# Dog Friendly Performance Across Luxury Hotel Portfolios **Author:** [Guise Bule](https://www.linkedin.com/in/guisebule/), CEO of [Roch Dog](https://rochdog.com) **Subtitle:** InterContinental, Fairmont and the Brand Promise of Consistency **Document Reference:** RDWP-LHP-01 **Version:** 4.0 **Date:** March 2026 ## Executive Summary Inside a luxury hotel brand, the distance between the best and the worst hotel for a guest with a dog is wider than the distance between the brands themselves. That is the finding of this paper, and it has now held across three portfolios and 111 hotels, measured by one method against one published standard. [Roch Dog](https://rochdog.com) wrote to every hotel as an ordinary guest planning a stay with a dog and scored the answers against the [Roch Dog Friendly Standard](https://rochstandard.com/standard/). InterContinental runs from the best dog hotel we have ever assessed, an A+ in Miami, to a hotel in Times Square that charges $250 a stay and offers the dog nothing but the room. Fairmont, the one luxury brand that puts dogs in its press releases, runs from an A+ in Santa Monica to thirteen F grades on four continents, and a further twenty Fairmonts refuse dogs altogether. In both portfolios the fee runs from free to $250 with no relationship to what the dog gets, the weight limit from none to a figure that turns away most family dogs, and most hotels miss at least one of the six minimum requirements a dog owner needs in order to book on the strength of the name. None of this is a brand policy. It is 21 InterContinental policies and 63 Fairmont policies that happen to share a logo. Lets be honest about what that means for the guest: a dog owner who has a good stay at Fairmont Banff Springs books Fairmont San Francisco on the same assumption and gets an F. After that they stop trusting the flag, and the loyalty the brand spent a fortune to earn goes to the individual hotel that deserved it. Kimpton, which sits inside IHG beside InterContinental under the same owners and operators, shows that the floor is a decision and not a structural impossibility. One brand level policy, no fee, no weight limit, a bed and bowls in every room, produces no F grade across 27 hotels. Hilton has shown that a brand can decide at the scale of a whole system, and also what happens when the decision stops at the front door. The capability exists everywhere in this paper. A brand that cannot tell its own guests what happens when they bring the dog is not keeping the one promise a brand exists to make. ## 1. The Promise of a Brand Book a Fairmont in Banff and a Fairmont in Monaco and you will recognise the turndown, the toiletries, the breakfast service and the way the concierge speaks to you. Book two InterContinentals a continent apart and the Club lounge, the bedding and the loyalty recognition will be the same. That is not luck. Every luxury group runs a brand standards manual that runs to hundreds of pages, specifies the thread count of the sheets and the temperature of the welcome drink, inspects properties against it, and withdraws the flag from owners who fail. Consistency is the product. An owner pays for the name because the name brings guests who trust it, and the guest pays a premium for the confidence that the next stay will be like the last. Dog friendly hospitality has been left outside that system entirely. There is no brand mandated minimum for what a dog gets, where it may go, what the owner pays or what the policy says. Each hotel writes its own rules, usually with the insurer looking over its shoulder, and the brand tolerates every answer equally. A Fairmont can hand the dog a bed and a bowl and the run of the bar, or keep it in the room on a 25 lb limit for $250, and both hotels fly the same flag and describe themselves in the same two words. What that produces, measured hotel by hotel, is the subject of sections 3 to 5. I think it matters more now than it did five years ago, for three reasons. First, the guest with the dog is the most loyal guest in the building. Once a dog owner finds a hotel that genuinely welcomes the dog they stop looking, because finding another one is hard and arriving somewhere that turns out not to welcome the dog is miserable. A brand that cannot be relied on hands that loyalty to the individual hotel that earned it, and to its competitors. Second, booking data now shows pet friendly properties running fuller and at higher rates than their neighbours, so the variance is a revenue leak as well as a trust problem. The companion paper sets out the arithmetic and section 7 summarises it. Third, the variance is now visible. Every hotel in this paper is published with its grade, its fee and its policy on [rochdog.com](https://rochdog.com), and the label "pet friendly" no longer does the job the brand used to let it do. A guest can see the gap between two hotels under one flag before booking either, and increasingly they do. The question the rest of this paper answers is whether that promise survives the arrival of a dog. ## 2. How We Measured Every hotel in this paper was assessed against the [Roch Dog Friendly Standard (RDFS-02)](https://rochstandard.com/standard/), a published framework of weighted questions covering policy (fees, deposits, weight limits, dogs per room), access (rooms, bar, restaurant, lounge, terrace, garden), amenities (beds, bowls, food, treats, walking and sitting services) and operations (staff training, programmes, an emergency vet number at the desk). Scores convert to grades at fixed thresholds, from A+ at the top to F at the bottom. The [assessment framework](https://rochstandard.com/framework/) sets out the questions and weights in full. Most assessments were made by anonymous guest enquiry. We write to the hotel as a private traveller planning a stay with a dog, ask the questions a careful owner would ask, and record what the hotel says in its own words. A smaller number were submitted by the hotel itself through our [free certification](https://rochcertification.com), and every answer is then checked through the year with housekeeping, the front desk, reservations and the concierge, and with guests through their reviews. Both routes use the same questions and the same scoring. Where a hotel answers only part of the questionnaire, unanswered questions score No, so every score is a floor rather than a ceiling. Certified hotels are reassessed every year by the same anonymous method. The standard also carries [six minimum requirements](https://rochstandard.com/criteria/): a written dog policy available before booking, real bowls, at least one shared indoor space the dog may enter with its owner, the fee disclosed, the deposit terms transparent, and a stated limit on dogs per room. A hotel that meets all six carries the line "Meets the Roch Dog Friendly Standard" on its public page. A hotel that misses any carries the line that it does not. The tables below record that test for every hotel; which requirement a hotel missed is reported to the hotel, not published. A word on fairness before a single grade is read. A hotel that answers a guest briefly may score below what it offers, and a hotel that answers fully gets credit