Hotels are rolling out the red carpet for a new breed of traveler: your new puppy.
Lockdowns, social distancing and new work-from-home arrangements have caused animal adoptions to soar across the United States. A new TD Ameritrade survey found that 33% of Americans — and half of millennials — have considered fostering or adopting a pet since the global outbreak.
Rescue centers and shelters have been cleared out, with many reporting more applications than there are animals to adopt.
Globally, online searches for “dog-friendly hotels” began trending upward in February, and they’ve more than doubled from 2019. Hotels are responding to the interest by openly courting owners with packages designed for pets.
Four-legged guests at The Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida can get blueberry facials, dead sea salt scrubs and milk thistle paw soaks at a local pet boutique.
That’s in addition to a welcome box, daily dog-walking services, a 1-hour photo session (with up to 40 images), a 5-hour cruise on a yacht, and a USD 500 shopping spree, starting at USD 9,300 for a two-night stay.
Outdoor adventures: hiking, camping and island hopping
Active pet owners and their dogs can look into the “Pines Pup Bucket List” at The Pines Lodge in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Guests receive maps with dog-friendly hiking routes and can record adventures from their dog’s point-of-view through a rentable GoPro camera that attaches via a pet harness.
Both can cool down over “yappy hours” at pet-friendly restaurants and spa treatments back at the hotel, the latter which includes dog massages, baths and blow-outs.
Animal swag and souvenirs
At the Mountain Shadows Resort Scottsdale in Paradise Valley, Arizona, dogs are greeted by a welcome card and framed photo — of themselves — in the room. They leave with a cactus bandana and bag of locally-made apple and oats biscuits as part of the hotel’s Pampered Pup Package.
Dogs are welcome at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, as are cats, hedgehogs, penguins and ostriches. The San Francisco-based group has hosted those animals, and more, under to its ultra-flexible pet policy.
“Hotels have been first-to-market in providing pet amenities to attract guests, none more so than Kimpton,” Mark Cushing, CEO of the Animal Policy Group and author of Pet Nation, told CNBC’s Global Traveler. “Millennials and Gen Z have shown in survey after survey that they want to provide for their pets at the same level as themselves, particularly with health care.”
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