Pet Friendly

[Jay Honeck]

Over the years, I've had some lively debates with folks here about whether we should be -- and remain -- "pet friendly" at our aviation themed hotel on Mustang Island. One by one, as we've remodeled the rooms, they have all gone to "No Pets" status, ticking off some and pleasing others.

Well, as we approach the end of our remodeling project, we've decided to maintain at least four of our rooms as pet friendly rooms, permanently. The rooms with full kitchens (The Red Baron and the Airshow Rooms) will remain pet friendly forever, while several others (The Stearman, the Charles Lindbergh, and the Spirit of St. Louis rooms) will remain so for now.

Of further interest to you pet owners -- we have now built a private, off-leash dog park at the hotel, for your pet's enjoyment. Read about it here: http://ameliaslanding.com/off-leash_dog_park_in_port_aransas.htm

We're always striving to find the right mix to keep every pilot happy. So feel free to bring Fido, but remember to make sure to SPECIFY that you want to bring a pet, because not all of our rooms are pets-allowed.

 

[spiderweb]

Jay, sounds like you made some very smart and balanced choices. I'm sure you're hotel will do very well.

Next time I'm in Dallas, I've GOT to get my brother to fly down to visit!

Over the years, I've had some lively debates with folks here about whether we should be -- and remain -- "pet friendly" at our aviation themed hotel on Mustang Island. One by one, as we've remodeled the rooms, they have all gone to "No Pets" status, ticking off some and pleasing others.

Well, as we approach the end of our remodeling project, we've decided to maintain at least four of our rooms as pet friendly rooms, permanently. The rooms with full kitchens (The Red Baron and the Airshow Rooms) will remain pet friendly forever, while several others (The Stearman, the Charles Lindbergh, and the Spirit of St. Louis rooms) will remain so for now.

Of further interest to you pet owners -- we have now built a private, off-leash dog park at the hotel, for your pet's enjoyment. Read about it here: http://ameliaslanding.com/off-leash_dog_park_in_port_aransas.htm

We're always striving to find the right mix to keep every pilot happy. So feel free to bring Fido, but remember to make sure to SPECIFY that you want to bring a pet, because not all of our rooms are pets-allowed.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Jay, sounds like you made some very smart and balanced choices. I'm sure you're hotel will do very well.

Next time I'm in Dallas, I've GOT to get my brother to fly down to visit!

Mary and I would love to see you, Ben, but be forewarned: When we fly back to Iowa, over half of our flight is over Texas. We are a LONG ways South of Dallas! Like, three hours, at 140 knots.

Heck, they get real winter up there!

 

[spiderweb]

Mary and I would love to see you, Ben, but be forewarned: When we fly back to Iowa, over half of our flight is over Texas. We are a LONG ways South of Dallas! Like, three hours, at 140 knots.

Heck, they get real winter up there!

Very true! I remember a few childhood vacations to Corpus Christi and thinking, are we still in the same state??

No worries, though--my brother and I love visiting the many beautiful and interesting parts of TX. People don't understand there is so much variety--hill country, Houston, Austin, Dallas, East Texas, Lubbock--you can't understand unless you've lived there for at least a few years!

 

[Steve Foley]

The rooms with full kitchens (The Red Baron and the Airshow Rooms) will remain pet friendly forever

Are there legitimate reasons people to not want to stay in a pet friendly room, like allergies? If so, these folks cannot stay in a room with a full kitchen.

 

[pilot_dude]

Jay -

We travel with our dogs and use www.bringfido.com as our starting point for lodging. You may want to consider getting your property included in the listing.

http://www.bringfido.com/lodging/hotels/city/port_aransas_tx_us/

 

[JOhnH]

Are there legitimate reasons people to not want to stay in a pet friendly room, like allergies? If so, these folks cannot stay in a room with a full kitchen.

I am a pet lover and often bring my pets (to Pet Friendly places).
But nothing is worse than staying in a room with fleas and ticks, or a room that smells like urine, or finding a dog or cat turd that the maid missed. And I like to lay on the floor to do exercises or watch TV, but I don't like getting up smelling like a wet dog or having pet hair on my clothes or on my skin.

Keep it up Jay (giving customers a choice). I can't wait to bring my raving liberal wife (who I love more than my pets) over to see and stay with you guys.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Are there legitimate reasons people to not want to stay in a pet friendly room, like allergies? If so, these folks cannot stay in a room with a full kitchen.

Yes, and that's a real problem.

However, the rooms with full kitchens are the most expensive, which means they are usually the last to rent in summer. So, we figure if people really want to travel with their dogs, they will pay the premium price.

Conversely, in winter the kitchens are the FIRST to rent, by "Winter Texans" who stay with us for several months at a time. These folks travel with their pets, naturally, so it works for them for these rooms to remain pet friendly.

