To allow dogs or not to allow dogs in a holiday cottage.

[browning12]

I wondered if anyone had any opinion or personal experience of the above. I own a 1 bedroom holiday cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. We are just completing our first season of holiday lets, which was beyond our wildest expectations. So far we have allowed dogs, but have found that a combination of our cleaner not being the best (can't change that as she works for the agency), and dog owners apparently not following our requests not to allow dogs in the bedroom or on the lounge seats (we do provide a dog blanket), we have found minor damage/hairs when we have checked the cottage. The damage consists of scratches to woodwork and windows. The carpets and lounge seating have also become extra dirty/worn. Due to VB recommendations, we have arranged to have all the lounge seating reupholstered and re-covered so that it looks really nice. We have also taken the decision to ban dogs to keep our cottage as smart and clean as possible, and have informed our agency. However we have since had 2-3 direct enquiries via our website who have immediately gone silent once we mention that dogs are not allowed. I am worried that we may have made the wrong decision and our cottage will be half empty next season. What do people think, is banning dogs a good or bad idea? Does anyone own a self catering holiday cottage that doesn't allow dogs, and how are you finding business? Any thoughts please?

[Raincliffe1]

I would imagine that in making your accommodation available for customers with dogs that you have more of a niche in the market, have you found that the majority of your bookings are from people with or without dogs. Personally, not being a dog owner I would certainly not stay anywhere that allowed them. But I can imagine the problems faced by people with dogs in finding decent accommodation as opposed to basic accommodation. I guess it is a similar dilemma to one we faced regarding letting babies/toddlers/small children onto our premises - you have to put up with the downsides as you have outlined and hope that the revenue compensates for this which seems to be the case in your business.

At our last hotel we allowed dogs in the rooms and generally most owners were respectful of our property. The problem as you have said is the fact that the hairs get everywhere and the smell of a wet dog can be quite pungent and yes, it does consequently take longer to clean/service.

[Diana Beale]

We take dogs and now have a policy dog-owners need to agree to, plus a £50 security cheque, which can be torn up afterwards, plus we charge £15 per week. This puts off the ones we don't want ans we do ave a lot of trade through allowing pets.
Our clkeaners would love me to ban dogs, though!
Also, we have a little reminder note to hang on interior doors re dogs not being allowed in bedrooms.
Check out our dog policy at www.canutecottages.co.uk
Diana

[Libra]

Hi Browning12

I have a self catering property and do not accept dogs. This is partly due to the aspects you mentioned about potential damage and extra cleaning.

The other reason was that in the early days enquirers asked if we accepted pets as some family members were allergic to them. This fact cemented the idea that we would not accept pets.

There are websites out there dedicated to those who want to take their dogs on holiday.

Ultimately I think it has to be personal preference and our decision has certainly not been detrimental to our business.


Luxury Lakeside Self Catering in the Cotswolds (http://holidaycottageisis.com)

[Georgie]

Weelf catering cottages and took over the running about 2 years ago. The previous owner was very keen on dogs and allowed dogs in all 3 cottages. When we arrived, she had bookings which we took over, most owners are excellent and look after the cottages in the way I wish. at the start of this year, we made a decision to only allow dogs in 1 cottage, which has a tiled floor as you walk in, most owners have thought it very sensible and are happy to use this particular cottage, also in taking this action we have attracted guests who would have other wise not booked if we allowed dogs in all the cottages. I provide them with a dog box, towels and sheets, these can be changed for clean ones in our walking room. We respectfully ask owners to keep the dog downstairs and off the furniture. We are also fitting a stair gate to keep the dog out of the bedrooms. It all seems to work well and we have had no complaints so far!

[browning12]

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in replying and thanks very much for all your helpful comments. I wanted to ask Diana Beale about the 'reminder note on internal doors' that she mentions. I wondered if this was handmade or if she had bought something purpose made for this scenario. The agent that we are with suggested getting a little humorous sign to attach to the bottom of the stairs which made the point about 'paws not being allowed upstairs', but I don't know where to get such a sign? Any ideas? By the way Happy New Year to everyone!!

[joyful]

We don't have dogs in our accommodation. Personally you either like dogs or you don't and I personally would never stay in any accommodation that allows dogs. Just the thought of them.... .However, if I had a dog I would be very glad to find somewhere that does accommodate them as it seems more and more places are becoming dog and child free zones.

[Flanesford Priory]

We allow pets in all but one of our nine holiday apartments. I think the effect on business would have a little to do with where your accommodation is. If you, as we are, are in the centre of an AONB, surrounded by walking and cycling paths, then allowing dogs could be important. Most of our guests come to us for the nature and scenery. If we banned dogs then they would just go to the B & B up the road, and we would loose a considerable amount of our business.

Practicality does dictate that it's much easer and cleaner to not accept dogs.

We have a team of excellent cleaners, our sofas all have removable covers, and we steam clean the carpets regulary to ensure that pet odors and dirt do not offend non-doggy guests. We charge £20 extra per rental for dogs to cover the extra time cleaning, shake 'n vac for the carpets, etc. So far (fingers crossed) all guests have been very respectable of our rules to not leave the animals alone for a long time, or allow them on the furniture.

