SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010
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K EZ EE You get room service, they get groom service bed check from F1
Inn at Meander Plantation 2333 N. James Madison Hwy., Locust Dale, Va., 800-385-4936.
www.meander.net. Rooms from $175, pets $25 per night.
It didn’t take long for my two
city-slicker dogs to adjust to a country way of life. Hobbes and Leo, Shih Tzu mix-
es ages 4 and 5, respectively, were understandably eager to bound out of the crate in the back seat of my car after the two-hour trip to the Inn atMeander Plantation. In the shadow of the stately 1766 manor, they seemed to immedi- ately comprehend that this place was different from the streets of Arlington. They dashed across the wide-open field, which was noticeably lacking in cars and canines. The buildings outside the main
house, in the rolling hills near Culpeper, Va., are pet-friendly. I appreciated having the one-bed- room groom’s cottage (vintage early 20th century) to ourselves: no one for the dogs to bother and vice versa. The innkeepers, Su- zanne Thomas and Suzie Blanchard, had provided a sheet, which I placed over the sofa, and a towel that proved crucial for paw-cleaning. There was also a throw pillow embroidered with the visage of a doublet-wearing pug; the carved outline of two dogs adorned a pair of shutters outside. We ventured onto one of the
walking paths on the 80-acre property. This one took us past row after row of corn, which the dogs found endlessly fascinating. Maybe they were looking for Ray Liotta and his baseball; I don’t know. The novelty of the place never
wore off. The dogs were en- thralled by the horses and sat down to watch them graze in the distance.Hobbes later decided to bark at a couple of them. Barking also ensued when the
resident golden retriever, Callie, trotted over. Soon enough, every- one was friends. Less lucky was the slug Hobbes ingested on our evening walk, but such is the circle of life. Thomas said the decision to
allow dogs was an easy one, since she and Blanchard like to travel with theirs. In 20 years, they’ve had only two incidents of de- struction. “We’ve found that peo- ple traveling with pets are ex- tremely conscientious about trav- eling with pets,” she said. The innkeepers have returned
the favor. —B.K.
Sheraton Long Island Hotel 110 Vanderbilt Motor Pkwy., Hauppauge, N.Y. 631-231-1100.
www.sheratonlongisland.com. Rooms from $99; one-time pet cleaning fee $50.
When I checked in at the
Sheraton Long Island, the clerk looked upmy name and immedi- ately asked, “Where’s your dog?” We were on the other side of a four-foot-tall counter, but she must have been the only person in the 200-plus-room hotel who hadn’t noticed me stroll in with my huge pooch. It was a good thing the clerk
wasn’t more observant, because technically we were breaking the rules.As a Starwood property, the Sheraton allows dogs, but this one limits them to 80 pounds. Red the red Doberman tips the scales at 103, making him as big as one ofmy (fully grown) human neighbors in Washington. I had decided to try my luck, hoping the hotel subscribed to a “don’t ask, don’t weigh” philosophy of enforcement, which it did. As it turned out, the lack of
interest in Red was pretty repre- sentative of our stay. There was no special treatment, no unique services, no pet bowls on offer, but also no problems or hassles of any sort. My first-floor room had a puckered carpet and generally worn appearance, but it was as comfortable as any Sheraton with its trademark Sweet Sleeper Bed. The hotel’sWeb site said a Sweet Sleeper Pet Bed would be provid- ed, but no such thing awaited us, and I didn’t ask for it, because Red prefers to bunk with me. It was a rainy night, and we
were checking in at almost 10, so there was little to do but take Red out for a few quick walks among
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the dying hosta plants lining the sidewalks of the back parking lot, order room service and go to sleep. My slumber was broken at 6:30, when sounds in the hallway awoke Red with a start, and me along with him. I managed to get him to go back to sleep for another hour. Then he contented himself with looking out the win- dow and doing what Dobermans were bred to do: stand guard. Before we checked out, I took
Red to the Starbucks station in the lobby, startling several mem- bers of housekeeping on the way. A worker wasted little time in fetching me a latte and a crois- sant; he didn’t seem to care that Red was busying himself clean- ing crumbs off the carpet. Then the worker disappeared, return- ing with a colleague from the restaurant/bar who he knew would be excited to see the pooch. Excited was an understate-
ment. “Oh, my God,” she said, clutching her chest and speaking in her heavy Long Island accent. “I’m in such heaven right now. Is he a Doberman? Oh, I can’t breathe, I’mtelling you, this ismy favorite breed in the whole wide world. Come give me kisses, give me kisses!” Red doesn’t kiss, but we chat-
ted for a while about the breed and about her own Lab-grey- hound mix. Though she was a little over the top, I was grateful that finally, somebody at this place besides me was paying my dog a little attention.