for it. The method rewards hotels that tell guests what they do, which is the point: a dog owner booking from the hotel's own words is in exactly the position we were in when we asked. The hotels were assessed between July 2025 and October 2026 and the data is as of 25 October 2026. Scores move as hotels are reassessed, so every figure here is a snapshot, and the live grade for any hotel is on its rochdog.com page. Across the more than 3,000 hotels Roch Dog has assessed in 56 countries, roughly half score D or F and one in eleven scores A or better, so neither InterContinental nor Fairmont is an outlier. They are the industry, measured. ## 3. InterContinental: Best and Worst Under One Flag The first edition of this paper assessed 30 InterContinental Hotels and Resorts in December 2025 and found a 57 point spread between the best and the worst. Seven of those 30 never answered enough to hold a grade and two no longer hold a published assessment, so the portfolio with a live grade today stands at 21. Several have been reassessed since. The spread is now 64 points, and both ends of it are in the United States. | # | Property | Score | Grade | Meets the Standard | Dog fee | Weight limit | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | [InterContinental Miami](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-miami-an-ihg-hotel) | 69 | A+ | Yes | $100 per stay | No limit | | 2 | [InterContinental New York Barclay](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-new-york-barclay-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 39 | A | Yes | Dogs stay free | 50 lb | | 3 | [InterContinental Washington Willard](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/willard-intercontinental-washington-an-ihg-hotel) | 34 | B | Yes | $200 per stay | 40 lb | | 4 | [InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-rome-ambasciatori-palace-an-ihg-hotel) | 32 | B | Yes | EUR 25 to 35 a day, plus EUR 70 cleaning | No limit | | 5 | [InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental--los-angeles-downtown-an-ihg-hotel) | 30 | B | Yes | $125 per stay | 40 lb | | 6 | [InterContinental Boston](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-boston-an-ihg-hotel) | 29 | C | No | $150 per stay | 25 lb | | 7 | [InterContinental Kansas City At The Plaza](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-kansas-city-at-the-plaza-an-ihg-hotel) | 29 | C | No | $125 per stay | No limit | | 8 | [InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-mark-hopkins-san-francisco-an-ihg-hotel) | 28 | C | No | $50 per stay | 50 lb | | 9 | [InterContinental Porto Palacio das Cardosas](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-porto--palacio-das-cardosas-an-ihg-hotel) | 27 | C | No | EUR 30 per night | 33 lb | | 10 | [InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-buckhead-atlanta-an-ihg-hotel) | 25 | C | Yes | $100 per stay | 70 lb | | 11 | [InterContinental Lisbon](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-lisbon-an-ihg-hotel) | 25 | C | Yes | EUR 40 per night | 33 lb | | 12 | [InterContinental Washington D.C. The Wharf](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental--washington-dc--the-wharf-an-ihg-hotel) | 21 | C | No | $75 per pet | 50 lb | | 13 | [InterContinental San Diego](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-san-diego-an-ihg-hotel) | 19 | D | No | $150 per stay | No limit | | 14 | [InterContinental San Francisco](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-san-francisco-an-ihg-hotel) | 19 | D | Yes | $100 per stay | 50 lb | | 15 | [InterContinental Hotel Minneapolis](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-minneapolis--st-paul-airport-an-ihg-hotel) | 17 | D | Yes | $50 per pet | No limit | | 16 | [InterContinental Montreal](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-montreal-an-ihg-hotel) | 16 | D | No | $40 per night, per dog | No limit | | 17 | [InterContinental New Orleans](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-new-orleans-an-ihg-hotel) | 15 | D | No | $150 per stay | No limit | | 18 | [InterContinental Toronto Centre](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-toronto-centre-an-ihg-hotel) | 14 | D | No | $50 cleaning fee | 50 lb | | 19 | [InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-chicago-magnificent-mile-an-ihg-hotel) | 10 | F | No | $150 per pet, per stay | 40 lb | | 20 | [InterContinental Houston](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-houston-medical-center-an-ihg-hotel) | 10 | F | No | $150 cleaning fee per room | 100 lb | | 21 | [InterContinental New York Times Square](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-new-york-times-square-an-ihg-hotel) | 5 | F | No | $250 per stay | 75 lb | Nine of the 21 score D or F. Nine meet the six minimum requirements. Two score A or better, and one of those is the highest scoring hotel in our entire dataset. ### 3.1 Miami and Times Square [InterContinental Miami](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-miami-an-ihg-hotel) is a 653 room convention hotel on Biscayne Bay, and it has made an affirmative decision on almost every question we ask. Dogs may use the bar, the terrace, the lounge and the garden. They may stay in the room unaccompanied, which matters enormously to an owner who wants the gym, the spa or dinner without worrying. There is no weight limit, so a Labrador is as welcome as a Chihuahua. The hotel sells dog food, provides real bowls and beds, hands out treats and toys, publishes walking routes, arranges professional walking and sitting, offers grooming, runs dog activities and events, supports a canine charity, has trained its staff, keeps the emergency vet's number at the desk and has a dedicated dog space on the property. Its fee is $100 a stay, below the portfolio median. Miami does not charge more for a better experience. It charges less, and it has built a programme a dog owner can see from the booking page. [InterContinental New York Times Square](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-new-york-times-square-an-ihg-hotel), a 607 room hotel in one of the most visited places on earth, told us two things in the dog's favour: most of its rooms take dogs, and there is green space nearby. That is the whole offering. No bar, lounge, garden or terrace. No bed, no bowls, no treats, no walking, no sitting, no route guidance, no training, no vet number. A 75 lb weight limit and a $250 fee, the highest in the portfolio. The guest pays two and a half times what Miami charges and receives, in measured terms, a room. These two hotels share a name, a booking engine, a loyalty programme and a brand promise. They sit on the same page of the InterContinental website under the same pet friendly description. A guest choosing between them on the strength of the brand has no way of knowing which experience they are buying, and the brand has no mechanism that would make the second hotel more like the first. ### 3.2 The fee tells you nothing Across the 21 hotels the fee runs from nothing at the New York Barclay to $250 a stay at Times Square. Set the fees against the scores and there is no relationship between what a dog owner pays and what they