Looking ahead, as we beging to work through and upgrade our apartments with new carpeting and floors, we may consider limiting pets to only a couple of units. TBC!

[Ridleyhale]

I wondered if anyone had any opinion or personal experience of the above. I own a 1 bedroom holiday cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. We are just completing our first season of holiday lets, which was beyond our wildest expectations. So far we have allowed dogs, but have found that a combination of our cleaner not being the best (can't change that as she works for the agency), and dog owners apparently not following our requests not to allow dogs in the bedroom or on the lounge seats (we do provide a dog blanket), we have found minor damage/hairs when we have checked the cottage. The damage consists of scratches to woodwork and windows. The carpets and lounge seating have also become extra dirty/worn. Due to VB recommendations, we have arranged to have all the lounge seating reupholstered and re-covered so that it looks really nice. We have also taken the decision to ban dogs to keep our cottage as smart and clean as possible, and have informed our agency. However we have since had 2-3 direct enquiries via our website who have immediately gone silent once we mention that dogs are not allowed. I am worried that we may have made the wrong decision and our cottage will be half empty next season. What do people think, is banning dogs a good or bad idea? Does anyone own a self catering holiday cottage that doesn't allow dogs, and how are you finding business? Any thoughts please?

We have a dog and a holiday let. I do not take dogs in our flat but in the past have had guests arrive with an unexpected cat which caused a lot of damage. Having our own dog is a good way of saying we can't take any guest dogs! However if you do want to continue, and we do take our dog away with us, can I suggest that you take them if kept in a cage when in the property? We always carry our dog in the car in a cage and she sleeps in it when we are away. There should be no need for hair around or damage. The dog can be walked enough to settle and sleep afer a brisk morning walk. After that they should all leave for a day and enjoy the area they are visiting! Good Luck

[Andy Banner-Price]

Hi
My self-catering lodge (www.plasdinaslodge.co.uk) does not allow dogs. We thought about this long and hard as we do accept dogs at our 4 star hotel at the other end of the drive. With a hotel room it's usually only one or two nights, the owners have to walk the dirty / wet dog past you in reception so tend wipe its paws and we can usually air the room for several hours a day. At the lodge however, you could have a wet or old and smelly dog or dogs up there for a week, brushing against furniture and walls etc. We feel 6 hours turnaround is not long enough to air and clean a whole house properly to eradicate a bad dog smell. We allow kids there but no dogs and allow dogs here but no kids!

[joyful]

I wouldn't want to stay anywhere a dog has been and I am a dog lover! You can't trust the previous hirers to have been hygenic with their pet.... on beds etc.

[474wendyb]

We do allow dogs and we have a great cleaner, which I think makes a huge difference. Our holiday house is in walking country in the heart of the Peak District and we are very family orientated, which really means that we cannot afford not to allow dogs. We have removeable covers on all the sofas and chairs and these are regularly cleaned. We have always found the dog owners respectful (we have signs requesting no dogs upstairs as well as stairgates top and bottom. In addition all the flooring downstairs is tiled or wooden). I do think that if we didn't allow dogs we would loose business but that is probably because of our location. Of course I don't know how many people are put off booking because we allow dogs. We currently charge £15 extra per pet, and I really love Diane's idea of a dog policy and the £50 security cheque. I am seriously thinking of using that - thank you! o:)

[Douglas_Knapp]

We also allow dogs into 2 of our 3 cottages and so far have had no problems other than extra hoovering required. As far as the beds go, well all the sheets, duvet covers and pillow slips all go into a thorough wash and you cannot tell if a dog has been anywhere near them.
I have found that some of the humans are much much worse than most of the dogs that have been coming to stay.
We do get a £20 payment to cover extra cleaning - this does not go far when children have purple play dough on white sheets and cream duvet covers!

[Schofields]

Hi,

Interesting discussion. It appears that many are concerned about the impact of not accepting pets will have on bookings from those with pets and whether accepting pets will deter those without them.

I expect it all depends on your niche and market you are targeting.

As mentioned, charging for pets to cover the expense of regular valeting of carpets and upholstery should help to keep the property clean and odour free.

Our experience is that pets often cause damage in properties when left locked up in unfamiliar territory. From bite marks to scratches, but mainly by leaving their mark.

It’s a difficult decision, but I expect it boils down to what brings in the bookings.

[Elaine Stubbs]

We have 3 self catering cottages and will not allow pets of any description. No matter how 'well behaved' their owners tell you they are, it is only natural for any dog or cat to leave their 'scent' when they go somewhere new! It doesn't take long for an 'odour' to build up no matter how much you clean and theres no way you can ever pick up all of the hairs.

I have had far more visitors who have booked with me specificaly because we DON'T allow pets than those I have had to refuse

[barbersdrove]

we have a no pets policy but we take our dog when we go away so i am grateful to those who do offer this facility. We are about to open a second unit and are going to make this a pet and child friendly unit so hopefully that should please everyone.