Sniff Out The Best Pet Accommodations

Find a hotel that'll treat your pal like one of the family and get other tips for pet travel.

March 5, 2004

Sarah Goldsmith Grover travels so often that her chocolate brown poodle Lucy jumps in Grover's suitcase whenever she drags it out.

"When I pull out the suitcase for a trip," Grover says, "she'll get in the suitcase and sit there." It's how Lucy reminds her owner to take her along. And Grover, of Los Angeles, often complies, having brought Lucy on about a half-dozen trips in the past year.

"To go back to my room and to have a friendly face from home makes it an even more enjoyable experience on the road," she says.

But finding pet-friendly accommodations regularly dogs Grover.

One major aggravation is that pet policies change from one hotel chain to the next, and even vary between hotels in the same company. Pets are welcome in roughly half of the nation's 1,750 Days Inns; about 46% of the nation's Howard Johnsons; and about 54% of the nation's Travelodges.

The good news for pet owners is that the number of hotels accepting pets has risen about 4% a year, says Robyn Peters, editor of the DogGone Newsletter.

And some hotels are now going to greater lengths to accommodate their furry guests. A Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Va., for example, holds a monthly "Doggie Happy Hour." Canine guests can munch on gourmet biscuits and water, while owners can sample discounted drinks at a bar.

And Grover was pleasantly surprised during a recent stay at the Loews House of Blues hotel in Chicago. The staff treated Lucy well, giving her biscuits, toys and food and water bowls. The hotel also offered a dog-walking service (provided by outside contractors) for a fee of $20 a walk, but Grover opted to walk Lucy on her own.

Where to search

It usually takes a couple of attempts to find a hotel that will accept your pet. First, search for hotels at your destination at Pets on the Go, the Web site of the travel publisher Dawbert Press. Some major hotel chains, such as Starwood, offer advanced search features at their Web sites that let you fetch a list of hotels in an area that accept pets. You can also try a hotel chain's toll-free reservations number to fetch such information.

For jet-set pets

Two pieces of gear may lighten the travel burden of dog owners. If you will be toting leashes, toys and other pet paraphernalia on your trip, consider the Outward Hound Weekender bag from Kyjen (about $16 at Petguys.com). It includes a removable food pouch and a collapsible bowl, stored in a compartment separate from your pet gear.

And while most pooches do not mind being confined in portable containers while in transit, they usually want to roam free upon arrival. The DogAnchor may help keep your canine in tow at your destination. As its name suggests, the DogAnchor is a weight attached to cables -- made in three and 10 feet lengths -- that hook to a dog's collar. (www.doganchor.com; $50.)

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