Tails wag, tongues drool for gourmet dog food at hotels
Gourmet menus bring high style to traveling pets' diets.
— -- With an increasing number of pet owners bringing their four-legged friends on the road, hotels throughout North America and Europe are responding with tail-wagging gourmet menus fit for a king (or a Cavalier King Charles spaniel).
Fifi can feast on Zen Yo ($11), a hearty vegetable stir-fry with poached eggs and steamed brown rice that's designed to help pets adjust to jet lag and altitude, at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Or down an organic Buddy Burger hamburger with cheese ($5) at Los Angeles' Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, which offers an organic and locally sourced in-room dining service doggie menu with cooked-to-order items. Or start with an appetizer of chicken liver pâté ($7) before moving on to the braised New Zealand lamb served on a bed of rice ($15) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa.
In April, the Wyndham Orange County in Costa Mesa, Calif., unleashed its Paws and Claws breakfast, held every weekend on the hotel's lakeside patio. For $15.50 for adults, human guests can enjoy the buffet and for no additional charge share their food with their pooches, who eat off pet china. There's a "Bubbles and Bones" Champagne bar ($4) that features unlimited Champagne for adults, and for pets, wine-shaped bottles from Bark Vineyards ($16.99) of "Sauvignon Bark," "Barkundy" or "Pinot Leasheo," which contain a gourmet, alcohol-free au jus made with chicken or beef stock that can be poured over their food.
"It's really neat to see how it has significantly changed the spirit in the building," says Wyndham Orange County general manager Thomas Smalley. "Everybody is in such a different mind-set when they bring their dogs with them. During the week, the corporate travelers and leisure travelers aren't rushing to their rooms to call home. They have their home with them in some cases, and their spirits are a lot different."
The latest National Pet Owners Survey taken by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association shows that 63% of U.S. households, or 71.1 million homes, own a pet, and that 19% of dog owners and 3% of cat owners take their pet with them when traveling for at least two nights. AAA lists more than 13,000 lodging options in its 2008 pet traveling guide.
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