—J.Y.
Savage River Lodge 1600 Mount Aetna Rd., Frostburg, Md. 301-689-3200.
www.savageriverlodge.com. Cabins from $220, $25 per pet per night.
The Savage River Lodge might
have spoiledmy dogs for good. They probably weren’t im-
pressed by the scenery or our cabin. They certainly couldn’t comprehend the convenience of the pet waste disposal stations with biodegradable bags. They wouldn’t have taken joy in the dog wash area, either. No, their delights were of the simpler vari- ety: open spaces, new places to sniff and good food. Near Frostburg, Md., the lodge
is a group of 18 cabins and a main building with a restaurant, a library and more. Our two-level homestead had a living room with a gas fireplace and a sleep- ing loft. When we checked in, we dis-
covered the goody basket provid- ed as part of our $70 pet package, which also covered one night’s pet fee and a two-course meal from the Bone Appetite menu. Among the loot: a skunk toy, a collapsible water bowl and rose- mary-scented breath mints, whichHobbes vacillated between eating and rolling on. The closet was stocked with dog food bowls and towels and sheets to protect the furniture. For the trouble of a three-hour
road trip, we rewarded the dogs withsomeof the lodge’s signature house-made biscuits. Two more came with our muffin delivery the next day. After relaxing, it was time for
yappy hour, the Saturday after- noon gathering of guest dogs. It didn’t end up being the crowded event I had envisioned, so Hob- bes contentedly chased a blue tennis ball in the field before we shyly approached the only other couple in attendance. Under the waning afternoon sun, we chat- ted while their 11-week-old pudel- pointer puppy, Hoagie, frolicked with our dogs. Next was a pre-dinner walk
along one of the many trails on the property and through the surrounding state forest. Hobbes managed to collect a handful of burs under his eyeandaround his face. Neither of us enjoyed their removal. With the dogs safely ensconced
in their crate, my husband and I enjoyed dinner on the restaurant porch. For our four-legged friends, we ordered meatballs and peanut butter cookies. I’m not going to lie:We were tempted to eat the cookies.
yappy, that’s not a dog. This is a dog.”He even told the clerk, “The next time you get a dog, you should get one like this.” She smiled and said, “Are you going to buy me a big house, too?” Later, two bellmen got into a friendly argument about which one Red liked better. Having Red along broke the ice
with just about everyone in the place: People behindmein line at check-in, the concierge, other guests coming from the elevator. They allhadquestions.What’s his name?Howold is he?What breed is he?Hamthat he is,Redate it all up. I signed a special waiver agree-
TOP PHOTO BY HELAYNE SEIDMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; PHOTO AT LOWER LEFT BY JOE YONAN/THE WASHINGTON POST; PHOTO AT LOWER RIGHT BY BECKY KRYSTAL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Clockwise from top: Red the Doberman lounges on a queen-size bed at the Affinia Dumont inManhattan; canine guests at Savage River Lodge in Frostburg, Md., get a goody basket of toys and treats; Red strolls the grounds at the BassettHouse Inn in EastHampton,NY.
The special treats disappeared
quickly, much like our too-short visit.
—B.K.
Bassett House Inn 128 Montauk Hwy., East Hampton, N.Y. 631-324-6127.
www.bassetthouse
inn.com. Rooms start at $145 but vary widely according to season and length of stay; $25 per pet per night.
It wasn’t just the obviously dog-friendly name. As soon as I walked into the Bassett House Inn, it was clear: Left to his own devices, my dog might never get enough of this place. It’s old and jampacked with vintage furni- ture, books and bric-a-brac, so Red yanked at his leash in hopes of sniffing every last nook and cranny. The problem was, the some-
what cluttered common rooms weren’t exactly suited to a dog of his size and energy, so we stayed mostly in our more streamlined upstairs guest room when we weren’t outside braving yet an- other day of rainy weather. InnkeeperMichael Bassett was
warm and chatty, tired after the recently ended high season but excited to recommend places for me to take Red: a seafood restau- rant in Montauk that welcomes dogs on its patio, a nearby beach popular with dog owners in the mornings, a scenic drive past grand houses and under dramat- ic trees.None of them was partic- ularly appealing on an evening of further rain, but tomorrow would be another day. Upstairs, Bassett had taken up
the rug in the room in prepara- tion for the dog. “I charge extra so I can clean everything and so I can take dogs, which I really want to be able to do, without the whole place smelling like a ken- nel,” he said. “I like to be able to mix dogs and humans.” The room has gorgeous wide
pine floors and some beautiful, big wooden furniture: a mantel, dresser, armoire. I’m slightly al- lergic to fussy decorations, and the room does have light pink walls and a floral bedspread, but it could have beenmuchworse. In the morning, the sun was shin- ing, finally, so I let Red sniff around the big yard awhile, then went inside to partake of what the inn’s Web site touts as a “full home-cooked breakfast.” The coffee was plenty strong,
but the breakfast consisted of stale muffins that Bassett admit- ted were from a mix. “I can’t get up at 5 in the morning anymore like I used to,” he said sheepishly. “I made them yesterday.” With weather so glorious, I
didn’t intend to linger anyway, and Bassett took the opportunity to givemevery explicit directions to nearby Egypt Beach. There, Red pulled me from the car onto the sand, until I finally could let
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him do what he had been waiting to do for almost two days: run, run, run.
