Trends

Why pet travel needs its own trend desk

A hotel that welcomed dogs last spring may have added a weight limit since, raised its pet fee, or quietly restricted certain breeds. Policies vary from one property to the next and from one chain to another, and they rarely make headlines. our running newsdesk on hotel pet policies exists to catch those changes as they happen, and the rest of this section explains what they mean for your next stay.

The four angles we follow

We look ahead with forecasts for the seasons to come, at what hotels are building with renovation projects designed around animals, at the equipment side with the technology going into pet rooms, and at how properties reconcile comfort with impact through sustainable luxury practices. Read together, they describe an industry that has moved from tolerating pets to designing for them.

From the trend to the booking

Reading a trend is useful; acting on it is better. When a chain relaxes its breed restrictions, or a city gains a cluster of properties with proper pet relief areas, that is a booking opportunity. Start from our directory of pet-friendly hotels in the United States and cross-check what you read here against the fees, deposits and room policies listed for each property.