The Floor Every Dog Friendly Room Needs
Some things are not differentiators, they are the price of entry. Bowls in the room are one of the six minimum requirements of the Roch Dog Friendly Standard. A bed belongs alongside them; Hilton has written a bed and bowls into the brand standard of more than 4,600 hotels across North America, and Kimpton provides both in every room. A written policy the guest can read before booking, and at least one indoor space the dog may enter, complete the floor. A hotel without them is not yet in the conversation.
What Owners Will Actually Pay For
A 2023 choice experiment by researchers at Kyung Hee University asked 491 dog owners to choose between complete hotel packages at different prices, the most rigorous measurement of what a dog owner will pay for that we know of. Owners would pay about $117 a night more for a hotel with a dedicated play area for dogs, $66 a night more for a lounge where staff would mind the dog while they went out, and $146 a night more for that lounge staffed by a certified dog behaviour specialist. A bed, steps and a welcome gift added to the room were worth nothing to them; on the study's figures they lowered what owners would pay.
When the authors weighed each factor in the booking decision, facilities took 30 percent, services 27 percent, the contents of the room 15 percent and the price of the room less than one percent. The lesson for a hotel is plain: spend on the spaces and the people, not the gift bag.
Services, Arranged Rather Than Recommended
Walking, sitting and grooming are where a hotel turns a welcome into a service. The standard counts a service when the hotel can arrange it. A concierge who can only recommend a local groomer has not provided one. That distinction is cheap to fix, with a vetted partner and a booking process, and it is one of the clearest differences between the hotels we grade A and the hotels we grade C.
What Operational Design Covers
- The amenity programme and vendor selection, sized to your rooms and laundry
- The dog menu, developed with your F&B team and made safe (see the hotel dog menu)
- Walking, sitting, grooming and emergency vet partners, documented and bookable
- Zoning for shared spaces, so dogs and guests without them both stay comfortable
- The written staff playbook, signage and in-room collateral specifications
- Typical engagement: 8 to 16 weeks
Who Does The Work, And How It Is Measured
We design the programme with your operations, F&B and brand teams. Vendors are yours to choose; we help you select them and we never supply them. What you get is a written programme your team can run on every shift, and the measure is the grade at reassessment, where amenities, access and arranged services weigh heavily.
Questions
Asked And Answered
What pet amenities should a hotel offer?
At minimum, bowls and a bed in the room, a written dog policy available before booking, and at least one indoor shared space the dog may enter. Beyond that, the evidence says dog owners value shared spaces and staffed services, such as a supervised lounge or a walking service, far more than extra items in the room.
What is the most valuable pet amenity for a hotel?
In the Kyung Hee choice experiment, a lounge where staff mind the dog, staffed by a certified dog behaviour specialist, was worth about $146 a night to dog owners, and a dedicated dog play area about $117. Facilities and services together carried 57 percent of the booking decision.
Do dog beds and welcome gifts matter?
A bed is part of the floor, and the largest brands now provide one as standard. Welcome gifts and extra room items did not raise what owners would pay in the experiment. They are a nice touch, not a strategy.
Do pet amenities change our grade?
Yes. The Roch Dog Friendly Standard assesses amenities, access and services alongside policy. Bowls are one of the six minimum requirements, and shared space access and arranged services weigh heavily in the grade.
Do you sell hotel pet amenities?
No. We are not a supplier. We design the programme and help you select vendors, so the advice is never shaped by what we have in stock.
Begin
Talk To Us About What You Would Build
Tell us what your hotel offers the dog today, from the bowl to the walk, and what you would like it to offer. We will tell you what we would build first.
Talk To Us About Your Welcome