is if they prominently call themselves "pet friendly" on their web site or if they have a picture of a pet somewhere on the site.  If they say there's a dog or cat that acts as their host and will greet guests upon arrival, you know you've found not just a pet friendly place but a pet loving place to hang your hat!

For tips on road travel with your dog, see my Road Trip With The Dogs post.

When you book a hotel do the pet amenities influence your decision?  Do you have a favorite pet friendly hotel chain or type of lodging?  Isis and Phoebe love hearing your thoughts, so please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us!

THIS IS A BLOG HOP!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

That's great that hotels are going to the dogs!
I remember a few years back trying to find one that would accept dogs, and I couldn't find even one!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them said...

I know! It is so much easier now, thankfully. Just need to be cautious of fees, whether they're per pet, per night or per stay & if there's additional cleaning fee. Thanks for visiting today!

Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them said...

It absolutely did! A doggie drawing above the commode - now that's a dog friendly hotel! Thanks for stopping by Ruckus!

Unknown said...

I like "pet tolerant" to describe pet friendly hotels that actually aren't. I wrote a post about the misuse of that language in the industry. Because of the over used marketing term "pet-friendly" and that I travel on a tight budget with 3 or more pets of various sizes and species, I usually give up on finding actual pet friendly lodging pretty quickly. I prefer camping anyways. But the dog drawing over the commode is really special!

Jackie Bouchard said...

That bathroom drawing is TOO cute! When we go away with Rita we tend to stay at places we find on VRBO.com - people's houses that they rent. You are so right that you have to look out for the added pet fees! The place we are going on our upcoming vaca charges a one-time $50 pet fee. I didn't think that was *too* bad - I mean, if you're staying quite a few nights it's not. It's high if you'd only be there a night or two! Hard to find great places!

D said...

I'm glad pet friendly accommodations are catching on. I've never stayed with Niles at a hotel but I figure it'll happen eventually. Good to know there are more options opening up every day. :)

Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them said...

It can be really deceiving, which isn't fair. I can only imagine the reaction when you say you have 3 or more pets! Camp grounds are great, they are almost always pet friendly and so much cheaper. This DoubleTree hotel was so great, such a nice surprise. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them said...

I'll have to look into VRBO.com, I didn't realize you could find pet friendly places there, thanks for that tip. Yes, $50 is good if you stay several nights but bad if it's only1 or 2 nights. Thanks for stopping by Jackie!

Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them said...

Yes, it's getting much better and I'm getting better at finding the right places to stay! Hope all is well w/ you an Nailah and hope school is going well too. Thanks for visiting today!

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