Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 13, 1994 TAG: 9408050006
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Sandra Brown Kelly
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The worker said it still surprises her that the hotel allows pets in guests' rooms. Other places she had worked - "that weren't as nice as this" - had "no pets" policies, she said. But she said she was glad because she is a pet owner.
So is Holiday Inn-Tanglewood Manager Gerald Carter. He said he has allowed pets at each place he has worked in his 161/2 years in the motel-hotel business.
"We're not talking about boa constrictors or ponies," Carter said. "We couldn't handle those. Just dogs and cats."
Guests are required to register their pets when they check in, mainly so housekeeping employees don't get surprised when they enter rooms containing animals. Guests also are told when they register the animals that they are responsible for any damage the animal does.
In addition to eliminating possible shock for employees, the registration gives the motel a record of which rooms have housed pets and must be "fogged" before another guest uses them, Carter said.
The Tanglewood hotel is among 16 Roanoke Valley properties listed in Eileen Barish's guide book, "Vacationing With Your Pet!" ($14.95, Pet-Friendly Publications, 800 496-2665).
The publication offers 30 pages of pet travel tips and then lists by state and city at least 10,000 motels and hotels that allow animals as guests.
It hasn't always been easy to find accommodations with pets, though. For example, until last year, when North Carolina changed a state law, pets were forbidden in hotels and motels in one of the area's most popular vacation spots, Nags Head.
Sarah Forbes, a Tidewater physician and pet owner, recognized the business potential of pet-friendly rental facilities on the Outer Banks 20 years ago. That's when she began operating cottages and a motel with housekeeping rooms that welcomed pets.
Forbes, who owns two cockers, a Rottweiler and a lab, and two cats, said pets "miss their parents" if they're left behind. She's a regular weekend fixture in the area, generally accompanied by the cockers.
Forbes charges a fee for animals to offset cleanup costs. She said she also has made considerable use of easy-care floor coverings to decrease damage potential. Each place is cleaned and treated between guests, she said.
Nor does she accept pets in all of her properties. But she said the higher operation costs for the places where pets stay are offset by the popularity of those units.
The pet properties are filled more often than the others, she said.
"It's not all in dollars and cents, though." she said.
Apparently more and more hospitality facility owners agree with her. The trade publication, Hotel Business, recently pointed out that some "pet-friendly properties" offer dog walking and pet-sitting services and have room service menus for feline and canine tastes.
People are so used to rejection of pets by the hotel-motel industry, however, that even Bob Hope once snuck his poodle into Chicago's Palmer House. The canine guest wasn't suspected until Hope ordered Duck ala Orange, "blended," twice in one day, according to Ken Price, Palmer House public relations director and a pet owner.
\ If you got a recent mailing asking you to send $5 to play the Australian lottery for five weeks, recognize it for what it is. James Hancock of Buchanan saw it as a potential rip-off and sent his mailing along so others could be forewarned.
The mailing is from the Australian Lottery Winners Service and is an official-looking slip giving you five Lotto numbers that you can play for $5 plus $1 postage and handling.
Paul Griffo, national spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, says reports of similar mailings are coming in from around the country.
by CNB