Pet-Friendly Hotels Leave No Paw Unpampered

At The Regent Berlin, pets enjoy a treat prepared by the chief patissier of the hotel's two-star Michelin restaurant, Fischer's Fritz. The James Hotel in Chicago offers a dog menu, but also does not discriminate against cats, who may dine on smoked salmon lollipops, salmon and tuna tartar tower with creme fraiche or chicken paillard with liver "snaps." (The cat will surely need the after-dinner mint provided to all pets that order room service.)

At the Biltmore in Phoenix, Ariz., both cats and dogs are invited to enjoy "Zen Yo" from the room service menu, which is a "hearty vegetable stir-fry with poached eggs & steamed rice, developed especially to help pets adjust to jet lag and altitude, this dish is easy to digest and helps to re-hydrate travel weary dogs and cats."

No matter how luxurious the food offerings, though, travelers at this level often have their own idiosyncratic requirements. The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago reports that several guests have requested Bling H20 for their dogs to drink. (Bling H20 bottles are hand-decorated in Swarovski crystals and run upwards of $20 each.) Another guest requested fresh tripe for doggie, which the staff purchased from a local butcher.

There's more to vacationing than eating, though. What sort of a trip would it be if your pet was marooned in the room all day long?

At the Raffles L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills, the staff routinely arranges for pets to hang out at The Club, an upscale day-care mansion with private suites with Frette sheets, a dog whisperer, spa treatments, yoga and so on. The hotel arranges a private car service that delivers and picks up the pet so they will be waiting upon the guest's return to the room.