get. Where a pattern exists it runs the wrong way. The three hotels at the bottom of the table charge $150, $150 and $250. The hotel at the top charges $100 and the hotel in second place charges nothing. The Willard in Washington charges $200 and delivers a B; Times Square charges $250 and delivers two yeses. This inversion is not a quirk of a few properties. It is what a fee looks like when it is set as a deterrent rather than as a price for a service. At the top of the table the fee funds something: Miami's $100 buys beds, bowls, walking, sitting and a staff that has been trained. At the bottom the fee funds nothing, because there is nothing to fund. There are no walkers to pay, no food to stock, no amenities to maintain. The fee exists to reduce the number of guests who arrive with a dog, and it is priced accordingly. The deposits tell the same story: Chicago, one of the three F grades, is one of only four hotels in the portfolio that take one. In no other dimension of luxury hospitality would a brand tolerate this. If a guest paid two and a half times more for a room at one InterContinental and received a room measurably worse than at another, the brand would intervene, because the brand has a standard for the room. It has no standard for the dog, so nothing triggers. What a fee should fund is set out in our guide to the Kyung Hee choice experiment, [What Dog Owners Will Pay For in a Hotel](https://rochstandard.com/research/what-dog-owners-will-pay-for/): owners pay for service and shared space, and not one of them pays for a rule. The deterrent fee has also become a regulatory question in the brand's largest markets. The US Federal Trade Commission's rule on unfair or deceptive fees, in force since May 2025, requires mandatory charges to appear in the headline price, and the Texas Attorney General has extracted settlements from Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, Omni, Choice and Booking.com over hotel fees that surfaced late. The UK's drip pricing ban has applied since April 2025. A dog fee a guest discovers at check in, attached to no service, is the kind of charge both regimes were written to expose. ### 3.3 The access divide The clearest line between the top and the bottom of this portfolio is not amenities. It is access, and specifically whether the dog is allowed anywhere other than the room. Across the 21 hotels, 19 allow dogs in most room categories, but only 11 allow a dog in the lounge, five in the bar and three in the restaurant. Ten of the 21 allow the dog in none of the three. Fourteen provide bowls and thirteen a bed. Five say their staff are trained to handle dogs. Nine keep an emergency vet's number at the desk. None of the three F grades lets the dog into the bar, the restaurant or the lounge. Times Square I have described. [InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-chicago-magnificent-mile-an-ihg-hotel), 792 rooms, provides a bed and bowls and walking routes, then charges $150 per pet, holds a $150 deposit, imposes a 40 lb limit and allows the dog nowhere outside the room. [InterContinental Houston](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-houston-medical-center-an-ihg-hotel) has the most generous weight limit in the portfolio at 100 lb and then charges a $150 cleaning fee per room for a dog that may use the terrace and little else. Each of these is a large urban hotel at a luxury rate in a city full of dogs. The consequence for the guest is not abstract. An owner whose dog is confined to the room cannot use the lobby bar, cannot eat in the restaurant, cannot work in the lounge. They are paying a luxury rate for a constrained version of the stay. So they order room service, or they leave the hotel to eat, and in either case the hotel has forfeited the spend that a guest who feels welcome throughout the building would have left in it. The money does not disappear. It goes to the restaurant down the street or to the hotel across it that let the guest sit in the lobby with the dog. The weight limit does the same work at the front door. Boston's 25 lb limit, the tightest in the portfolio, turns away Labradors, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Border Collies, Boxers and most mixed breed dogs before the question of access even arises. Fourteen of the 21 hotels impose a limit of some kind. Seven have none. The standard takes the view set out in the [Friendly Dog Policy](https://rochstandard.com/research/the-hotel-pet-policy/), that a hotel should judge the dog on its behaviour and not its weight, and a third of this brand's own hotels already do. ### 3.4 Measurement moves hotels Being measured changes things, and this portfolio shows it better than any other we hold. When this paper first appeared in March, [InterContinental Washington D.C. The Wharf](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental--washington-dc--the-wharf-an-ihg-hotel) charged $250, imposed a 25 lb limit and scored 8. Its policy today is $75 per pet with a 50 lb limit and it scores 21. Mark Hopkins San Francisco has gone from 12 to 28 on reassessment. Boston from 15 to 29. The third edition of this paper, three weeks ago, led with [InterContinental San Diego](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental-san-diego-an-ihg-hotel), a 400 room waterfront hotel that had answered yes to two of our questions and scored below zero. On reassessment it provides a bed and bowls, opens its terrace to the dog, sets no weight limit and scores 19. [InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/intercontinental--los-angeles-downtown-an-ihg-hotel) has gone from 16 and a D to 30 and a B in the same period, opening its bar, lounge and terrace and meeting all six minimum requirements. InterContinental San Francisco has moved from an F to a D and now meets the six. None of these hotels spent capital to move. They answered the questions differently, which is to say they decided differently. That is the whole thesis of this paper in a handful of rows: the variance is a product of decisions, and decisions can be changed in a quarter. It cuts the other way too. Houston has slipped from a D to an F since the last edition, and the Wharf, which met the six minimum requirements when the third edition appeared, no longer does. A brand that measured its own hotels would have seen all of this before we did. InterContinental, to be fair to it, has never promised a dog owner anything. Its website says pet friendly and leaves the rest to the hotel, and what the table shows is the gap between a label and a guarantee. The next portfolio is a harder case, because this brand did make a promise. ## 4. Fairmont: Sixty Three Hotels, No Standard Fairmont is the brand that makes the argument hardest to dodge, because Fairmont markets its dog friendliness. Resident Canine Ambassadors at Banff Springs and Lake Louise since 2002, doormen with treat pockets, a heritage of dogs in the great Canadian railway hotels that the brand's own marketing leans on, and a press release in July 2025 promising that all of its guests, the four legged ones included, receive luxury and personalised service. If any flag could be relied on by a dog owner it should be this one. We tested