—J.Y.
The Affinia Dumont 150 E. 34th St., New York, N.Y. 212-481-7600.
www.affinia.com. Rooms from $305, $25 per pet per night.
Now this was dog-friendly:My
room with one king-size bed wasn’t quite ready at check-in time at the Affinia Dumont, in New York’s East Midtown, so the clerk offered an upgrade: a little more space, and two queen-size beds. “This way Red will get his own!” she said. I doubt it, I replied: At home, the pooch never uses the bed I bought for him. My Doberman didn’t even
make it inside the hotel before the oohing and aahing began. The bellman who greeted us at the car was so excited to see what he called “a real dog”: “When people say ‘dog,’ that’s a dog. Those little ones that go yippy
ing to the hotel’s pet policy, which included stipulations that I would “try” not to leave him unattended for long periods. Well, we had been together for several days, and Dad needed a night out, so after checking in we headed to park after park, dog run after dog run, with the goal of tiring him out. For extra insur- ance, I had bought a hollow bone filled with peanut butter and had frozen it (the room had a full-size refrigerator in its mini-kitchen), so he’d lick, lick, lick for hours on end. It worked. After feeding him in
the stylish room, where a combi- nation water and food bowl sat on a special mat imprinted with the phrase “Woof!,” I headed off to meet friends. Three hours lat- er, he was so happily crashed that he barely stirredwhenI returned. We went out for one last walk — after being directed to the near- est green space by the bellman— and when we returned, Red hopped back up on the queen bed. His own, that is.
—J.Y.
Hotel Monaco Alexandria 480 King St., Alexandria. 703-549-6080.
www.monaco-
alexandria.com. Rooms from $149, pets free.
My expectations for the Hotel
Monaco Alexandria were too high. Seduced by the Kimpton
brand’s pet-friendly marketing, I packed up the pooches and checked into the hotel on Old Town’s King Street. After filling out the pet waiver, I asked the
staff about some of the services that theWeb site said they could help me arrange, “including but not limited to pet sitting, dog walking, and pet spa services.” Grooming? I’mhanded a print-
out from theWeb site of the Olde TownePet Resort—15 miles away in Springfield. How about a walk? The clerk
showed me a business card for a dog-walking service and wrote down the phone number. When I asked about thecompany’s hours, he replied that the card didn’t say. All right, then. Surely things
would turn around at the bally- hooed doggie happy hour at the adjacent Jackson 20 restaurant. It was not meant to be: A wed- ding had taken over the court- yard. Chef de cuisine BrianTurowski
said that the event, held Tuesdays and Thursdays from April through October, had to be can- celed a few times this month because of an unusual abundance of weddings. He acknowledged that the restaurant had fallen behind in posting cancellations online in advance. That, more than anything else, seemed to bug a few would-be attendees, some of whom decamped to the patio on King Street instead. The evening wasn’t a total
bust, though. We socialized with a Shih Tzu staying at the hotel (the only other canine guest I saw) and had a lovely evening walk to the river. Was I wrong to expect such
paws-on treatment? Maybe, but when the pet-friendly program lists amenities such as bedding and bowls, special door hangers to let people know of your pets’ presence and a welcome on the lobby activities board, it’s hard not to. Perhaps I had to do something other than note my dogs’ arrival on my reservation. Perhaps those things aren’t avail- able at all Kimptons. It’s unclear. I had no quibbles with the
Monaco itself. I adoredmy room, especially the VVspacious marble bathroom, and the bellman who carried the pet crate tomy car. If I stay at another Kimpton — and I hope I do — I won’t promise the dogs too much. I think they’ll be okay with that.
—B.K.
krystalr@washpost.com yonanj@washpost.com
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