8 Tips for Booking Pet-Friendly Accommodations: Planning for Success!
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This post is a collaboration with Red Roof . All opinions shared here are my own.
If you’re a pet owner planning an upcoming trip (even if it’s a local ‘staycation’ in your hometown), then you know that booking pet-friendly accommodations can be a challenge. Don’t give up on your goal of travelling with your pet. Planning a safe and enjoyable stay for you and your pet is surprisingly easy with these simple tips…
As pet owners and lovers, our pets are our world. They are our best friends, therapists, protectors and more.
That being said, it only makes sense to want to include your pets in our travel plans and adventures.
If you are new to travelling with pets, the process of finding and booking pet-friendly accommodations may be overwhelming.
From long and complicated pet policies to hidden fees, there’s a lot to consider.
So, how do people do it? What’s the secret?
Today, I’m going to share some of my biggest tips, tricks and advice for successful pet-friendly travel including finding and booking pet-friendly accommodations, packing for success and more.
PLUS, I have an exciting giveaway to share with all of your courtesy of Red Roof.
Make sure to check it out at the end of this post.
You don’t want to miss out on this great opportunity to win a FREE stay at a Red Roof location!
Related: ‘12 Easy Ways to Save Money on Pet Food‘
8 Tips for Booking Pet-Friendly Accommodations and Planning A Successful Trip
#1 – Read the Pet Policy Carefully
While many hotels today state that they are ‘pet-friendly’, that phrase can mean something very different from location to location.
Many hotels will impose restrictions based on the number of pets or the size of pet that you are travelling with.
Our girl Daviana is a little bit on the larger size as a German Shepherd mix and we find that her size excludes her from the majority of pet-friendly hotels.
Restrictions may also be in place based on the type of pet (allowing dogs but not cats), age of your pet (preventing high-energy puppies), and more.
The only way to know if the location you are considering is a good fit for you and your pet is to read through the policy carefully.
When in doubt, reach out to the hotel or host for clarification.
As an example, check out the Red Roof Pet Policy on their website.
They do a great job of breaking down all rules and restrictions, including those that are site-specific.
#2 – Take Note of Any Pet-Specific Fees
Another important piece of information that you will want to clarify is whether or not the location charges additional fees for bringing your pet along.
This may come in the form of a security deposit or a daily cleaning fee.
Furthermore, these fees may differ based on the size, type or number of pets that you are travelling with.
#3 – Ask Questions When Booking
I always recommend that pet owners stick to booking pet-friendly accommodations by phone, as opposed to online, as this provides you with the opportunity to ask questions.
Many locations will claim to be pet-friendly but limit the number of ‘pet-friendly’ rooms.
Others will only offer smoking rooms to those travelling with pets due to the potential for ‘pet smell’ being added to the room.
Unfortunately, having to stay in a room that smells like cigarette smoke when you aren’t a smoker could really put on a damper on an otherwise enjoyable trip.
When you are on the phone making your booking, ask them to break down the differences between pet-friendly rooms and the rest of the hotel (if there are any).
Don’t’ be afraid to specific if you are looking for something specific. After all, if you are paying to stay somewhere, want to ensure that you are going to enjoy your experience!
#4 – Know Your Pet’s Personality and Limitations
As a pet owner, we all want to say that our pet is the best-behaved. However, each pet has its own quirks and limitations.
By knowing your pet, you can take step to avoid a potential problem while keeping everyone safe and happy.
Do you have a dog that gets easily worked up by people and busier situations?
If so, you may want to consider asking for a room that is further away from high-energy common areas.
Some locations offer the option of a main-floor room with easy access to the outdoors.
Other considerations to consider include skittish pets that may become anxious quickly.
Is your dog overly protective? Choosing a main-floor room where they are going to see everyone walking or driving past may not be in your best interest.
Related: ‘ResQWalk App | Raise Funds for Your Favourite Rescue Organization!‘
#5 – Familiarize Yourself with Local Resources
Most hotels have rules in place preventing owners from leaving their pet alone in their room, as this can lead to excessive noise or damage to the room itself.
Rather than trying to secretly break these rules or cancel your plans, take the time to research the options that are available in that area.
Some properties will have a dog walker or sitter available right through the hotel itself that you can hire at an additional cost.
