Pet-friendly hotels are not always as fur-facing as they claim. Research from Roch Dog reports a disparity between hotels’ claims of being pet-friendly and their actual treatment of canine guests, analysing 1,000 facilities.
Over 80pc of pet-friendly hotels charge additional fees for dogs, with costs ranging from $50 per night to $250 per stay, but often provide minimal amenities in return.
Only 18pc of surveyed hotels allow dogs to stay for free, with many providing only two core amenities such as dog beds or water bowls.
Major hotels like The Mandarin Oriental in New York and luxury resorts in Honolulu and Lima charge steep fees without offering sufficient services for pets.
Roch Dog’s certification process evaluates hotels based on numerous factors, revealing a disconnect between marketed pet-friendly offerings and actual guest experiences.
Guise Bule of Roch Dog shared. “I see far too many four- and five-star hotels who claim to be pet-friendly, but who use it as an excuse to charge extortionate pet fees without offering a single biscuit in return. They say they’re dog-friendly, but in reality, they’re dog-tolerant. Hotels throw around ‘pet-friendly’ as a marketing buzzword, but the moment you arrive with a dog, it’s a different story. You’re hit with a steep fee, obnoxious restrictions, and offered nothing in return.
“The problem exists because the traditional hotel certification bodies like Forbes Travel and AAA completely ignore dog owners and fail to ask hotels about their pet programmes when they assess and certify these hotels. Ignoring miooions of dog-owning guests is not just an oversight, it’s negligence. While hotels promote themselves as pet-friendly, the reality for many travellers is that a high pet fee often buys nothing more than the right for their dog to sleep on the floor,”
