I was just reading GT‘s eFlyer about pet-free hotels and service animals, and it reminded me of my hotel stay over Christmas with my dogs, Pixie and Max.

Just so we’re clear — my dogs are NOT service animals, nor are they emotional support animals. But they are my babies, and they are spoiled rotten, so I couldn’t bear to leave them home over Christmas.

I often bring the dogs along with us on family vacations when we rent a pet-friendly house at the beach; they have always behaved well and they actually enjoy the beach. But staying at a hotel is a different experience, so I had some concerns.

Over the past few weeks, we have been to some breweries where people brought their dogs along. I love seeing all these well-behaved dogs living their best lives, tagging along with their owners, getting plenty of head scratches and attention from others. I thought to myself … I wish I had really outgoing, friendly dogs like those that would allow other dog lovers to pet them. But this is not the case with my dogs. Pixie and Max are shy and skittish when strangers approach them. Since I know they get nervous around people they don’t know, I tried to limit the opportunity for unforeseen interactions with guests inside the hotel. I asked for a first-floor room near the exit so I wouldn’t have to walk them down a long hallway to an elevator which could have other guests in it. Not only would my dogs be uncomfortable, I realize some people are afraid of dogs and might not appreciate being stuck in an elevator with them. Unfortunately, the hotel did not have any first-floor rooms available. I chose a second-floor room near the stairs so I could easily get the dogs down the stairs and outside for potty breaks. This worked well, except that Max, a.k.a. The Big Baby, thought the stairwell looked scary and he needed to be carried. I didn’t want to give Pixie a chance to get scared, so I just carried her, too. So now it took two people to carry both dogs down a flight of stairs and outside.

I took other precautions, like putting the “Do Not Disturb” sign up so the maid would not enter the room. Some hotels have rules you may not leave dogs unattended in the room, but this one did not.

I also brought a dog bed, a water bowl and a potty pad, just in case. Some pet-friendly hotels, like Kimpton, will provide things like these for guests, which would make packing much easier.

Once we got the dogs settled into their temporary home, things went fairly smoothly. The only issue I ran into was, since this was a dog-friendly hotel, there was clearly evidence dogs had stayed in our room prior to our stay. The carpet had quite a bit of dog fur on it, and within about 30 minutes of lying in the bed, I had to take an allergy pill. You see, I am actually allergic to dogs, which is why I have two Havanese, a breed that does not shed and is considered hypoallergenic. But this is something you have to expect to deal with if you’re going to stay in a pet-friendly hotel. If I were not traveling with my dogs, I would look for a hotel that does not allow pets, just to avoid the allergy issue.

So, after our Christmas stay, I came to the conclusion I would prefer to have my antisocial dogs stay at home with a dog sitter. I feel it is less stressful for them, and it is nice to have a little break from dog duties, especially when it involves carrying a 28-pound dog down a flight of stairs to go outside at 11 p.m. when it’s -5 degrees outside in Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve!

I am currently working on our WhereverFamily digital issue, which will be out in a few weeks, and inside you’ll find a great article about hotels that have their own pet mascots. So if you have to leave your pet at home but still want some furry companionship, read the article to see where you can stay and meet some adorable four-legged hotel ambassadors.

— Tracey Cullen, art director