With summer vacation just around the corner, most of us are looking forward to booking tickets with some Makemytrip coupons to take some time off to rejuvenate and recover from the monotony of our daily urban life. But pet owners might not be as excited. Until now, most of the hotels and resorts in India have had a no-pet policy, meaning the pet owners must either put their pets in kennels or forsake their vacation altogether. However, it could soon be easier than you think to take your pets on vacation with you.
Hotels in India are finally coming of age and are throwing their doors wide open for your entire family, including your pets, making pet friendly holidays an absolute reality and soon becoming incredibly common too.
If you are ready to explore the beautiful cities of India with your furry friend in tow, there are plenty of pet friendly hotels now that provide both space and facilities, suitable for your pets.
Concept of hotels with pet friendly facilities is quite new in India
In India, we can’t claim that pet friendly holidays are an easy task, but the truth is that this is an industry that is fast growing. More people are now aware of the possibility of a holiday with pets and are opting for it. With airlines and trains accommodating pets as part of the travel package, it is now easy to take your pets on vacation.
This radical development is owed to the fact that primary lifestyle choices in India have evolved over the years and owning and caring for a pet is increasingly common now.
Keeping up with the changing trends, the hotel and hospitality industry has started to become more flexible with their policies towards the pets. Unlike earlier, when vacations with pets could only be possible if you have your own accommodation, more and more hotels, resorts and home stays are willingly accepting pets as guests, too.
The services and facilities provided may vary
There are two types of hotels for the pets — pet friendly and pet tolerant. While the pet-tolerant hotels let your pets stay with you, pet-friendly hotels also offer special amenities for your pets. Some may charge extra fee for providing accommodation for pets while others provide facilities for free.
Some of the services to look out for would be whether the pets are allowed in the rooms and/or extra beds made available on request, whether the hotel or resort has pet-friendly open spaces and pool, and most importantly, whether they have a vet and/or pet sitter available on call.
Tips and Tricks to find the right hotel for you and your pets
The term ‘pet friendly’ is a vastly encompassing term and vaguely defined in the hospitality space. This could mean anything from allowing the pets into the compound garden and garage to providing unrestricted access to your furry friends, including access to the rooms. This vagueness is precisely the recipe for disaster leading to gaps between expectations and reality.
One simple way to bridge this gap is to look for the pet policy of the hotel each time you make your bookings. This also happens to be by far the most reliable information at hand.
Another trick is to find open spaced home-stays ensconced up in the hills during off-season. If you seek to spend some undisturbed vacation time with your pets, planning one during the off-season could be your best bet.
With more and more hotels opening their facilities to pets , including pet-friendly vacation spots like parks, beaches, pools and cafes, taking your pets on vacations can now be a relaxing experience like never before.