Traveling with a dog turns a simple hotel booking into a research project. Which chains allow pets, which cap it at one small dog under 25 pounds, and which charge a fee that doubles your room rate?
What Most Wichita Falls Hotels Actually Allow
A handful of the chain hotels here do allow pets, usually with a per-night fee and a weight limit. Some cap it at two pets per room. Almost none of them will let a dog roam off-leash anywhere on the property, which makes sense for a hotel, but it means your dog is cooped up in a small room the entire stay, outside of walks.
If you’ve got a bigger dog, multiple dogs, or a dog that gets anxious in tight spaces, that’s doesn’t make an enjoyable trip. And don’t forget about the walk across the parking lot at 6am (in a city that you don’t even know!) because there’s nowhere closer for a bathroom break.
Questions Worth Asking Before You Book Anywhere
Whatever you end up booking, confirm a few things ahead of time rather than finding out at check-in.
- Is there a hard weight limit, and does your dog fall under it?
- Is the pet fee per night or a flat one-time charge?
- Are there breed restrictions?
A five-minute message or phone call to the place before booking saves you from the stressful moment of showing up and learning your dog isn’t allowed later on.
Places To Stay With Room For Dogs
A short-term rental (STR), or vacation rental, is a go-to for travelers with pets. Pet-friendly STRs are abundant and usually reasonably priced compared to hotels. Some even have fenced yards for your furry friends to run around in off-leash.
At our short-term rental, the Texas Honey Spot Retreat, dogs are welcome with a pet fee. While we do have some breed restrictions (due to insurance reasons), almost all of our travelers can bring their doggy friends. The yard is fully fenced with a 6’ privacy fence, and there’s a doggy door your dog can use on their own schedule instead of waiting on you for every bathroom break.
A setup like that makes a huge quality-of-life difference on a trip. Your dog isn’t stuck staring at a hotel room door all day. They’ve got a yard to use, which matters if you’re planning full days out and don’t want to feel guilty leaving a dog cooped up in a room the whole time.
A Few Things to Know Before You Book With A Pet
Before you stay in a short-term rental with your dog, there are a few things that you should figure out first.
- What areas of the property are pets allowed on?
- What sort of cleanup do I need to do, such as picking up dog poop?
- Will my dog be around other dogs or animals?
- Is the neighborhood safe enough for me to leave my dogs outside?
- Do I have to crate my dogs when I’m not at home?
- Are dogs allowed on furniture?
One of the questions that we oftentimes get is if dogs are allowed in our pool. The State of Texas does not allow pets in the pool due to health hazards, but we also don’t allow it for their safety (our deep end is 9’!) and for basic pool hygiene.
Outside of that, choosing an STR that allows you to disclose and bring your doggy friend is about as easy as traveling with a pet gets. No sneaking a dog past front desk staff, no wondering if housekeeping is upset about pet hair, no leash walks around a parking lot before sunrise. Your dog gets a yard, and you get to relax instead of managing a hotel stay around them.
Keeping a Routine on the Road
Dogs do better on trips when their routine stays close to normal: same feeding times, similar exercise, a familiar bed if you can bring it. A private yard makes that easier than a hotel room does, since your dog can get outside on their own terms instead of waiting on your schedule for every walk.
Packing for a Dog on the Road
A few things make a pet-friendly stay go smoother, regardless of where you land. Bring their regular food rather than switching brands mid-trip, since a new environment is enough of a change for one week without also upsetting their stomach. A familiar blanket or bed helps a lot with settling in somewhere new. It’s worth packing more of their regular treats than you think you’ll need, since they’re a useful tool for a nervous dog adjusting to a new space.
What Guests With Dogs Tend to Mention Most
Looking back at what pet owners bring up most after a stay in one of our rentals, it’s almost always the yard and the doggy door. Not having to coordinate a walk schedule around a hotel checkout time, and not worrying about a dog barking at every hallway noise through a thin wall, comes up again and again. If you’re planning a longer visit around a family trip too, our Best Family-Friendly Places to Stay post covers how the same yard works for kids.
Traveling With More Than One Dog
If you’re bringing more than one dog, mention that when you reach out to book, since it changes things for some hosts and may also change your pet fee. We have had people with up to 6 dogs stay with us before! But it was good to know that so we could close an extra day off after they left for a deep cleaning.
Multiple dogs in a hotel room is a hard setup. Two dogs sharing one small space with no yard tends to mean more barking, more stress, and less patience all around. A fenced yard helps even more once you’re past a single dog.
Booking With Your Pet
When you book a short-term rental and are planning to stay with a dog, message your pet’s breed, size, and temperament when you book, so the host can feel comfortable about your dog specifically. Most of the time, if the listing says that pets are allowed, it’s a quick yes. If you’re traveling through Wichita Falls, TX, we would definitely love to have you. Check out our availability here.