If you want to travel with your furry companion this year, you are in luck: at least 5,512 hotel properties across seven brands of the Hilton portfolio worldwide are now pet friendly as the result of a partnership with Mars Petcare — which is the largest pet care company in the world — and consistent pet fees which start at $50.00 per stay will be introduced…
Should Pets Only Be Allowed On the First Floor of a Hotel Property?
…but not everyone is happy about this development for various reasons. “We are very allergic and there should be rooms separate for pet owners” James Franklin — who is a reader of The Gate — commented in response to this article titled These Hilton Brands Will Be 100 Percent Pet Friendly By April 2022. “We have stayed in Hilton properties for years while traveling, but no more if we cannot get a room that has been free of pets. You should be able to accommodate both!”
Several other readers of The Gate opined against the policy in the Comments section of that article…
…but members of FlyerTalk may have a possible solution: “They can assign specific rooms for pets”, FlyerTalk member storewanderer posted in this discussion in which several other members of FlyerTalk agreed with that point of view. “The rooms on the first floor closest to the exterior doors, including the room next to the general manager’s office since they are deciding to accept pets (or not accept pets).”
Another aspect of the pet friendly policy is that Hilton charges a minimum fee of $50.00 per stay. “As far as I’m concerned ‘pet friendly’ means pets stay free. So this isn’t quite it… this is a pretty high pet fee, higher than many other chains… I know some brands like Hotel Indigo explicitly do stuff for the pets that stay there but at the end of the day the standard leisure traveler seems to be looking for pets stay free”, storewanderer continued. “Lower end chains like Motel 6, Red Roof, have been pet friendly forever (pets stay free). Many exterior corridor properties make this easier also.”
In addition to the minimum fee of $50.00 per stay and guests who are allergic to dogs, cats, or other pets, other complaints about the policy include:
- Excrement found in elevators
- The stench of urine from dogs found in hallways
- Residual odors left by pets who have since vacated the rooms
- Multiple pets in one room
- Pets being left alone in the room while their owners are away — especially dogs which bark incessantly
- Fur and hair which may not have been removed from the room due to a cleaning by the housekeeping staff which was not thorough
- Pets being brought into public dining areas of the hotel property
- Noisy or rambunctious pets
- Poorly behaved pets in general
Final Boarding Call
At one time, hotel and resort properties allocated a number of rooms for people who smoked cigarettes and other items. Many hotel and resort properties do not allow smoking at all these days; so that is generally no longer an issue.
I do not own a pet and have no desire to own a pet; and I cannot recall ever having a problem with a pet at a hotel or resort property. That certainly does not mean that I do not like cats or dogs or other animals; and that also does not mean that a guest does not have a right to travel with his or her pet…
…but guests who do not travel with pets have a right to a clean and comfortable stay as well — and designating the first floor or some other section of a hotel or resort property seems like a reasonable compromise to me. Unlike narrow spaces aboard airplanes, hotel and resort properties offer significantly more room for compromises that are designed to please as many guests in as many ways as possible…
Photograph ©2013 by Brian Cohen.
