No pets

[Desk clerk knows all]

Our hotel doesn't allow pets. We have several signs stating this plus at check in we verbally tell each guest and have them initial on the reg card that if we find a pet we will charge $150 cleaning fee. So these people sneak 2 cats into their room. But apparently they didn't tell the cats to lay low because they were sitting in the window. So a guest went and told the front desk manager. Usually what we do when we find a pet in a room is make them remove it immediately and charge them the fee. For some reason my front desk manager charged the fee but did not make them remove the cats, so they stayed one more night.
Well the lady who had reported it the day before comes down the next morning and is all upset that see still sees the cats in the window. She says she is highly allergic to cats and she has been having itchy eyes the last 2 days because of the cats. That must be some serious allergy she has because the room with the cats is on the front of the second floor and her room is in the back of the 3rd floor. She doesn't say so but I get the feeling she thinks she should get a discount because there were cats in a no pet hotel. Apparently she spent the rest of the day complaining to management and didn't like the way they handled it so complained to corporate. She said she will never stay at any of our brands again. What's interesting is that we are also a non smoking hotel. The complaining lady and her husband were heavy smokers and although they did go out side to smoke their room still smelled of smoke because of their clothes. They stayed for ten days so the housekeepers had to do extra cleaning to get the smoke smell out of the room.

[catcul]

I saw a sign outside a hotel in Petersburg, VA, that said the hotel charges $500 if a guest brings a pet in their hotel room.

It's amazing what some people will do out of laziness and to save a few dollars. The cat owning guests should have tried to find a pet friendly hotel, or at least find a pet sitter for their little fur balls so the cats could stay home. As for the cat allergy woman, she was trying to claim her allergies were flaring despite the fact the cat dander doesn't travel that far. Good for you for not falling for her intimidation tactics.

BTW, how do you know she and her husband didn't smoke in their room?

[bhskittykatt]

Pretty sure that cat allergy is BS. If you're really that sensitive, you're probably on meds to manage your allergies.

It's amazing what some people will do out of laziness and to save a few dollars. The cat owning guests should have tried to find a pet friendly hotel, or at least find a pet sitter for their little fur balls so the cats could stay home.

To be somewhat fair, I called high and low the other night and could not find any pet-friendly vacancies for people who needed them (we are pet friendly in the same city as the OP and we were full, so I was calling around). Of course, had the half dozen or so people who came in seeking pet-friendly accommodations without reservations planned ahead, they wouldn't have had such an issue. Travelling with pets is really something you need to plan ahead for.

The number of people who have special accommodations needs (pet friendly, handicap-accessible, etc) who don't plan ahead still boggles me at times, and I've been working here for 8 years now.

[wolfie]

Regarding the "no pets" hotel, what happens if a guest checks in who has a serious allergy to dogs (selected the hotel specifically because of it being "no pets", and at check-in told management about the allergy). Somewhat later, another guest (with reservation) checks in. Hotel is fully booked, so there is no option to put them in a different room. The room that was kept for them is adjacent to the one occupied by the allergic guest - and their party includes a blind person with a seeing-eye dog (unknown to the hotel at the time the reservation was made).

Shortly after party with blind member checks in, allergic guest shows up at front desk (red eyes, shortness of breath) to complain that someone has brought a DOG into the hotel, and it needs to be removed NOW. If the hotel were to order the dog removed (it's not misbehaving, merely BEING a dog), it's an ADA violation and the hotel is in big trouble. From the visible symptoms, it's clear that failure to order the dog removed will result in a medical emergency, and the hotel would be in big trouble.

What can the hotel do in such a situation?

[sirwired]

Regarding the "no pets" hotel, what happens if a guest checks in who has a serious allergy to dogs (selected the hotel specifically because of it being "no pets", and at check-in told management about the allergy). Somewhat later, another guest (with reservation) checks in. Hotel is fully booked, so there is no option to put them in a different room. The room that was kept for them is adjacent to the one occupied by the allergic guest - and their party includes a blind person with a seeing-eye dog (unknown to the hotel at the time the reservation was made).

Shortly after party with blind member checks in, allergic guest shows up at front desk (red eyes, shortness of breath) to complain that someone has brought a DOG into the hotel, and it needs to be removed NOW. If the hotel were to order the dog removed (it's not misbehaving, merely BEING a dog), it's an ADA violation and the hotel is in big trouble. From the visible symptoms, it's clear that failure to order the dog removed will result in a medical emergency, and the hotel would be in big trouble.

What can the hotel do in such a situation?

While I've never heard of a dangerous dog allergy, I see your point. Both parties have a disabling condition that are in direct conflict, so the law would likely allow you to "walk" either guest. That said, on a practical basis, it'd be easier to walk the guest with an allergy, as allergens don't magically disappear with the dog.

[wolfie]

Would be VERY interesting if BOTH guests had requested the particular room because it had significance to them (e.g. celebrating a "milestone" anniversary, and wanting the room they stayed in on their honeymoon). Needless to say, being "walked" would mean they wouldn't be getting the "significant" room that they had reserved.

[bhskittykatt]

Would be VERY interesting if BOTH guests had requested the particular room because it had significance to them (e.g. celebrating a "milestone" anniversary, and wanting the room they stayed in on their honeymoon). Needless to say, being "walked" would mean they wouldn't be getting the "significant" room that they had reserved.

Typically requests aren't guaranteed. You're only walked if the hotel doesn't have a room at all for you when you reserved one, not if they don't have a specific room. You're guaranteed a room, but not a specific one. In a case such as this, dibs would go to the guest who booked with the request first.

[PepperElf]

While I've never heard of a dangerous dog allergy, I see your point. Both parties have a disabling condition that are in direct conflict, so the law would likely allow you to "walk" either guest. That said, on a practical basis, it'd be easier to walk the guest with an allergy, as allergens don't magically disappear with the dog.

Plus, the guest with the allergy can recover once away from the dog and can breathe more easily. The blind guest however, if he or she leaves... will still be unable to see.

[wolfie]

Typically requests aren't guaranteed. You're only walked if the hotel doesn't have a room at all for you when you reserved one, not if they don't have a specific room. You're guaranteed a room, but not a specific one. In a case such as this, dibs would go to the guest who booked with the request first.

That was a followup to my previous "what if" about incompatible guests - they hadn't requested the SAME room (let's say allergic guest had requested 202, and blind guest had requested 204). In both cases, they had booked well in advance because each wanted to celebrate their anniversary in the room where they had spent their honeymoon (let's assume the blind guest lost their sight sometime after the honeymoon, so there was no dog with them then). By "walking" EITHER guest, it will diminish their experience, but one HAS to be walked to avoid a medical emergency (one guest has a severe allergy to dogs, the other is blind and has a seeing-eye dog).

[Moirae]

I work in the hotel industry, and I know how you feel. However, it isn't always possible to plan ahead if you have pets. A hurricane necessitating an evacuation for example.

That being said, last time we had to run for a hurricane, I spent a half hour on my cell phone researching pet friendly hotels before we settled on one (and my cat absolutely loved it, btw).

People should take the time, yes. But sometimes, like during hurricane Katrina, it isn't possible, especially when hundreds of thousands of people are evacuating because their homes have been destroyed. And pets are as much family as children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, and husbands/wives.

[Willis]

That women is what you would call a hater and hypocrite. Plain and simple.