that promise at every Fairmont on earth in [Fairmont and the Four Legged Guest](https://rochstandard.com/research/fairmont-dog-friendly-hotels/), published this month, and the full account of the brand, its refusals and its Canine Ambassador hotels is there. What follows is the portfolio as it stands beside InterContinental and Kimpton. Of the 94 hotels on Fairmont's own list, 63 take dogs and hold a published grade, including The Plaza in New York and The Savoy in London, which Fairmont manages. Twenty refused the dog outright, in writing. One is closed for renovation, two have not yet opened and eight did not answer two rounds of enquiry. | # | Property | Score | Grade | Meets the Standard | Dog fee | Weight limit | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | [Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows (Santa Monica, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-miramar-hotel-bungalows) | 46 | A+ | Yes | $125 per stay | No limit | | 2 | [Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn (Sonoma, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-sonoma-mission-inn-spa) | 44 | A | Yes | $150 per room | No limit | | 3 | [Fairmont Banff Springs (Banff, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-banff-springs) | 42 | A | Yes | C$50 per night, capped at C$100 | No limit | | 4 | [Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise (Lake Louise, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-chateau-lake-louise) | 37 | A | Yes | C$85 per day, capped at C$450 per stay | No limit | | 5 | [Fairmont Royal York (Toronto, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-royal-york-hotel) | 36 | A | Yes | C$60 per stay, per dog | No limit | | 6 | [Fairmont Pacific Rim (Vancouver, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-pacific-rim) | 35 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 7 | [Fairmont St Andrews (St Andrews, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-st-andrews-st-andrews) | 35 | B | Yes | GBP 50 per night, per pet | No limit | | 8 | [Fairmont Chateau Whistler (Whistler, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-chateau-whistler) | 32 | B | Yes | C$50 per night plus taxes, capped at C$100 | No limit | | 9 | [Fairmont Golden Prague (Prague, Czechia)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-golden-prague-prague) | 32 | B | Yes | EUR 35 per pet, per night | No limit | | 10 | [The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald (Edmonton, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-fairmont-hotel-macdonald) | 31 | B | Yes | C$35 per pet, per night | No limit | | 11 | [Fairmont La Hacienda Costa del Sol (San Roque, Spain)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-la-hacienda-costa-del-sol-san-roque) | 30 | B | Yes | EUR 25 per dog, per day | No limit | | 12 | [Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu (La Malbaie, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-le-manoir-richelieu) | 29 | B | Yes | C$60 plus taxes per night | No limit | | 13 | [Fairmont Chateau Laurier (Ottawa, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-chateau-laurier) | 27 | B | Yes | From C$50 per stay | No limit | | 14 | [Fairmont Kea Lani (Maui, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-kea-lani-maui-maui) | 27 | B | Yes | $40 per day | 20 lb | | 15 | [Fairmont Century Plaza (Los Angeles, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-century-plaza-los-angeles) | 42 | C | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 16 | [The Plaza (New York, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-plaza) | 38 | C | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 17 | [Fairmont Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-pittsburgh) | 31 | C | No | $50 per stay | No limit | | 18 | [Fairmont Olympic Hotel (Seattle, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-olympic-hotel) | 31 | C | No | $75 per stay | No limit | | 19 | [Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (Vancouver, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-hotel-vancouver-vancouver) | 29 | C | No | C$50 per night plus taxes, capped at C$100 | No limit | | 20 | [Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (Quebec City, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-le-chateau-frontenac) | 28 | C | No | C$60 per night | No limit | | 21 | [Fairmont Empress (Victoria, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-empress-victoria) | 27 | C | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 22 | [Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-rio-de-janeiro-copacabana-rio-de-janeiro) | 27 | C | No | R$50 per night plus charges | 55 lb | | 23 | [Fairmont Le Château Montebello (Montebello, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-le-ch-teau-montebello-montebello) | 27 | C | No | C$55 plus taxes per room, per night | No limit | | 24 | [Fairmont Riyadh (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-riyadh-riyadh) | 26 | C | No | SAR 50 per day | No limit | | 25 | [Fairmont Monte Carlo (Monaco)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-monte-carlo-monaco) | 26 | C | No | EUR 50 per dog, per night | No limit | | 26 | [Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth (Montreal, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-the-queen-elizabeth) | 25 | C | Yes | C$50 per night | No limit | | 27 | [Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv (Kyiv, Ukraine)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-grand-hotel-kyiv-kyiv) | 25 | C | Yes | EUR 60 per night | 11 lb | | 28 | [Fairmont Scottsdale Princess (Scottsdale, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-scottsdale-princess-scottsdale) | 25 | C | No | Not stated | No limit | | 29 | [Fairmont Tremblant (Mont-Tremblant, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-tremblant) | 24 | C | Yes | C$60 per day plus taxes | No limit | | 30 | [Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park (Chicago, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-chicago-millennium-park) | 24 | C | Yes | $150 per stay, $300 for stays of 7 to 30 days | 40 lb | | 31 | [Fairmont La Marina Rabat-Salé (Rabat, Morocco)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-la-marina-rabat-sal-rabat-sale) | 23 | C | Yes | MAD 500 per night | 110 lb | | 32 | [Fairmont Copley Plaza (Boston, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-copley-plaza) | 22 | C | No | $50 per night | No limit | | 33 | [Fairmont Waterfront (Vancouver, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-waterfront-vancouver) | 21 | C | No | C$35 per night | 110 lb | | 34 | [Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (Jasper, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-jasper-park-lodge-jasper) | 21 | C | No | C$50 per night | No limit | | 35 | [The Fairmont Winnipeg (Winnipeg, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-fairmont-winnipeg) | 20 | D | Yes | C$25 per night, per pet | No limit | | 36 | [Fairmont Cheshire The Mere (Knutsford, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-cheshire-the-mere-knutsford) | 20 | D | No | GBP 75 | No limit | | 37 | [Fairmont Mayakoba (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-mayakoba) | 20 | D | No | $25 per pet, per day | 25 lb | | 38 | [Fairmont Breakers Long Beach (Long Beach, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-breakers-long-beach-long-beach) | 19 | D | Yes | $150 per stay | No limit | | 39 | [Fairmont Grand Del Mar (San Diego, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-grand-del-mar-san-diego) | 19 | D | No | $150 | No limit | | 40 | [The Savoy (London, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-savoy) | 19 | D | No | GBP 25 per day | 25 lb | | 41 | [Fairmont Le Montreux Palace (Montreux, Switzerland)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-le-montreux-palace-montreux) | 18 | D | Yes | CHF 30 per pet, per stay | No limit | | 42 | [Fairmont Makati (Makati City, Philippines)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-makati-makati-city) | 18 | D | No | Dogs stay free | 80 lb | | 43 | [Carton House, a Fairmont Managed Hotel (Kildare, Ireland)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/carton-house-a-fairmont-managed-hotel-kildare) | 16 | D | No | EUR 50 per night | Not stated | | 44 | [The Fairmont Palliser (Calgary, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-fairmont-palliser) | 15 | D | Yes | C$40 per pet, per night | No limit | | 45 | [Fairmont Nile City (Cairo, Egypt)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-nile-city-cairo) | 15 | D | No | $25 per day, per pet | No limit | | 46 | [Fairmont Orchid (Hawaii, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-orchid-hawaii) | 14 | D | No | $75 per night plus tax | No limit | | 47 | [Fairmont Dallas (Dallas, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-dallas-dallas) | 14 | D | No | $100 | No limit | | 48 | [Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech (Marrakech, Morocco)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-royal-palm-marrakech-marrakech) | 12 | D | No | MAD 500 per stay | 44 lb | | 49 | [Fairmont Windsor Park (Windsor, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-windsor-park-windsor) | 12 | D | No | GBP 50 per dog, per stay | 35 lb | | 50 | [Fairmont Wuhan (Wuhan, China)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-wuhan-wuhan) | 12 | D | No | RMB 350 | 33 lb | | 51 | [Fairmont Baku Flame Towers (Baku, Azerbaijan)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-baku-flame-towers-baku) | 10 | F | No | AZN 60 per pet, per day | 13 lb | | 52 | [Fairmont Amman (Amman, Jordan)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-amman-amman) | 10 | F | No | JOD 25 per pet, per day | 15 lb | | 53 | [Fairmont Vancouver Airport (Richmond, Canada)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-vancouver-airport-richmond) | 9 | F | No | Not stated | No limit | | 54 | [Fairmont San Francisco (San Francisco, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-san-francisco-san-francisco) | 5 | F | No | $100 | No limit | | 55 | [Fairmont Washington (Washington, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-washington-washington) | 5 | F | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 56 | [Fairmont Austin (Austin, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-austin-austin) | 4 | F | No | $100 | 25 lb | | 57 | [Fairmont Hamilton Princess (Hamilton, Bermuda)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-hamilton-princess-hamilton) | 2 | F | No | US$250 | 25 lb | | 58 | [Fairmont Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-tokyo-tokyo) | 0 | F | No | Not stated | No limit | | 59 | [Fairmont Bangkok Sukhumvit (Bangkok, Thailand)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-bangkok-sukhumvit-bangkok) | 0 | F | No | THB 2,000 per pet, per day, plus charges | 66 lb | | 60 | [Fairmont Quasar Istanbul (Istanbul, Turkey)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-quasar-istanbul-istanbul) | -1 | F | No | EUR 25 plus VAT | 34 lb | | 61 | [Fairmont El San Juan Hotel (San Juan, Puerto Rico)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-el-san-juan-hotel-san-juan) | -3 | F | No | $150 | 25 lb | | 62 | [Fairmont Tazi Palace Tangier (Tangier, Morocco)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-tazi-palace-tangier-tanger) | -3 | F | No | MAD 500 | 22 lb | | 63 | [Fairmont Sanya Haitang Bay (Sanya, China)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-sanya-haitang-bay-sanya) | -3 | F | No | RMB 400 per night | 33 lb | ### 4.1 A third meet the standard Twenty three of the 63 meet all six minimum requirements and forty do not. The grades run one A+, four A, nine B, twenty C, sixteen D and thirteen F, an average score at the bottom of the C band. The shortfall that costs the most and costs nothing to fix is indoor access: 31 of the 63 keep the dog out of the bar, the restaurant and the lounge by their own rule, and nine more are kept out by local law, so the owner who does book eats and drinks somewhere else. The portfolio provides more than its grades suggest, and that is the point. Forty eight of the 63 provide a dog bed and 45 provide bowls; 39 publish walking routes, 31 allow the dog on a terrace and 29 hand out treats. But only 19 allow the dog in a lounge, 13 in a bar and nine in a restaurant, and only three of the 63 said their staff are trained to handle dogs. The brand has most of the pieces. It has them in different hotels. Two of the brand's showpieces make the case on their own. Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles scores 42 and The Plaza in New York 38. Both take any dog free with no weight limit, and neither meets the six minimum requirements. A high score and a complete welcome are different things, and a guest booking on the brand's reputation has no way of telling which they have been sold. ### 4.2 One flag, a dozen currencies, no pattern The fee inside this one brand runs from free at Century Plaza, The Plaza, Pacific Rim, the Empress, Makati and Washington to US$250 a stay at Hamilton Princess. It is charged per night, per stay, per dog or per room, capped or uncapped, in a dozen currencies. Banff caps the fee at C$100 and Lake Louise, an hour up the same valley, at C$450. Thirteen Fairmonts take a deposit, from GBP 50 a night at St Andrews to THB 30,000 a stay in Bangkok. Twenty two impose a weight limit, one of them without saying what it is, from 11 lb at Kyiv, which excludes almost every dog, to 110 lb at Waterfront and Rabat, which excludes almost none; five draw the line at 25 lb, The Savoy and Fairmont Austin among them. Forty one impose none. Thirteen hotels allow one dog per room, 36 allow two, two allow three, and twelve set no limit at all. That is 63 local policies, and a dog owner reading the Fairmont website cannot tell which one applies until they ask. ### 4.3 What the best and worst Fairmonts actually offer The top of the portfolio is as good as anything in our data. [Fairmont Miramar](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-miramar-hotel-bungalows) in Santa Monica, the A+, allows the dog in the bar, the restaurant, the lounge, the terrace and the garden, provides a bed and bowls, sells dog food, hands out treats, publishes walking routes, arranges walking, sitting and grooming, supports a canine