• Thanks for the codes, Debra! There's nothing that gets me more paramoid than trying to sneak my dog into a hotel…this is one time when I'm grateful that basenjis don't bark! 🙂

    PS. When I rescued Becca, we stayed at a Westin. They are pet-friendly too, with a special "heavenly bed" for the four legged visitor! (I don't know if they have an AKC discount though...)


  • Homewood Suites hotels will take dogs on a case by case basis…..they don't advertise it though.

  • First Basenji's

    Thanks very much for sharing this information. Do you know if this is a newly announced policy, or is it something Motel 6 has always done?

    I would love to know of other deals like it, for future reference.

    When I was driving across the country, moving with my boyfriend and our dog (just the Shiba at the time), I found it a frustrating to find reasonably-priced, pet-friendly motels. Policies range wildly, from those that absolutely do not accept pets under any circumstances, to those that require refundable deposits (which I thought the most reasonable policy, aside from not charging for pets at all), to those who would charge an extra fee to allow you the "privilege" of traveling with your pet, though not a lick of extra work was required of them.

    Since that trip, one of my thoughts has been that I'll know the world is a better place when traveling with pets becomes easier, instead of feeling like every motel along the route is out to make things more difficult or more expensive for you because they hate your dog. 😛


  • Lots of hotels take pets now - I know the Four Seasons, W Hotels and Westin take pets.


  • Motel 6 and La Quinta have always had a pet policy, especially Motel 6… Many Bestwestern's take pet, but you do have to check the locations....


  • We have stayed at quite a few La Quintas with the dogs. They have always been great about the dogs.

    Though there are not too many of them, Red Lion also accepts pets and if you join the Red Carpet Club they waive the pet fee when you stay. I stay there when I go to shows up near Eureka where there is not La Quinta.

    Also, most Marriot Residence Inns also accept pets. They are more pricey than La Quinta but if you are staying somewhere for more than just a night or two, they are quite comfortable.


  • A friend who stays on top of AKC announcements had posted that so shared. But these are links I have used or had recommended for travel in general:

    http://www.petswelcome.com/

    http://www.petvacations.com/

    http://www.travelpets.com/

    http://www.dogfriendly.com/


  • I find many advertise "pet friendly" but the fine print, extra fees, can be absurd. Especially when traveling with 3 dogs (now 2), and extra $25/dog/day or more, made the rates prohibitive in some otherwise reasonable places.
    We found La Quinta very nice last time we traveled.

  • First Basenji's

    MacPack – exactly!! (re: absurd fees)

    It looks like traveling with pets IS easier now, thank goodness, with sites like dogfriendly.com. But it still takes some planning. Makes me think a vacation within the next five years might be possible... 🙂


  • We have had some great vacations with 3 basenjis. We have rented small cabins and houses, some with fenced yards, in the North Carolina mountains and in north Georgia, as well as at the beach. Most are a long days drive so no need to stay in a hotel.
    I would love to take my dogs to the Oregon beaches, so one of these days we may make the cross-country trip. Mine are great travelers, fortunately.

    Start out with long day trips, and plan your vacations so there are fun dog things to do, like hikes or dog parks to visit. If yours are good travelers, then plan longer trips!


  • @lvoss:

    Though there are not too many of them, Red Lion also accepts pets and if you join the Red Carpet Club they waive the pet fee when you stay. I stay there when I go to shows up near Eureka where there is not La Quinta.

    The Red Lion in Eureka must have a steady stream of Basenji owners passing through, we spent the night there with the dogs just a few weeks ago on our way back from San Francisco.

    In San Francisco itself we stayed at Hotel Triton - they have an open-door pet policy with no restrictions on breed, size, number or type of pets. We just gave the hotel the names of our Basenjis and our room was set up with a pair of huge dog beds, two bowls per dog (one full of kibble!), bottled water, and dog treats. Plus, they welcomed the dogs with a sign that remained up all week (and yes, that jar on the left of the photo does contain dog biscuits.) and were more than happy to empty out the minibar so we could store the raw food in there. The paperwork in the room also had lists of local doggie day cares too (which we didn't need as my employer's office building permitted dogs.)

    The Triton is part of the Kimpton hotel chain, each of them has a similar pet policy. Their rates aren't the cheapest but there's no pet deposit (just a waiver you sign at check-in). I think that for the sheer convenience and for the way the dogs were treated it was well worth it.

    What holds me back from traveling is that I don't want to put the dogs in the cargo hold of an aeroplane, and I can't drive everywhere (we have family on the east coast, and that's a very, very long drive.) I'd love to travel by rail, but Amtrak forbids non-service dogs on board (interestingly, where I grew up, they don't care about dogs on trains as long as they don't take up a seat.)


  • @MacPack:

    We have had some great vacations with 3 basenjis. We have rented small cabins and houses, some with fenced yards, in the North Carolina mountains and in north Georgia, as well as at the beach.

    could you list where you found the small cabins and beach rentals? i love vacationing in the southeast, and this year i'll have suki with me, so i'll need some pet-friendly locales.
    thanks!


  • I love staying at LQ and do so whenever I can. I've travelled with up to 4 dogs and they are always very nice about it. There is one LQ in Del City OK (sort of part of OK City) that gave me doggy bags for each dog. The bags had bottled water (okay, it was in a bowl), treats, coupons, etc. And, since I'd told them I was travelling with my pups, put me in a room right near the "dog walk" area that had poop bags supplied. I will definately stay there again if I'm anywhere near.

    When Digital the brindlewonderkid and I went to the Invitational, we stayed at the Westin. Pricy, but very nice. Some of the best beds anywhere. They did, however, charge an extra cleaning fee for having a dog in the room. I can sort of understand that especially for a shedding, hairy, droolly dog, but really I can't see doing any extra cleaning for Digital. Oh well, I'd do it all over again.


  • Many years ago when I was showing down Southern Cal way, I stayed at a Hilton in Burkbank. It was super hot that weekend and the pavement was like walking across a fire pit where the sun was…. when I checked in, I had left the kids in the van with the air/engine running (and locked)... when they saw I was traveling with two dogs, they let me unpack the car and Basenjis and had someone park it for me so that I didn't have to walk the dogs across the hot pavement. They didn't have "valet" service either, so they did go out of their way to help... and also showed me the best place to exit and get to the grassy area without too much pavement to walk them. We were on the 34th floor and the girls (it was Kristii and Fatia at that time I was traveling with).. had a great time with the floor to ceiling windows being up that high, talk about bird watching! And they loved the elevators!


  • Tlish, We rented from "Above the Rest" cabin in Blue Ridge, Ga, I think there was a $50 or $100 fee for the entire week, and we stayed at Barkwells in Hendersonville, NC, which is a "canine resort" that was expensive but worth it. There are also nice cabin at "Sliding Rock cabins" in Elajay, Ga, no dog fees at all there either.

    The place we stayed in the Panhandle is gone now, but I have found several that seemed nice places, just haven't gone to the beach lately. We did stay at one place I would NOT recommend on the east coast near Daytona a couple of years ago, 'quaint, Old Florida'…decrepit is more like it, but no charge for the dogs.

    I just google 'dog friendly cabins at....' then send e-mail inquiries, or call if I'm really interested. Look at the 'fine print' and ask about special cleaning fees, etc.


  • thanks for the info!

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