Canine customers

The subject of dog-friendly hotels has been in the news again recently after the introduction of a new menu for dogs at the Trianon Palace in Versailles and the launch of Starwood's "Love That Dog" initiative in the USA. Whether you view this dog-friendly approach as a cynical marketing ploy or a natty commercial move, the most important question, surely, is: have UK hoteliers been left behind?

You'll doubtless be relieved to hear that the range of fidophile lodgings (if not eateries) on offer in the UK is truly startling and befits such a self-professed nation of dog lovers. It appears that UK hoteliers - whether in response to customers' needs or in a calculated move to attract more niche business in difficult trading times - are falling over themselves to attract the pooch pound.

And it's not just budget and country establishments that are doing it. The range of discounted offerings on the Dog Friendly Hotels website includes properties by such mainstays as Hilton, Marriott, Ramada, Le M‚ridien, Renaissance, Jarvis, Radisson and Jurys. Other hotels are happy to accept your four-legged friend for an added fee.

But does catering for canines really add up? Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting, thinks so. Although he admits he has no idea of the value of the market, Langston thinks the idea of courting dog lovers could make sense for some hotel operators. "It's quite a clever idea - it's niche marketing," he says. "However, I think it's going to be the smaller, owner-operated type of hotels that'll come up with this kind of approach, targeting these kind of niche markets."

So what are the implications for hoteliers who choose to open their doors to dogs? Not all can afford to dedicate rooms to pooch-bringers and not all guests will warm to a doggy odour in their room. Some may even be allergic to dogs. Any dog owner will tell you that dog hairs can get pretty much anywhere, and keeping on top of them can be a major trial.

And all this is assuming that the dogs are well behaved in their toilet habits and refrain from chewing the hotel's finest linen to shreds. All that extra cleaning effort and potential wear and tear means extra expense.

Experiences differ. Eileen Downey says the only problem she can remember in 12 years as general manager of the Britannia Adelphi in Liverpool is a dog that destroyed a couple of bedspreads. "It's very rare we have a ‘mess' with a dog," she adds. To minimise risk, the hotel regularly replaces its bed linen.

Meanwhile, following a change of ownership, the Fairbourne hotel in Fairbourne, Gwynedd, has revoked its "dogs welcome" approach. It says the change is down to the fact that the new owner felt the hotel "stank of dogs and had gone downhill rapidly" because of its former dog-friendly policy.

While a policy of non-acceptance might be seen by dog lovers as plain unfriendly and unhelpful, there may be practical reasons for it. A key issue is that some hotels are simply not suited to dogs because of factors such as design, layout and even location. For a country house hotel to open its doors to dogs is one thing, but for a design-led hotel in Central London it's quite another. This is a major reason why hotel groups such as Marriott International have no set policy on accepting dogs and tend to defer to their individual hotel managers.

An option favoured by some hoteliers is the "size-ist" approach, with a weight or size restriction placed on canine guests. This halfway-house philosophy seems to be particularly popular in New York, where the Plaza New York accepts only "small" dogs and the nearby four-star Helmsley Park Lane accepts only dogs weighing under 30lb. Most dog lovers would no doubt balk at this decidedly "un-PC" attitude to their pets, but it nevertheless offers hoteliers the chance to put on a dog-friendly front and attract the kind of clientele that favour portable pets. Perhaps more importantly, it also reduces the risk of damage and the prospect of hotel staff and guests being terrorised by rampaging dogs the size of small horses.

Some hotels are more than willing to accommodate larger dogs, however. The 211-room Royal Court in Coventry, for example, hosts an annual meeting known as the Boxer Day event, when it turns one of its conference rooms into a kennel and even sets aside special areas for the 200 or so pampered pooches to do their business. "All in all, we've never had any incidents with them - I think sometimes the humans are messier than the dogs," says general manager Peter Pratt.

Since taking on the event three years ago, the Royal Court has attracted event bookings from other dog clubs. "It's a big plus," says Pratt. "We get the accommodation, the drinks, the food. If we didn't have the dogs here, we wouldn't get this business."

But you'd be hard pushed to find a more dog-friendly hotel than Liverpool's Britannia Adelphi, run by Eileen Downey. "Oooh, we love dogs here," she says. "It's a request we get quite a lot - ‘Do you take pets?' The only thing we require is for owners to keep them on a lead in the public areas." One celebrity mutt that laps up the hotel's service is the stepdaughter of Schnorbitz, the dog owned by the late comedian Bernie Winters. The St Bernard has stayed at the Britannia Adelphi with Winters's nephew for the past four years in the pantomime season.

Don't stop at dogs
Some establishments, such as the three-star Sunnydowns hotel in Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, don't just stop at welcoming dogs. Sunnydowns owner Mike Willington has pretty much seen it all over the years, although he's yet to cater for an elephant. Willington has even accommodated horses at the hotel (although apparently not in the rooms), along with various cherished pets ranging from goldfish to parrots.

