More Hotels Cater to Pets
By WENDY KNIGHT
The New York Times
Updated:2007-03-30 14:30:32
reprinted courtesy New York Times 3/30/07
(March 30) - One brisk afternoon this past winter, the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Beaver Creek, Colo., could have been mistaken for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
There
sat Biscuit, a white-haired West Highland terrier from Denver, waiting
diligently at the foot of her owner, a stylishly trim woman drinking a glass of
wine in the lounge with a friend. And Bambi, a skittish border collie from
Texas, wore a red Willie Nelson -style
bandanna around her neck. Then there was the tan and petite cocker spaniel,
prancing up and down the sunny courtyard alongside her equally tan and petite
owner.
In a culture in which dogs and cats have become surrogate children (and
grandchildren) and are sometimes better dressed than their owners, a growing
number of hotels and resorts have welcomed four-legged guests in recent years,
including the Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton, the Loews and the Kimpton hotels.
But now, several luxury condominiums and private residence clubs are taking
pet-friendly policies further by offering services and amenities that rival
those meant for humans, including grooming sessions, swim classes, massage
treatments (no mere belly-scratch) and even a doggie psychic.
“There’s easily been a 300 percent increase in the number of lodgings accepting
pets in the last three years,” said Derek Welsh, president of BringYourPet.com,
a Web site devoted to peripatetic pets and their humans. “The trend is
definitely shifting toward higher-end hotels. In order to truly compete, they
are going above and beyond with amenities, trying to one-up the competitor.”
In a survey of 100,000 of its Web-site viewers, BringYourPet said, 75 percent
said they had taken their pets on trips.
That included people like Nicholas Trofimuk, a fine-art photographer who lives
near Santa Fe, N.M. At about 4:45 each afternoon, when they are visiting their
residence at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North in Arizona, Mr.
Trofimuk’s two sprightly West Highland terriers, Oliver and Bertie, find him to
“roughhouse.” As Oliver looks on, Bertie, “the puppy,” paws at the chair where
Mr. Trofimuk sits in the living room, then he rears back on his hind legs and
claps his paws together, “telling me it’s time,” said Mr. Trofimuk, who drops
to the floor to wrestle with his dogs.
“They can’t live without it, and neither can I,”
he said. “They make me feel very special. There are few people that can make
you feel that way.”
Elon Kenchington, chief operating officer for the Gansevoort Hotel Group and
the owner of a black Australian shepherd, said, “We think the comfort of the
pets is almost equally as important as the owners’ and guests’.” The Gansevoort
South Beach Private Residence, a property with 232 hotel rooms and 259 condos
in Miami Beach that is scheduled to open this summer, is one such resort that
is rolling out the welcome mat — or is it day-old newspapers? — for pets.
When arriving at their owners’ condos, which range from 625 to 5,000 square
feet and with prices starting at $600,000, dogs will receive a basket of toys
and treats and a bed mat of 100 percent Egyptian cotton embroidered with the
dog’s name. Recognizing that dogs have different temperaments, the resort plans
to offer a range of beds, including feather and sturdy foam.
“A bit like a choice of pillow for people,” Mr. Kenchington said. “Some dogs
like to chew and shake. With feather beds, we could get a pillow-fight
situation with feathers scattering everywhere.” Thus, the foam option.
Americans spent $38.5 billion on their pets last year, according to the
American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. While only $2.5 billion of
that went toward grooming and boarding, resorts understand that pet owners
prefer to bring Lassie (and sometimes Mittens) along when they head to their
vacation properties.
“Pets are part of the family; they’re like children,” said Kristen Gilmer, a
manager at the Four Seasons Troon North.
“Part of the fun of being on vacation is quality time with your dogs,” said Mr.
Trofimuk, who makes the eight-hour drive at least twice a year from Santa Fe to
Troon North with Oliver, Bertie and his wife, Joette. “We’re not totally nuts,
but we love our dogs.”
Pets, including dogs 15 pounds and under, are permitted at Troon North and most
other Four Seasons resorts. The 88 residences, which range from a
500-square-foot studio to 1,500-square-foot two-bedroom units and rent for
$16,000 to $100,000 for a one- or two-week stay, are deep-cleaned after each
visit. Upon arrival, dogs are given a Bow-Wow welcome package — it’s called a
Meow for cats — that includes a ceramic bowl, a placemat, a bottle of water and
a chew toy.
