A Vacation for the Upscale Dog

To the extent our budgets permit, we all love to pamper our dogs.  After all, they deserve it. They are loyal friends and fun companions—and sometimes they even behave.

When vacation time comes, a difficult decision has to be made: where should your dog stay? Finding a nice boarding facility used to be difficult, but in recent years upscale “dog resorts” have sprung up all over the country. These trendy dog lodging facilities sound better than some of the hotels you may have stayed in on business trips in your career.

Recently “Pooch Hotel”, a 5-star hotel and daycare facility for dogs, opened near the San Jose Airport in Sunnyvale, California. Their amenities include a customized exercise pool, dietary programs, and a dog SPAW™ where dogs can enjoy aromatherapy bathing, massage, paw-dicures and fur color touch ups. This innovative family-owned company also has two locations in Chicago.

Giant pet retail chain Petsmart has their own “PetsHotel” brand of boarding facilities, where “Canine guests will relax in atrium rooms complete with hypoallergenic lambskin blankets.” They have staff members on site taking care of the guests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

These days leaving your dog buddy behind isn’t your only option when traveling. Many lodging facilities now allow you to check in with your dog. Sometimes there are restrictions on how large the dog can be, and usually you aren’t allowed to leave your dog alone in the room, but nonetheless the welcome mat is finally out for canines (as long as they bring along a human with a credit card).

And your choices aren’t just cabins, campgrounds, or pardon the expression, fleabag motels along the highway. Increasingly, highly rated hotel chains are recognizing there is a large and lucrative market of travelers who would prefer to take their dog along on a trip. “Dog friendly” lodging is a concept that is gaining marketplace traction, with hotel marketing people dreaming up all kinds of amenities to entice dogs and their owners.

@@Adsense@@ Starwood Hotels & Resorts has a LTD (Love That Dog) program in its Westin, Sheraton and W hotels. Dogs receive a welcome packet including treats and toys, a pet bed is included in the room and the hotels offer concierge services such as dog sitting and dog walking. A marketing study they conducted showed that having pet friendly hotels would enhance brand loyalty to their chain among three-fourths of dog owners.

Marriott Hotels has definitely taken advantage of this trend. They even have a link http://www.marriott.com/pet-friendly-hotels.mi, where you can check out pet friendly hotels among their various brands. They promise “unique pet friendly hotels that combine breathtaking scenery with superior service, and incredible amenities.”

For my Springer Spaniel, breathtaking scenery at a fancy hotel would equate to watching the head chef grilling porterhouse steaks. She’s not really into waxing poetic about those lovely ocean sunsets.

Choice Hotels, which includes the brands Comfort Inns, Quality Inns, Econo Lodge and Sleep Inns, boasts hundreds of pet-friendly properties, including 60 under their Clarion luxury hotel brand.

Speaking of luxury, The Beverly Hilton on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills is a pet friendly hotel.  Finally, a chance for your dog to get discovered by a talent agent in Hollywood.

So, consider taking your dog on a trip. You can still stay in a fine hotel, in a major city or even a beach resort. It’s a great way to teach your pet socialization skills, and you won’t have to worry about whether he is getting good care and enough attention back home. Don’t think of it as your fido-ciary duty. You’ll have a lot of fun traveling with your dog.