House Pets at Luxury Hotels
 

At Le Bristol in Paris there are Fa-raon and Kleopatra, Flame Point Birman cats. At the St. James, also in Paris, there is Pilou, the black cat who prefers to lurk in the terrace garden. In Italy at the Villa Feltrinelli, Winston the Cat welcomes guests.

Canine aficionados among us, please log in here with your luxury candidates.

Maggie the golden retriever welcomed guests at The Lake Placid Lodge and now "works" in the office at Twin Farms. She is owned by John Graham.

Sean Flakelar's bali dog used to welcome guests at Amanjiwo.

Oliver Beckington, a three-and-a-half year old black Labrador is the Lord of the Manor at the Four Seasons Hampshire..He's recently been sneaking out to Bevedere fishing pond, and last week even caught a fish. It was cute to watch him bring in his catch, but a bath was immediately in order. He's adorable.

Sally Baughen (GM Amansara) has a dog which comes with her to work at Amansara. The dog has only three legs and is a bit shy, but my son was allowed to feed her some sausages from the kitchen so they got to know each other a bit.

I think there is also a dog at Amanzoe, or at least there was one.

there have been dogs at several of the virgin limited edition properties

Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch (Colorado)--

The house pet is Bachelor ( I think a golden retriever). Guest can borrow him for walks etc. At night, the large Great room is filled with dogs.

Apparently Winston is not loved by all: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT

:D

Thurnher's Alpenhof had a golden retriever. That dog had the run of the place. I cannot begin to imagine what the owner or manager would say to a guest that complained about this friendly dog, but I suspect it would be unkind. Remote places such as Post Ranch Inn have wild deer, quail, turkeys, and squirrels that have names. I think they called one of the vultures that hung around by the name Ralph. We have a photo of this bird, with his wings extended to catch the warming morning sun. At PRI they tell you that the deer sometimes graze on the roofs, so if you hear noises, don't worry.

A house pet, of any sort, is a huge plus for us. A parrot is a real plus, but dogs/cats are fine. It adds personality. And pet friendly places, particularly in the bars, are fun. I still remember meeting several large lab-type dogs in the bar at Little Nell, a place I least expect to see large animals. I also remember nearly stepping on a little lap puppy on the way out. That dog couldn't have been more than 1 lb (0.45kg) and was a happy little thing.



http://www.dinigroup.com/~mdini/Bird...spread_PRI.jpg

I've not been to Villa Feltrinelli, but management's non-response to this review speaks loudly: “disappointed”. My polite response to Anita B would be get some Allegra or check out.

There has always been a dog at Il San Pietro. Betty the boxer passed away few years ago but now there's Zarina, also a boxer.

Here's Betty, who loved the beach & diving into the sea off of the platform after a tennis ball:

http://www.pbase.com/image/127714590/original.jpg

As management, you would be happy telling a guest spending, easily, €1000+/nt to "get some Allegra"? Seems like fantastic service.

Yes actually, but I suspect I'd be a bit more subtle. If I owned a hotel, I'm welcome to give it the personality I choose and that includes house pets. The manager/owner chooses to have Winston. 'Anita B' from TA needs to check ahead of time to see if a place is pet friendly and avoid those that are if she is so allergic. Zyrtec works also ...

I've not been to Villa Feltrinelli, but it regularly makes the list here of 'best in world'. So they are doing something right and need not apologize to anyone. In this sort of business you never please everyone anyway.

Fogo Island Inn have a pair of Newfoundland dogs, Make and Break. Ms. Ridefar loved them.

Amanbagh had a nice dog, I believe she belonged to Laetitia and her husband, not sure where they are now.

"A house pet, of any sort, is a huge plus for us"

Boy howdy!

Love Newfies, too.

Amansara's GM Sally has a sweet 3 legged dog whose name I can't remember. We enjoy seeing a house pet at luxe hotels--since it reminds us of and gives us a surrogate for our own big boy at home when we travel. But it is unusual in our experience.

Of course one never pleases everyone. But to be so flippant indicates a fundamental lack of awareness about what the hospitality industry is.

That being said, the TA report seems a bit daft.

edit: Mike, I don't actually think you're flippant ... not after reading your posts.