If that’s not an option, investigate local boarding kennels, daycare facilities and pet spas for a safe place that your pet can stay while you’re away.
You can always ask for recommendations when you are making your booking.
Another option would be to stick with pet-friendly activities during your trip.
Many businesses are making the shift to a more ‘pet-friendly’ approach in recent years.
If you want to go out for a meal or a drink while travelling, you may be able to bring your pet along.
We often consult the website Bring Fido before any trips to discover what’s available and the area as well as to read through reviews from other pet owners.
However, don’t forget your pet’s limitations as mentioned above! If they aren’t comfortable with busier public settings, you may need to work up to taking them out to places like this.
#6 – Plan Ahead When Packing
When you’re packing your bags, make sure to carefully consider all of your pet’s needs for your upcoming trip.
In terms of food or treats, it’s always better to bring more than you’re going to need.
Don’t forget the basic needs for your pet to be comfortable including food/water dishes, a bed or blanket from home so that he/she has somewhere familiar to relax and toys to keep your pet occupied.
You never know if something is going to come up and your travel plans are going to change.
For example, if you experience an extreme weather situation or your car breaks down while you’re at your location, are you prepared to stay an extra night?
This is especially important if your pet is on a specific food that isn’t necessarily available everywhere.
#7 – Skip Housekeeping if You Aren’t Readily Available
If you are going to be gone even for a second (running to the ice maker, for example), even if your pet is in a cage or crate, make sure to hang the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on your door.
While you may not return to a freshly made bed, this could eliminate a potentially bad situation.
As a responsible pet owner, is your job to keep your pet safe and that responsibility doesn’t end when you’re away from home.
This is also the case if you know that you are going to be occupied taking a shower or even working on your laptop and unable to give your full attention to what is happening with your pet.
You can always request additional towels from the front desk if you need them.
#8 – Take Responsibility for Any Damage
Even the best-behaved pets will occasionally have an accident.
Maybe your pet accidentally knocked over their food or water dishes, staining the carpet, or they bumped into a table causing a lamp to fall off and break.
Don’t sweat it, human guests have accidents too! That being said, taking responsibility is the key to addressing the situation.
As soon as you know that something has happened, contact the property manager to discuss the damage and the steps necessary to deal with the incident.
Don’t put it off until check out.
If you are willing to step up and take responsibility for what happened, most property managers will work with you to rectify the situation.
Waiting for check out shows that you don’t really care that something happened.
Not only will this cause more trouble for you, but it can also give a bad name to all other pet owners moving forward.
Win A FREE Stay at A Red Roof Hotel
I am super excited to have the opportunity to partner with Red Roof on today’s post.
This is a company that prides themselves in not only being pet-friendly, but truly loving and embracing our pet companions.
The best part? Pets stay free!
Throughout our many travels, our pack has always had great experiences when staying at a Red Roof location.
This year has been a wild one full of uncertainly for many. However, the response from Red Roof is further proof of why I believe you will love this company as much as we do!
The company has taken steps to allow you to travel worry-free by implementing Red Roof RediClean, enhanced cleaning protocols designed to keep everyone safe.
For those who are worried about the ever-changing rules and restrictions, they have an incredible flexible cancellation/change policy.
Red Roof has also stepped up to provide much-needed resources for those who are trying to navigate this ‘new normal’ including day rates for workers that are looking for a quiet place to work.
This includes fast internet, free local and long-distance calls, and access to a fax machine.
Related: ‘Easy and Effective Ways to Entertain Your Dog at Home‘
They have also launched a Student Support Program designed to assist students that are struggling to find a place to stay at this time.
This program provides a 25% discount per room for students that are looking for alternative housing options or for those who are in need of a place to safely quarantine.
Pets can also travel with students and stay free.
Recently, I was contacted and offered a free stay at my choice of their over 650 properties.
Rather than taking this for ourselves, our pack would like to pass on this great opportunity to all of our great readers and followers.
Enter our giveaway today using the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win a stay at the Red Roof location of your choice.
First Prize: A THREE (3) night stay
Second Prize: A TWO (2) night stay
Please note that the winners must be from different families/households. One family cannot win both stays.
