It can be quite hard to find hotels that will allow your pets to come on holiday with you. It’s even harder to find ones that are truly pet friendly. I’ve done a lot of research and come up with a list for you to consider.
What is a pet friendly hotel?
Since Covid19 hit a lot of hotels have realised they need to do whatever they can to survive. There now seems to be a few more hotels advertising they allow pets. But does that mean it is actually pet friendly? For me pet friendly means there’s no extra charges and I am allowed in at least some of the common areas. This allows my pawrents to fully enjoy their stay too.
Some hotels advertise they are pet friendly but when you dig further it’s not necessarily the case. Pets may not be allowed anywhere on the premises other than the room where they must be kept in a crate. In extreme cases, they aren’t allowed to be left in the room unattended at all. This means the humans can’t really enjoy the hotel facilities either. Doesn’t sound so pet friendly to me.
Generally speaking, the smaller, more boutique hotels are the most flexible in terms of what is possible to do with your pet and allow you into common areas with your four legged friend.
Most of the branded hotels will only allow to stay in the higher end room categories. Or they may have specific floors for you to stay on, although there are exceptions such as Maa Lai Bangkok.
So it’s always important to check direct with the hotel before booking just exactly what they mean when they say pet friendly. There would be nothing worse than turning up for your holiday only to be told the room you’ve booked doesn’t actually allow you to stay with your furbaby.
Pet Fee
A lot of hotels will charge a pet fee in order to allow you to bring your pet with you. It’s very difficult to get an explanation as to what this is actually for. In most cases it’s charged per night and usually you don’t get any extra services.
Whilst I certainly understand that some dogs will make a mess and some may cause damage, I think it would be more reasonable to charge an additional cleaning fee. Or to take a higher deposit on check in for any damage or mess caused. There’s usually no extra charge to bring your baby, so I don’t agree with charging extra for me. To charge an extra nightly fee which is often the same price as an extra adult, but without the extra bed set up or breakfast, doesn’t make sense to me. I therefore try to avoid any hotel that charges this fee out of principle.
How to book
We generally book via Hotels.com or Booking.com and they have a filter for pet friendly hotels under facilities. Even if they say they are pet friendly on these platforms, it’s always recommended to check direct with the hotel before booking for their policy. This ensures that the room type you are booking does indeed allow pets or confirms if there are any extra charges and avoids any nasty surprises on check in. It’s often also cheaper to book direct with the hotel since they don’t need to pay the website any commission. However, many of the big agent websites offer great incentives such as hotels.com that gives cashback on every night you book.
Some chains tend to be more pet friendly than others also, such as Ibis. They allow pets to stay at most of their hotels, but again it’s best to check with them directly before making the booking to be on the safe side.
Air BnB is also another good option and usually has a lot more options. Again it’s always worthwhile double checking with the host before booking. We found a few that say they are pet friendly but actually it’s a mistake on the listing.
So if any hoteliers out there are reading this, help us doggos out by letting us stay!
Check out pet friendly hotels in Bangkok, Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Phuket, Krabi & Koh Lanta, elsewhere in Thailand and Singapore.
Woof woof, Wylie x
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