In the meantime, we have several other pet friendly rooms, at least until we renovate them. If demand remains high, we'll have to make some decisions on what to do.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Jay -

We travel with our dogs and use www.bringfido.com as our starting point for lodging. You may want to consider getting your property included in the listing.

http://www.bringfido.com/lodging/hotels/city/port_aransas_tx_us/

Funny you should mention them. I shot them an email last night, asking how many pounds of flesh they want for a listing. No answer yet.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I am a pet lover and often bring my pets (to Pet Friendly places).
But nothing is worse than staying in a room with fleas and ticks, or a room that smells like urine, or finding a dog or cat turd that the maid missed. And I like to lay on the floor to do exercises or watch TV, but I don't like getting up smelling like a wet dog or having pet hair on my clothes or on my skin.

Keep it up Jay (giving customers a choice). I can't wait to bring my raving liberal wife (who I love more than my pets) over to see and stay with you guys.

Cleaning a pet room is not simple. Because pets can bring sand fleas off the beach, or simply have them when they arrive, we must treat each carpeted room with borax powder. This kills the fleas and any eggs, but must be left to sit for several hours before vacuuming.

In the real world of hotel scheduling, this often means overnight -- you don't pay housekeepers to stand around waiting for borax -- which means we lose the use of the room for a night. Thus, the $25 pet fee comes into play, and starts to make sense.

I am ceramic tiling the rooms, over time. Eventually they will all be ceramic or hardwood floors, which will make pet cleanup much easier. Of course, tile will make laying on the floor less comfy, but carpet on an island made of sand is a really bad idea. We could shampoo the carpets weekly and they would still look like crap.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Very true! I remember a few childhood vacations to Corpus Christi and thinking, are we still in the same state??

No worries, though--my brother and I love visiting the many beautiful and interesting parts of TX. People don't understand there is so much variety--hill country, Houston, Austin, Dallas, East Texas, Lubbock--you can't understand unless you've lived there for at least a few years!

Yep. Thanks to the wonders of GA, Mary and I have been able to see more of the state of Texas in our three years here than many (most?) ground-bound natives see in a lifetime.

To be able to go to Austin, San Antonio, Galveston, or Houston for lunch, and be home for dinner, is simply wonderful. Texas was MADE for GA.

 

[Brad Z]

Sounds like a good call, Jay. Dog ownership among travelers is increasing as baby boomers replace the long empty house of kids with dogs.

I think tile is a good call. Personally, I hate carpet in almost any climate, but particularly at a hotel in a warm resort area. Heck, no one carpets their homes anymore, so that should say something. A replaceable rug on a tile floor works much better, IMHO.

If we ever make it down to the Texas gulf coast, we will certainly be making stop in.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Sounds like a good call, Jay. Dog ownership among travelers is increasing as baby boomers replace the long empty house of kids with dogs.

I think tile is a good call. Personally, I hate carpet in almost any climate, but particularly at a hotel in a warm resort area. Heck, no one carpets their homes anymore, so that should say something. A replaceable rug on a tile floor works much better, IMHO.

If we ever make it down to the Texas gulf coast, we will certainly be making stop in.

Ask my insurance gal what she thinks of throw rugs on tile floors in a hotel.

Of course, when she heard we had a courtesy car for pilots I thought she was gonna go full-Exorcist on me. I actually had to buy the courtesy vehicles personally, and post them as such.

She doesn't know about the dog park.

I'm not sure what I dislike the most about this business: Insurance regulation, government regulation, or credit card processors. They all work against our goals.

 

[SCCutler]

It occurs to me, Jay, that Mary and you probably did more work on that hotel, in the first 24 hours you were there, than had been done in the year prior. What's more remarkable is, you have never slowed down - and what you have done with the place is nothing short of amazing.

I guess hotel ownership, like life, is a journey, and not a destination. Fortunately for the traveling public, and pilots in particular, Amelia's Landing at Port Aransas, *is* a destination, and a darned fine one, too!

 

[Jay Honeck]

It occurs to me, Jay, that Mary and you probably did more work on that hotel, in the first 24 hours you were there, than had been done in the year prior. What's more remarkable is, you have never slowed down - and what you have done with the place is nothing short of amazing.

I guess hotel ownership, like life, is a journey, and not a destination. Fortunately for the traveling public, and pilots in particular, Amelia's Landing at Port Aransas, *is* a destination, and a darned fine one, too!

Thanks, Spike. It's been a helluva lot of work, but also a helluva lot of fun, and a great learning experience.

And, of course, we get paid to live in paradise. How many people can say that?

I'm starting to realize that our finite three-year renovation plan, which has become our five-year plan, is truly just a lifetime plan. There will always be some new enhancement to add, or something broken to fix. And I'm okay with that.

What the heck. If I wasn't caulking a countertop, or installing a new router, or planning a second story addition, I'd only be in the bars...

 

[TommyG]

Only $25 pet fee. That's pretty cheap. I see your point as a hotel owner. Some people don't take care of thier Pets. And in the long run will cost your more to redo the rooms.

 

[ktup-flyer]

put outdoor rugs over the ceramic/hardwood floors and it will be fine. They are extremely easy to clean