Pet-friendly, but with a limit

by erica ~ April 29, 2009

I don’t know about you, but when I do my research about a certain hotel and acknowledge that they are pet-friendly, I wouldn’t assume it depends on how much they weigh. Restrictions do apply, but in small letters, of course.

Bringing your pet on vacation has become quite popular in the last few years according to the New York Times: A couple of decades ago only a few chains, including Motel 6 and Kimpton, accepted pets, but with dogs increasingly considered part of the family, many now do. The number may grow: hotels are expecting even more pets this summer, with car vacations sparing both airfare and kennel fees.

There are even special sites that direct consumers to pet-friendly hotels around the world, such as Petswelcome.com, Dogfriendly.com, and Petfriendlytravel.com.

Currently, the Best Western Hotel Chain is running an ad that focuses on this issue, but what they fail to mention is that only 1,900 of the 4,000 Best Western hotels worldwide accept pets and of those that do accept pets; they have a maximum limit of 12 pounds. Occurrences like these happen quite frequently, and pet owners are becoming frustrated with the “limited restrictions” and false advertising.

Unlike those so-called pet-friendly hotels, the W Hotels chain offers room service for dogs and “Yappy Hours” - mixers open to nonguests and their dogs. They have a weight limit of 40 pounds but it fluctuates with the size of the guests’ room. Also, Loews Hotels have no weight limit; their hotels include dog “learning vacations,” like Su’ruff Camp at Loews Coronado Bay in California, where dogs staying at the hotel learn to surf.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to take my pet (when I had one) on a trip with me because that would defeat my whole purpose of vacation. Many travelers don’t have a choice but to bring their pet because they either have no sitter or cannot afford the fancy doggy hotels. Nonetheless, I do find these ads to be misleading and unpleasant for travelers.

One hotel owner agrees by saying “For me to say we are pet-friendly but we do not take pets over 100 pounds would be like saying, ‘I’m in the hotel business but I don’t take anyone over 200 pounds,’ ” Mr. Pinetti of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants said. “It’s kind of bogus.”