charity and has no weight limit, for $125 a stay. [Fairmont Banff Springs](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-banff-springs) does most of the same at C$50 a night capped at C$100. Sonoma Mission Inn runs activities for dogs and has won awards for it. These are hotels that have decided the dog is a guest. The bottom of the portfolio has decided the opposite, and it includes some of the brand's most prominent addresses. [Fairmont Austin](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/fairmont-austin-austin), the brand's largest hotel in the United States and its second largest anywhere at 1,048 rooms, answered yes to four things: most rooms take dogs, cats are welcome, there are poop bags, and the policy is published. A 25 lb weight limit and a $100 fee complete it. Fairmont San Francisco, the hotel that gave the brand its name, offers most rooms and no weight limit, and nothing else at all, for $100. Fairmont Hamilton Princess in Bermuda offers rooms, a 25 lb limit and a US$250 fee, and nothing else. Fairmont El San Juan answered yes to nothing, imposes a 25 lb limit and charges $150. Fairmont Bangkok allows the dog in a lounge, then charges THB 2,000 a day with a THB 30,000 deposit on a 66 lb limit. [The Savoy](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-savoy) provides a bed, bowls, treats and a terrace, a reasonable start, then caps the dog at 25 lb and scores a D. The distance between the Miramar and Fairmont Austin is 42 points on the standard. Both are large Fairmonts in major American cities at luxury rates. One has built a programme and the other has written a policy, and the guest booking either has the same website, the same logo and the same July press release to go on. ### 4.4 Canada, and everywhere else The brand's strength is where its history is. Of the 19 Canadian Fairmonts, three grade A and five B, and only one, Vancouver Airport, grades F. The United States splits down the middle: an A+ at the Miramar and an A at Sonoma above three Fs at San Francisco, Washington and Austin, with seven hotels in the C band between them. Outside Canada and the United States the picture thins quickly. Twenty seven hotels hold a published grade, three of them B, none A, and nine F. In Britain, St Andrews earns a B while The Savoy, Windsor Park and Cheshire The Mere all score D. That geography is not an accident. The Canadian railway hotels are where Fairmont's dog culture was born, and a culture that has never been written down travels badly. Then there are the twenty Fairmonts that do not take dogs at all: five in the Emirates, three in China, two in Saudi Arabia, and one each in Barbados, Hamburg, Singapore, Mumbai, Jakarta, Doha, Taghazout Bay in Morocco, Cape Town, Seoul and Hanoi. Some of those are explained by local law or custom. Hamburg and Cape Town are not. A guest who has learned to trust Fairmont with the dog in Banff books the Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg on the same assumption and is turned away, and nothing on the brand's own pages warned them. Fairmont is not a bad dog friendly brand; its best hotels are among the best anywhere. It is an unmanaged one. Nothing in its own rules connects the top to the bottom, and the guest finds out which of the 63 they have bought when they arrive. ## 5. Kimpton: The Counterpoint Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants is an IHG brand, operating under the same parent, the same mix of franchised and managed hotels and the same corporate infrastructure as InterContinental. The difference is that Kimpton has a dog policy at brand level: no fee, no weight limit, a bed and bowls in every room. | # | Property | Score | Grade | Meets the Standard | Dog fee | Weight limit | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | [Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa (Vero Beach, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-vero-beach-hotel-spa) | 52 | A+ | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 2 | [Kimpton Schofield Hotel (Cleveland, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-schofield-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 46 | A+ | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 3 | [Kimpton Fitzroy London (London, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton--fitzroy-london-an-ihg-hotel) | 45 | A | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 4 | [Kimpton Sawyer Hotel (Sacramento, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-sawyer-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 42 | A | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 5 | [Kimpton Hotel Monaco (Seattle, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-monaco-seattle-an-ihg-hotel) | 39 | A | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 6 | [Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia (Philadelphia, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-palomar-philadelphia-an-ihg-hotel) | 37 | A | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 7 | [Kimpton Canary Hotel (Santa Barbara, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-canary-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 36 | A | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 8 | [Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC (Washington, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-monaco-washington-dc-an-ihg-hotel) | 33 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 9 | [Kimpton Hotel Eventi (New York, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-eventi-an-ihg-hotel) | 32 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 10 | [Kimpton Seafire Resort (Grand Cayman)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-seafire-resort-spa-an-ihg-hotel) | 32 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 11 | [Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel (Glasgow, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton--blythswood-square-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 30 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | 77 lb | | 12 | [Kimpton Gray Hotel (Chicago, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-gray-hotel-chicago-an-ihg-hotel) | 30 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 13 | [Kimpton Riverplace Hotel (Portland, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-riverplace-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 30 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 14 | [Kimpton Charlotte Square (Edinburgh, UK)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton--charlotte-square-an-ihg-hotel) | 28 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 15 | [Kimpton Hotel Vintage (Seattle, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-vintage-seattle-an-ihg-hotel) | 28 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 16 | [Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix Cityscape (Phoenix, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-palomar-phoenix-cityscape-an-ihg-hotel) | 27 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 17 | [Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs (Palm