If people (sigh) leave their own dog home, the Loan-a-Lab program at the
Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch gives guests and owners of the private residences
a chance to walk Bachelor, a yellow Labrador retriever who was adopted from a
Denver animal shelter and is now the resort’s resident dog. But Bachelor
Gulch’s pro-dog platform (alas, no cats allowed) doesn’t stop there. Since the
resort opened in 2002, it has allowed guests and owners to bring their own dogs
for $125 a visit. They are permitted in all public areas, except the
restaurants and spa, but must be leashed. The Ritz-Carleton Club next-door, a
fractional-ownership, complex, does not allow pets.
“Having dogs on the premises makes guests feel at home,” said Steven Holt, a
resort spokesman and Bachelor’s owner.
Even though the guests are happy to travel with their pets, how does Lulu feel
about it? The Hotel Monaco in Portland, Ore., tries to provide an answer. Once
a month during the hotel’s wine hour, Faye Pietrokowsky, a “people and pet
psychic,” consults with owners and their pets in a corner of the lobby. Guests
bring their pooch or cat, or a photo of it, and ask Ms. Pietrokowsky questions.
One of the most frequent being, Ms. Pietrokowsky said: “Is the animal happy
traveling?” By studying the animal or the photo, Ms. Pietrokowsky, who has a
master’s degree in adult education, said she can discern how the animal feels.
“Most of the animals tell me they want to go with their owners,” she said.
The Hotel Monaco also offers dog massages once a week by a certified animal
masseuse. Art, the hotel’s lobby dog, has been lucky enough to savor that
indulgence. “After that massage, he was very much like a guest coming out of a
spa,” said Joseph Sundberg, the hotel’s porter captain and Art’s owner. “He was
very relaxed.”
BUT with the bounty of mutts and fur balls at resorts aren’t there bound to be
some unfriendly snaps and snarls — or just plain tail-between-your-legs
mistakes?
“Never,” said Petr Lukes, who owns a two-bedroom residence at Bachelor Gulch.
“There have been no incidents with dogs or people,” he said, referring to his 2
½-year-old blond lab, Ginny. One time, though, Ginny was mistaken for Bachelor
by a group of children, and they walked off with her.
“I ran three times around the building looking for her,” said Mr. Lukes, who
finally found her in the library with the children.
Mr. Lukes, who lives in Naples, Fla., had been looking at other vacation
properties in Beaver Creek and Vail, which is nearby, but preferred the
dog-club atmosphere at Bachelor Gulch.
“It was very important that they allowed dogs,” he said of the decision to buy
at Bachelor Gulch, where studios and two-bedroom residential suites sell for
$680,000 to just under $2.2 million. “There are so many places you can walk
your dogs here.”
When buying a vacation unit, the ability to bring a pet is a determining factor
for many people like Mr. Lukes, resort executives say. “People want an
environment where everything is the same or better than their primary home,”
Mr. Kenchington said. “Ten years ago, people wouldn’t ask for something even if
they desired it. Now, they expect it. Yesterday’s luxuries are today’s
standards.”
One of those luxuries at the Gansevoort South Beach will be the services of dog
runners, personal trainers who will run the dogs up and down the beach, gearing
the workout to the type of dog and its usual exercise, Mr. Kenchington said.
“We want to bring the fitness and lifestyle of the owner to the dog’s routine,”
he said. To keep pets cool in the Miami heat, the hotel is designing a brand of
mini-umbrella that will fit onto the dog’s shoulder collar and sit a couple
inches above its head. The hotel group is also considering swimming as part of
its concierge dog services.
Those who must leave pets at home can always hope to play with someone else’s
dog.
Madison Cole, 8, who was staying with her parents, Steve and Amy, at their
condo in Bachelor Gulch, had signed up to walk Bachelor one afternoon last
January. The Coles stay at their two-bedroom condo at least a couple of times
each winter, Mr. Cole said. And Madison, who doesn’t have a dog at home, was
eager to walk Bachelor.
“I really want a dog,” she said, “but my mom says we can’t because we have
cats.”
On the mountainside courtyard, Mr. Holt gave the Coles a trail map and a
plastic bag and reviewed the requirement that Bachelor must stay on the leash
at all times. Bouncing with excitement, Madison and a friend grabbed the leash
and walked Bachelor toward the mountain. Suddenly, he spotted a bigger, blonder
lab playing with a neon-pink Frisbee on the other side of the beginner hill.
In a flash, Bachelor jerked free and tore across the snow, leaving Madison
momentarily behind.
“O.K.,” Mr. Holt said. “That’s not supposed to happen.”
Copyright © 2007 The New York Times Company
reprinted courtesy New York Times 3/30/07
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