This is really no different from smoking in a non-smoking room. Don't do it ! If you don't like that hotels' policy, stay someplace else. (BTW- I am a smoker).

Pretty good analogy.

I steer away from hotels that advertise themselves as "pet friendly" in much the same way that I avoid reserving a smoking-allowed room.

I think the point you're missing is that the hotel gets to set the rules, not you. They're not asking you if you think their pet deposit is reasonable, they're asking you to decide whether you want to stay there AT THAT PRICE. Their pet deposit is not the opening offer in a negotiation, it is THEIR term of contract. Your option is to take their terms, or stay somewhere else.

This is how most of us function in a civilized society. We either respect the rule, or vote with our wallet and choose another provider.

Yes I agree with this statement as well, but I once helped sneak 5 dogs into a motel room somewhere in Kansas; we were travelling from Indiana to Colorado after attending a dog show.

The booking was made for a ground floor which had another exit away from the front. What would have been the fee no idea.

There is almost no where in Australia where you can have your pet in the hotel room.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I were traveling with our dog. We hit a terrible wind/rain/thunderstorm in Cape Fear, NC. We found a hotel that didn't allow dogs in the room, this was the only hotel with a vacancy. The place was an absolute dump. Worse than any place I have stayed in. Initially, we thought we would leave the dog in the truck, it has a cap on it and a dog crate inside. Truly, the dog would of been fine. Well, as the storm got worse, the juvenile deliquents on the floor above us were getting quite drunk, watching the storm on their balcony. They started to throw beer cans and vodka bottles into the parking lot. This was in the daytime. They saw us feed our dog and started to throw more cans, etc. laughing and having a grand old time. We left to get something for supper and when we came back there must of been 15 of them on the balcony above us and they were really looped. I really was afraid and begged the hubby to leave, but we couldn't, the weather was too bad. So, yup, we brought the dog bed and crate into the room and kept the dog in our room. Needless to say, we were out of that dirty filthy room by 5:30 am. and the juvenile deliquents were fast asleep. We travel frequently with our dog, and always stay at pet friendly places, but I have never, ever stayed at such a dirty, filthy place as that.

Especially the restaurants.

I'd have done the same thing-you can't leave your pet exposed to harm. I don't put this in the same category as someone doing it for convenience or to save a fee.

ON the few times I traveled with my Cats... I would always be up front and tell them I was coming with Pets and ask what the fee was.

When my apartment was being redone over a year ago... I had a nightmare finding a local hotel that took pets. The Candlewood Suites, Jersey City said on their website and the phone reservations rep.. .yes we accept pets with a fee.

I go to the hotel the day before to confirm my reservation and the front desk children tell me "OH No, you can't bring your Cats here." That started a long arguement and the manager got involved. I told them "You better check your website and headquarters staff because it says Yes you do accept pets."

I even showed them the paper with the rules. The manager said it's up to discretion of the property to allow pets, claiming a maid was bit by a dog. I told them of my situation and the manager walking off said "well just go stay at a friends place."

I told them "well one friend's with family in Florida, another's on a mileage run and the two others are allergic."

I immediately canceled my reservation. The closest hotel I could find was a Days Inn in North Bergen NJ.

NOt the nicest of hotels but I asked to speak wtih the manager and explained my situation. He said as long as I kept my room clean and the cats did not attack the maids I could stay with no pet fee.

When I worked at Extended Stay America, Secaucus I stayed with Yaz and Eddie as my bathroom was being repaired after a flood... My bosses though made me pay the $75 non refundable pet fee. :( Neither liked cats.

Plus I paid regular rate.

FYI: here's another thread if we ever get a Travel with Pets forum ;)

I guess you never drive 56 in a 55 MPH zone, either.

I find this kind of thread entertaining. All the sanctimonious and self-righteous posts about following all the rules invariably follow.

I only travel for business now, but I wouldn't hesitate to bring a cat in the room if I needed to, policy or no policy (if it was a one night stay). I had to stay in a Residence Inn with our five cats five years ago for about a month when we were moving about 1000 miles cause our house sold too quickly.

Can't remember if we were charged a fee or not, although if we did it was spread out over a month's stay, so it wouldn't have been too painful. Of course I told them we had cats, just never really told them how many.

On a one-night stay I would never pay a huge fee. The hotel is just daring people to bring the pet in without telling them. More power to those people, far as I'm concerned.

Maybe. But I'd sure not like to be the fellow that got that RI room after your month with 5 cats! It would take lots and lots and lots of cleaning to make the room habitable by a person with cat allergies. You probably wouldn't notice, just as a smoker may be oblivious to the residual smells that breath mints and cologne won't hide.

Seriously, there is a good reason hotels either ban pets or charge a steep cleaning fee. I love the little critters, also, but would be upset if I got a room that reeked of cats or cigarettes.

On the rare occasion that I travel with my dogs, I make sure the hotel knows they're with me. If there is a fire or other emergency and I'm not in the room, I'd like at least a chance of someone letting the rescue personnel know to go get the dogs. A friend of mine owned two cats that died in a horrible fire in his loft; he lost everything he had and over the years has rebuilt his life but he's still sad over the death of the cats. I also have the stickers on my windows at home that say "Firefighters, please look for the two dogs inside." I know people come before pets when there's an emergency but I want every little chance I can get. Telling the hotel personnel that you've got pets with you does not guarantee their safety but it's better than them not knowing at all. To me, that is worth the fee, although I do shop around till I find a reasonable pet fee.

Sure isn't that much difference than finding a dead body at the bottom of the bed (humans or animals) when you walk into your room.

My cats do NOT enjoy hotels!
 

I've only traveled with my cats when moving them and they do NOT like hotels. I've stayed at places that accept cats and go on the cheap as I'm just passing through as I drive. (Gotta admit, can't blame them for disliking the Motel6-guess they take after me!! ;) ) In every instance they have immediately searched out the deepest and darkest corner of the hotel room (usually somehow under the bed) and have proceeded to stay there through the night. I did find one of them sitting and looking out the window once-but as soon as I discovered her, she immediately went back under the bed...

I always give them food, water, litter box (with something underneath it to catch stray litter) and usually nothing has been touched by morning.

When it's time to go, then I get to catch the little darlings and usually end up moving the furniture or crawling on hands and knees to get them out from under. This is definitely not fun. I can say with a pretty high degree of assurance that rooms that have had pets don't get extra cleaning, based on the dust bunnies I've found under beds....

Generally, my cats adapt pretty quickly to new places, so if I were to actually take them somewhere for several days they would most likely adjust in a day or two. But I'd just as soon they not have to deal with the stress-and I'd hate to lose one of them somehow.

When ppl hop on to say the obvious. The post said “sneak” my pet in. Obviously aware of the risk.
now for an answer that actually answers the question...
Ive done it multiple times with family in resorts & everything.
Just be cautious of noise if you have a noisy barking pet.
So many guests are coming & going with pets at a hotel that allows them that no one ever usually would notice.

Me Too
 

The easiest is to just pay the hotel's fee- that way there are no worries and sometimes the stress-free nature of that is worth it. But in our case we were concerned about fleas from past pets (and our pets had no fleas- we were/are very anal about that), so we decided to sneak them in to hotels that didn't allow pets. Cover them up as you come and go, avoid people as much as possible, keep them quiet while they're in the room, and be sure to clean up afterwards so there's no signs of the pet. If you're going to flout the rules, might as well be as nice as you can about it!