Springs, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-rowan-palm-springs-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 26 | B | Yes | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 18 | [Kimpton Marlowe Hotel (Cambridge, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-marlowe-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 34 | C | No | $250 | No limit | | 19 | [Kimpton Hotel Monaco (Philadelphia, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-monaco-philadelphia-an-ihg-hotel) | 31 | C | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 20 | [Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok (Bangkok, Thailand)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-maa-lai-bangkok-an-ihg-hotel) | 24 | C | Yes | THB 3,000 per night | No limit | | 21 | [Kimpton La Peer Hotel (Los Angeles, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-la-peer-hotel-west-hollywood-an-ihg-hotel) | 22 | C | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 22 | [Kimpton Alton Hotel (San Francisco, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-alton-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 18 | D | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 23 | [Kimpton George Hotel (Washington, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-george-hotel-an-ihg-hotel) | 18 | D | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 24 | [Kimpton Hotel Enso (San Francisco, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-enso-an-ihg-hotel) | 18 | D | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 25 | [Kimpton Everly Hotel Hollywood (Los Angeles, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-everly-hotel-hollywood-an-ihg-hotel-los-angeles) | 16 | D | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | | 26 | [Kimpton Hotel Wilshire (Los Angeles, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-wilshire-los-angeles) | 15 | D | No | Not stated | No limit | | 27 | [Kimpton Hotel Palomar Los Angeles Beverly Hills (Los Angeles, USA)](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-hotel-palomar-los-angeles-beverly-hills-an-ihg-hotel-los-angeles) | 13 | D | No | Dogs stay free | No limit | Twenty four of the 27 stay free, 26 have no weight limit, 25 provide a bed and 24 provide bowls. Eighteen meet the six minimum requirements, seven score A or better, six score D and none scores F. The average score is five points above InterContinental, inside the same company, and the floor is eight points higher. Set the three portfolios side by side and the shape of a brand level policy is visible in the numbers. | | InterContinental | Fairmont | Kimpton | |---|---|---|---| | Hotels assessed | 21 | 63 | 27 | | Average score | 24.4 | 21.0 | 29.7 | | Lowest to highest | 5 to 69 | -3 to 46 | 13 to 52 | | A or A+ | 2 | 5 | 7 | | D or F | 9 | 29 | 6 | | F | 3 | 13 | 0 | | Meet the six minimum requirements | 9 of 21 | 23 of 63 | 18 of 27 | | Dogs stay free | 1 | 6 | 24 | | Hotels that impose a weight limit | 14 | 22 | 1 | | Dog bed in the room | 13 | 48 | 25 | | Real bowls | 14 | 45 | 24 | | Dog allowed in a lounge | 11 | 19 | 20 | | Dog kept out of bar, restaurant and lounge by the hotel's own rule | 8 | 31 | 6 | | Staff trained for dogs | 5 | 3 | 1 | | Hotels that refuse dogs | not counted | 20 | 0 | The table shows what a brand level policy does and does not do. It guarantees the floor, the fee, the limit, the bed and the bowl, where Kimpton is near uniform and the other two scatter. It does not guarantee the ceiling. Kimpton's bar access, services and staff training are no better than the others, and six Kimptons score D because beyond the floor they have built nothing. [Kimpton Vero Beach](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/kimpton-vero-beach-hotel-spa), the A+, opens the bar, restaurant, lounge and terrace, runs activities, sells dog food and has a dog wash. Kimpton Palomar Beverly Hills, the lowest D, provides the bed the brand requires, opens its lounge, and offers nothing more. Four Kimptons have drifted off the brand policy: Marlowe in Cambridge at $250, Maa-Lai Bangkok at THB 3,000 a night, Blythswood Square in Glasgow with a 77 lb limit, and Hotel Wilshire in Los Angeles, which answered our question about the fee with a price list for damage. Even the most consistent brand in our data drifts when nobody checks. ## 6. Why the Variance Exists Three portfolios, one method, and the same causes in each. Nobody owns the dog. At almost every hotel we assess, the dog policy was written by whoever handles the insurance, is enforced by whoever is on shift, and is reviewed by nobody. Our study of 236 published hotel pet policies, [The Fine Print](https://rochstandard.com/research/the-hotel-pet-policy/), found that nine in ten contain more prohibitions than courtesies, that the typical policy forbids six things and offers fewer than two, and that only one in five mentions a water bowl. A policy nobody owns drifts, and 63 policies nobody owns drift in 63 directions. The brand standard stops at the pet policy template. A luxury brand specifies the thread count of its sheets and says nothing about whether a dog may sit in the lounge. Where a group template exists it covers liability, waivers and fees, the things the lawyers care about, and nothing about beds, bowls, access or service, the things the guest cares about. [The Fine Print](https://rochstandard.com/research/the-hotel-pet-policy/) found that the waivers and indemnities which make these documents so unwelcoming are, in the four legal systems it reviewed, somewhere between weak and worthless, so the template delivers the coldness without even the protection. The franchise mix is used as an excuse. The argument runs that a brand cannot impose dog standards on independent owners and third party operators. I have heard it more than once, and Kimpton, under exactly that mix inside IHG, disproves it. Brand standards for the room, the breakfast and the uniform are imposed on the same owners every day. The mix is a reason it takes effort, not a reason it cannot be done. Hilton shows both halves of the lesson. In June 2022 Hilton announced that more than 4,600 hotels across seven of its brands in the United States and Canada welcome dogs, and gave every one of them access to virtual veterinary advice through Mars Petcare for the length of the stay. It is the largest brand level decision about the dog any hotel company has taken, and it proves that a decision can be made for thousands of hotels under hundreds of owners at once. It also shows where such a decision usually stops. The bed and the bowls in the room belong to one brand's programme, Canopy; elsewhere the release says only that many hotels offer bowls and waste bags. The fee and the weight limit were left to each hotel. In the Hilton family hotels we hold, most set a weight limit, from 22 lb to 111 lb, and the scores run from 5 to 41. Hilton decided to admit the dog at scale. It has not yet decided to welcome it. Nothing is measured. Until this dataset existed, no brand could see its own spread. IHG had no number for Miami and no number for Times Square, and so no reason to ask why they differ. Fairmont had no number for the Miramar and none for Austin. What