Make sure that you are entering using a VALID email address as I will use it to contact you if you win!
a Rafflecopter giveawayEnter but didn’t win? Don’t worry, everyone is a winner here!
You can receive a 15% discount on your next trip by using the VP Code 605422 when booking online at redroof.com or by calling 1-800-RED-ROOF.
Do you have any tips and tricks for booking pet-friendly accommodations that I missed?
If so, feel free to share them in the comments to help other pet owners with their upcoming travel preparations.
We’ve stayed at Red Roof Inn multiple times with our gang of furry travelers. It’s always a great experience!
We have always had great experiences with them as well. It’s good to know that there is a company that truly has our pets’ best interests at heart.
I have never taken Layla on a holiday so if I won this would be a dream come true
Good luck! I love travelling with our pets. It’s such a great way to make memories together.
Great tips, especially with knowing your pet and the local area – never thought of that!
Anika
There are so many great opportunities to get out and explore with your pet if you take the time to discover what’s available!
When we travel we never book a hotel in advance because we don’t always know where we will end up for the might. Red Roof is one of the few options we look for. They usually have advertisements on the “Lodging ahead” road signs, so they are easy to find and we know what to expect.
That’s one of my favourite things about Red Roof as well – regardless of where we are going, we know what to expect if we locate one of their hotels.
I would love to travel with my pets, but most hotels and guesthouses do not cater for pets at all. The best anyone with pets can do is to get someone to babysit their dogs for a few days.
All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)
It’s unfortunate that it’s not as common to find pet-friendly accommodations in your area of the world. We’re lucky – here in North America, it is becoming increasingly common. However, while more hotels are offering pet-friendly rooms, they aren’t all created the same. Restrictions, fees, quality of rooms deemed pet-friendly – it all needs to be taken into consideration when booking. That’s why we love Red Roof properties! We always know what to expect if we can find one in the area.
Really helpful post. We’ve only taken my dog away once and we booked the wrong room at first! Definitely important to ask questions etc when bringing your pet along x
Taking a little extra time to ask questions and make sure that everything is in line while booking can really make or break a trip. We’ve made mistakes in the past as well. Most of the tips I have shared here come from personal experience lol
I have never travelled with pets except while camping. But now we have a puppy so it would be a lot easier in some cases than getting a pet sitter. Thank you for providing the information we need.
I love travelling with our pups. Not only is it easier sometimes than finding a pet sitter, but it’s also a great way to bond with one another while exploring the world together and creating lasting memories.
I’ve never thought about taking a pet on holiday (we have cats, so that’s probably why!) but these are great tips for dog owners, thank you, Britt. And that’s a great giveaway too – good luck everyone 🙂
Great tips for cat lovers that want to bring their cats along too! We’ve done that over the years and our furball Pippen loves travelling with us. There are some unique considerations when bringing a cat, but if your cat is easy going about new places and being in the vehicle, travelling with a cat can be a lot of fun!
I never even considered how much extra goes in to going away when you have a pet. My sister is having a destination wedding but it’s somehwere her dog can come and be a part of their day which will be so lovely!
Rosie
There is definitely additional planning needed but I believe that it’s worth it to be able to bring our best friends along on our travels. I have made some great memories travelling with our pack and wouldn’t trade that for the world! I think it’s beautiful that she can include her dog in that way.
We have always had a great experience at Red Roof. Plush loves to stay there. They are always very accommodating (I’m not only traveling with cats but both me and my travel buddy have mobility issues.
I’m glad to hear that you’ve had positive experiences as well. We’ve found that they have been incredibly accommodating as well.
I love that places are pet friendly, I have a rabbit so a bit different for me, but I llove the idea of being able to take pets away!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
I actually know of someone that took a weekend getaway with her rabbit! She was visiting with friends out of town and her rabbit was super calm in the car, so she figured why not? (I was the out of town friend lol)
I don’t have any pets but my husband and I are looking to get a dog so this is really useful to know there are places that pets can come too! Thanks for sharing!
It’s so much fun travelling with your dog once you have added one to the family! We love going on adventures as a ‘pack’.
Great tips love the knowledge
Thanks for sharing
Thank you!
These are such great recommendations for trying to book a pet-friendly hotel. I will keep these in mind. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you!
