Ellie Sufi adopted a dog during the pandemic for the reason that she’s been living alone in a studio in downtown Chicago. Enzo, her French Bulldog help her with her loneliness, and wanted to spoil him by booking a staycation at Ambassador Chicago.
Their package pamper four-legged companions by rolling out luxurious amenities and five-star prices. At the Ambassador, Enzo was greeted with a custom dog biscuit and dog toy. A photo of him, printed from his Instagram page, was waiting in the room along with food and water bowls.
Some of their menus are $15 a plate, as well as lavender-and-mint treats ($8). For stressed pups, you can order a Ruff Day, a herbal tea blend of camomile, ginger, echinacea, and hawthorn berry ($5 a bowl).
Down the coast, the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica, Calif., uses similarly high-quality ingredients, including Niman Ranch beef, for pet morsels. At the London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, the $22 London Pooch meal, with fresh chicken and brown rice, is surely a step up from the pup’s usual chow, as are executive chef Anthony Keene’s peanut butter treats.
Dog-owning visitors staying at New York City’s Crowne Plaza HY36 can partake in the Pets Getaway package that offers 33% off the pet fee (normally $75), two one-way MetroCards, and a MetroCard chew toy.
In Florida, the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort has added a vegan menu to its pet offerings for animals who don’t eat animals, while the W Fort Lauderdale offers a bottle of nonalcoholic Dög Pawrignon for Rover.
Hilton’s extended-stay properties now dispense tips for pet wellness and behavioral health. In spring 2021, the Hard Rock Hotel group introduced the Unleashed Pet Program at some of its properties including ones in Cancún, Mexico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
The company also plans to offer it at the New York location, which is slated to open in April. Participating guests get a “sWag bag” with a chew toy, a velvet memory-foam dog bed for their stay and a customized Spotify playlist with songs such as “Who Let the Dogs Out.”
Not relaxing enough for you or your pooch? The Lygon Arms, a historic hotel in England’s Cotswolds, paired up with a local groomer to offer a spa day for pet and owner for about $218 a package. Both humans and dogs get facials and nail care. One of you gets a bath and a bandanna.
Hotels aren’t the only ones rolling out the welcome mat. As private jet travel has increased during the pandemic, so has the presence of pets on board. Justin Kaminoff, co-founder of Aerial Jets, estimates 25% of passengers on his planes now fly with pets, a 10% increase from six months ago.
VistaJet—which already offered sleep mats, treats baked by Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux and rope toys on board—now trains its flight attendants in animal CPR, canine vital signs, and how to calm animals that have a fear of flying.
“Our training is white-glove training, which means imagining what might come and pre-empting the request,” said Matteo Atti, VistaJet’s executive vice president of marketing and innovation. “And we thought, why not also do it for the pets?”
