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Bidding on hotels with pet amenities...


lulumama
By lulumama,
in

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Hi, I am new to this site and I'm not sure if this is the right forum but I will start here.

I am trying to book travel in Vancouver B.C. May 29--June 2, 2010. We are thinking of taking our small dog along since I have heard Vancouver is a very pet friendly city. Is there a way to book with hotels that specifically take dogs?? Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks for the help and happy bidding.

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Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Unfortunately, there is no way to bid/purchase pet-friendly properties with either HOTWIRE or PRICELINE. While one can try to pinpoint a particular property that may be pet-friendly using HOTWIRE, that isn't 100% guaranteed and there's always the chance the listing could be a different hotel than expected. The most optimal choice in this situation is using a regular rate service - Expedia coupon code 10SPRING takes $10 off per night, while FABSAVE10 takes 10% off some hotels via Orbitz.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE or Expedia or Orbitz.com links to start your purchases and searches.

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  • 3 years later...

It has been nearly four years since the original post. Now, HOTWIRE and PRICELINE offer a pet friendly logo on some opaque items.

 

However, as we should all know by experience, pet policies are ALL OVER THE MAP these days, with some hotels being no charge (mostly La Quinta) and some being more expensive than a room for humans (I'm looking at you, Marriotts and Hamptons). There is no standard, and HOTWIRE or PRICELINE does not appear to enforce any kind of standard. Some chains have "deposits" that are "non-refundable" (an obvious oxymoron) and others have refundable holds.

 

I just called a hotel to see what their pet policy is, and they said their specific pet friendly rooms are SOLD OUT and that if they had any rooms on a waiting list they'd be for one small dog only, yet they are showing on hotwire right now as being "pet friendly." What to do ? Does the hotel have to honor my needs for a pet friendly room?

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PRICELINE EXPRESS does show Pet Fees for many (not all) hotels when that logo is presented.

Keep in mind that the opaque providers are for users who are flexible in their plans (and policities of hotel they ultimately receive)... needing a Pet Friendly hotel (and knowing the fee ahead of time) may be a requirement that makes using PRICELINE / HOTWIRE a deal breaker for a particular stay.

For your specific situation above, if you won a hotel on HOTWIRE that showed 'Pet Friendly' and they were sold-out of Pet Friendly rooms, i would call HOTWIRE and have them handle the situation. I can't say how they would handle the situation, but i have found their customer service to be pretty good and reasonable, and i suspect they would first confirm with the hotel that your pet could not be accommodated, and if so, offer to cancel/refund the purchase.

The above also re-emphasizes that if you do need a Pet Friendly hotel (or any other feature shown by the hotel), it would be advisable to call the hotel once you learn the name and let them know that you will be bring a pet along... any issues would be easier to handle before your arrival vs. while standing in the hotel lobby.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I agree wholeheartedly with the above. While it does seem that PRICELINE and HOTWIRE are both trying to get a bite of the "pet friendly" business, the risk of finding a hotel that won't accommodate still hasn't been entirely mitigated, and worse I feel that their pretending to accommodate makes matters trickier.  I truly wonder what will happen if I book this hotel and then call them and find out their pet friendly rooms are gone. Does hotwire really accommodate? Would the hotel "create" a pet friendly room for me just because I had been led to believe it would be available?  Or would they shop me elsewhere? And what about the hidden fee for "pet friendly" stays, is that mentioned anywhere in Hot.wire and Price.line's policy?

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  • 7 months later...

I just posted something to another topic before I found this one.  It's at http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=184442&p=712764

 

Here's what I posted:

 

"I, too, am intrigued but wary about the introduction of this amenity displayed on opaque listings on Hotwire ("pet-friendly") and Priceline Express ("pets allowed").

Even leaving aside the possibility of a listing error that Orcrone raises, there are other pitfalls regarding pets, some of which are mentioned by thereuare.  Even when they allow pets, specific properties have various policies in place.  Some charge a pet fee, anywhere from $5 to $100, and may be per pet per night, or may be per stay.  Some have a limit on the size of pets (less than 10, 20, or 50 pounds), and some have a limit on the number of pets (usually one per room, sometimes two).  Some hotel websites (such as all of those covered in the Wyndham Rewards program) have an icon which gives specific details on their policies, but many others don't, and simply say that pets are permitted (without details) or prohibited.  Certain chains (Motel 6, Red Roof Inn) promote themselves as "pet friendly", do not usually charge pet fees, and tend to be more liberal regarding the size and number of pets.  When you're not sure of a particular property's pet policy, you can always call them and ask.  But with opaque listings, you may be taking the risk of running into an unexpected cost or problem; once you make your reservation, you can call ahead to ask their pet policy, but if it represents a problem for you, it may be difficult or impossible to cancel and get any kind of refund.

Oh, and most places that accept pets have certain other policies that make a lot of sense, even when they aren't stated: not leaving pets in the room unattended, not allowing pets to make noise that disturbs other guests, cleaning up pet waste, etc.  It's generally a good idea to mention pets in the comments when making a reservation.  (There's no facility for doing so on the opaque sites but you can always call the property after booking and asking for the comment to be added to your reservation.)

I sometimes travel with my two 50-pound dogs, and sometimes without.  So far I have not yet tried using opaque listings when traveling with my dogs, but if and when I do, I will report the results here on betterbidding.com"

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