This is a terrific post! We have traveled extensively across the country with our 2 dogs, Icy & Phoebe so we know it takes some research & prep to ensure a great pet friendly stay. Red Roof Inn is one of the most pet friendly hotels around. Sticking to hotels that you know are pet welcoming and not just pet tolerant with tons of rules & fees attached is so impawtant! I entered this wonderful contest, paws crossed we win – we are ready to travel again!
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Right? Many pet owners aren’t aware of the difference between pet-friendly and pet-tolerant, and they settle for less than what they deserve when travelling with their ‘pack’. Each time we’ve stayed at Red Roof Inn, it’s been nothing but a great experience for us and the pets!
Thank you for sharing the tips, Britt. Except for bringing my dogs to my hometown every 3-6 months, I have never taken my dogs holiday. Good things that I always bring them to walk every morning/evening so they don’t get stress, especially during this pandemic 😀
This pandemic has definitely had both pros and cons for our pets, hasn’t it? On one hand, they have us home more with everything being cancelled. On the other, however, they pick up on our stress and also deal with cabin fever if we don’t get out with them!
Oh I’d love to explore more with my pets after lockdown. I can’t wait to get out and see some of the country. Thank you so much for these tips!
Right? I LOVE travelling with our pets and I can’t wait to get out and about with them once again when all of this is behind us.
I had my share of issues with traveling with my dogs in hotels. Some hotels let you stay with a pet the accommodation is very hard for a pet, the rooms might be nowhere ready for a pet (we had a room with tons of ceramics everywhere including the floor) but the worst was the hotel (thankfully one night sleep) where you were not allowed to leave your pet in the room and couldn’t take your pet with you anywhere including dining room as there were two of us it wasn’t a problem so we decided to eat separately while the other was with our dog. we were not allowed to do so. In the end we either camp (or use a camper) or leave them at home with their ‘uncles’. you advise is very much appreciated!
Some hotels don’t seem to really WANT pet visitors, so they create a ton of hoops to jump in order to enjoy their facilities. That’s why we love that Red Roof Inn is SO pet-focused. They don’t just allow pets, they genuinely want to have pets visit them and even have an Instagram account solely dedicated to discussing their pet visitors.
Thanks for the tips. I love taking my dogs with me because they need a vacation as much as I do sometimes. I have stayed in pet friendly hotels that put us a smoking room because I had the dogs. I am glad that Red Roof caters to pets more than smokers.
Right? Why shouldn’t they enjoy a vacation with us and have that chance to relax and explore?
This might not be good but when I traveled with my bunny I never stayed in hotels that knew about it, which is probably horrible but I always kept the rooms like there was never a dwarf bunny in there. Housekeeping knew about the bunny and loved him (we stayed there for a few months bc of the house being flooded), and there was never any damage, but if I had a cat or dog then I would be paying for the pet fee. These are really good tips though.
The bonus at Red Roof Inn is that there is no pet fee! They are totally pet-friendly and don’t charge for it either 🙂
Thanks for all the info, i love taking my dog with me on road trips. It easy to plan ahead when you know you are headed towards a pet friendly place. My dog goes with me every where!
Exactly! Having a trustworthy pet-friendly place to go can make or break a trip!
My friend and I spoke about this recently. It is nice that there is accommodation for pets available.
It really can make or break a trip, right?
I had no idea that a hotel pet policy could and would vary so much from each hotel. I’m glad you posted this because there is so much information that is important for pet owners to know and be able to do their research when looking for a pet-friendly hotel.
It’s crazy to see how much it can vary. Most hotels are very specific about what they will permit which, in terms of dogs, often limits visitors to a single small dog. Given we travel with 2 larger pups, that can really complicate finding a place to stay! Luckily, we discovered Red Roof and we have fallen completely in love.
Great list of tips! I know this is one of the reasons my mom is hesitant about getting a dog because she doesn’t know what she will do with it if she needs to travel and can’t take it with.
That’s definitely a valid concern. Especially if someone travels frequently.
…I am going to send this on to all my friends and family, as there is so much good advice here. They always struggle when looking for pet friendly accommodations, so I am sure that this will be a big help to them xx.
Thank you! It can be hard but if they can find a Red Roof, they are set!