Guests with dogs should note that even dog-friendly hotels will usually have restrictions on where their four-legged friends can roam, however. While most hotels will be perfectly happy for dogs to stay in guests' rooms and moult on their bed linen, most draw the line at restaurants and dining rooms.

But some smaller establishments will truly embrace your dog and let it roam pretty much wherever it pleases. One such is the Elephant & Castle Freehouse and Motel in Huntington, Cambridgeshire.

From the hotelier's point of view, the hope is that behind every responsible dog there's a responsible owner. The Dogpeople website, which aims "to help you gather the information needed for successful day trips and holidays with your best friend", offers dog owners the following advice: "Please take care with your best friend when visiting indoor establishments. Keep them under control and make sure you clean their feet if you have been on a mucky walk." Wise words indeed.

The fact is, though, that most mid-range to high-end UK hotels are still happy to accept only guide dogs or hearing dogs. A hotel such as the Ramada Plaza Regent's Park may claim to offer "all the comfort of home" in its literature, but make no mistake - Rover isn't welcome (although London Zoo is nearby for those who need a quick four-legged fix).

For dog-owning guests who despair of finding a suitable option in the UK, there is a big world out there full of hotels only too willing to accommodate them. Hotdogholidays.com, for example, offers information about a number of dog-friendly hotels in Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.

Whether or not more UK hoteliers choose to follow the example of chains such as Starwoods in the USA remains to be seen, but at least their example should provide them with paws for thought.

Useful Links

Websites providing details of dog-friendly accommodation and holiday options in the UK

• www.hotels-and-accommodation.co.uk/uk-hotels/dog-friendly-hotels-uk.shtml
• www.petfriendly.co.uk
• www.dogpeople.ltd.uk/hotels.htm
• www.k9directory.co.uk
• www.dogsontour.com/hotels.cfm
• www.4leggedfriends.com
• www.hotdogholidays.com
• www.dogsinvited.co.uk

Starwood walks the walkies

After spending several years upgrading guest bedrooms in its W, Westin and Sheraton brands, Starwood is turning its attention to a new "breed" of customer - dogs. In August it launched LTD (Love that Dog), an initiative that requires all its North American properties - nearly 300 hotels across the three brands - to offer custom-designed beds and general pampering to pooches.

Westin, with its signature Heavenly Bed for humans, now has a Heavenly Bed duvet for dogs. Boutique brand W, which makes a feature of beds in its rooms, offers dog beds with a stylish checkerboard pattern. Sheraton's dog bed is a classic all-American red and blue design.

As well as the beds, the hotels offer food and water bowls, temporary ID tags with hotel contact information, and travel tips for guests with dogs. Some Westin hotels offer plush doggie robes, leads and collars.

At W, dogs receive a toy, bone and treat. And New York's five W hotels offer in-room doggie massages - beneficial for pets that have travelled by plane, it appears.

While Westin and Sheraton puts up dogs for free, W, which also welcomes cats, charges a flat rate of $25 (£16) regardless of the length of stay. But why all the fuss?

It comes as no surprise to learn that Starwood's chairman and chief executive officer, Barry Sternlicht, is a dog lover and "proud papa" of Comet, a Jack Russell terrier, and Potter, a black labrador. He says he intends Starwood to become the most dog-friendly hotel company in the USA, not just allowing dogs to stay but spoiling them during their visit.

It seems man's best friend could be the hotelier's next best friend. In a recent survey of 400 dog owners commissioned by Starwood, 76% of respondents said they would be more loyal to a hotel chain that accepted dogs - even when they weren't travelling with their pet.

Pet-friendly policies are not new for large hotels in the USA, however. In New York, for example, the likes of W, Ritz-Carlton and the SoHo Grand have been competing for pet-owning guests this past year, offering everything from pet sitters to home-baked dog biscuits. But other company policies are "varied", says Starwood spokesman Mark Ricci. "We're committed to changing that."

The LTD launch has made headlines in America's top 30 newspaper markets and countless consumer magazines, but it's more than a publicity stunt, says Ricci. "We did this because there are 62 million dog owners in the USA. That's definitely a market niche that was being under-served by the travel industry." The reaction from non-pet-owning guests has also been positive, he says. "We have not experienced any backlash or negativity at all. Most people have been commending us for it."

Dog owners are subject to some restrictions by Starwood, however. They must keep their dogs on a lead, and the animals are not allowed near any food and beverage areas. And Starwood's dog-friendly policy means more work. The dog beds are taken apart and cleaned after every stay, carpets are vacuumed, and an air purifier is run for at least an hour before the next guest arrives. But despite the extra work, Ricci says Starwood properties outside the USA have shown interest in LTD and expansion to other countries is likely - but only after a test period.