is not measured is not managed, and a general manager who has never seen the number cannot be expected to move it. The leaderboards in this paper are what unmeasured discretion produces. The hotels that moved between editions moved because, for the first time, someone had measured them. And at the bottom of both luxury portfolios the fee is doing the policy's job: a charge high enough to discourage the booking, attached to nothing the dog receives. The hotels charging the most in these tables consistently offer the least, which is the opposite of how either brand prices anything else it sells. A dog owner reads that fee for exactly what it is, and the hotel across the street that charges less and offers more gets the booking. None of these causes is expensive to remove. Each is a decision that has not been taken, usually because nobody in the building has the job of taking it. The next two sections put a number on what that indecision costs and set out what taking it looks like. ## 7. What It Costs The revenue model is set out in full in [The Economics of Dog Friendly Hospitality](https://rochstandard.com/research/economics-of-dog-friendly-hospitality/), with every assumption stated. Its base case is a representative 250 room luxury hotel at $350 a night and 70% occupancy. | Revenue line | Basis | Annual value | |---|---|---| | Room revenue | 5% occupancy lift, 4,563 extra room nights at $350 | $1,597,050 | | Rate premium | $17.41 a night, AirDNA's measured premium on pet friendly listings, across 10,951 dog occupied nights | $190,657 | | Pet fee | $50 a stay on 1,782 stays | $89,100 | | **Total incremental revenue** | | **$1,876,807** | The 5% occupancy lift sits below the measured gap: KeyData's booking data shows pet friendly rentals at 54% occupancy against 48% for the rest, and AirDNA finds 5.4% more demand. On property spend from dog guests is left out as upside, because no hotel has yet published it. The one off investment to reach a credible programme is $25,000 to $50,000, with running costs of about $3,000 a month, most of it housekeeping; roughly half the incremental revenue reaches operating profit. Applied to these two portfolios the arithmetic is direct. Fairmont has 29 hotels scoring D or F and InterContinental has nine, each by its own answers not capturing the segment, and each able to meet the standard through the six decisions in section 8 without a renovation. Thirty eight hotels at even half the base case is tens of millions of dollars a year handed to the restaurant down the street and to the competitor that lets the dog into the bar. The cost of the variance itself is harder to count and matters more. Dog owners return to the hotel that welcomed the dog rather than gamble on another, and a consistent brand collects that loyalty at brand level. A guest who has had a good stay at InterContinental Miami books Times Square with confidence, has a bad one, and does not conclude that Times Square is the problem. They conclude that InterContinental cannot be trusted with the dog, and the next booking goes to the individual hotel that earned it, or to a Kimpton. An inconsistent brand does not merely fail to earn the segment's loyalty. It trains the segment not to trust the flag. ## 8. What a Consistent Brand Dog Policy Looks Like The standard's [six minimum requirements](https://rochstandard.com/criteria/) are the floor a dog owner needs in order to book on the strength of a name, and they are what a brand should write into the manual for every hotel under its flag that takes dogs. They were designed to be reachable within a quarter and they cost almost nothing. Five of the six rules below are those requirements, written the way a brand would write them. The sixth, the weight limit, and the bed in rule five, are where the brand's own best hotels have already gone further, and where a brand that wants the segment should follow them. 1. **A written dog policy, available before booking, the same shape at every hotel.** One document in the brand's template, on every hotel's page, saying what the dog gets, where it may go and what it costs. Not one policy, because a ski lodge and a city tower will differ, but one layout, so that a guest comparing Banff with Chicago reads the same five lines on both pages. [The Fine Print](https://rochstandard.com/research/the-hotel-pet-policy/) found that the clearest policies in the industry are the short ones. A brand can fix this in a week. 2. **The fee published in the headline price, in one shape, with a reason.** Every hotel under the flag charges per stay or per night, not a mixture; the amount may vary by market, the structure may not; and the fee is disclosed before booking and tied to what the dog receives. Regulators already require the disclosure. The brand should require the consistency, and the [choice experiment](https://rochstandard.com/research/what-dog-owners-will-pay-for/) tells it what the fee should buy. 3. **No weight limit below 50 lb, or none at all.** A 25 lb limit turns away the dogs most guests own. Kimpton runs 26 of 27 hotels with no limit and Fairmont 41 of 63; the [Friendly Dog Policy](https://rochstandard.com/research/the-hotel-pet-policy/) judges the dog on its behaviour, which is the only thing a hotel can actually observe. 4. **At least one shared indoor space the dog may enter with its owner.** A lounge, a bar or a restaurant, so that the owner can eat and drink in the hotel without leaving the dog upstairs. Thirty one Fairmonts and eight InterContinentals keep the dog out of all three by their own rule. This is the single decision with the largest effect on both the score and the revenue, and a terrace does not do the job in November. 5. **Real bowls and a bed in every dog room.** Kimpton provides a bed in 25 of 27 hotels and bowls in 24. Fairmont already provides beds in 48 and bowls in 45; the policy asks the brand to make it 63. 6. **A stated limit on dogs per room and plain deposit terms.** Whether a deposit is taken, how much, and when it is returned, in the same document as the fee. Honesty rather than generosity. Those six put a floor under every hotel. Above it, the brand's own strongest hotels show what to add, none of it needing capital: a published walking route, treats at the desk, a vetted walking and sitting partner, the vet's number on file, staff briefed so that every shift gives the same answer, and the thing Miami has understood better than any hotel we have assessed, a weekly event that gives the dog a social life and the hotel a reason to be photographed. And one rule that keeps the floor from sinking: **assess every hotel every year, by the same method, and publish the result.** Kimpton's four strays, the Wharf's slide and Houston's slip show that a brand policy drifts unless someone checks it. Roch Dog's certification is free, assesses by anonymous enquiry and reassesses annually, so a brand can have the measurement without building it. What it cannot outsource is the decision. ## 9. Conclusion This paper asked whether the promise a luxury brand makes to every guest survives the arrival of a dog. Across three portfolios and 111 hotels it does not, and the research supports three conclusions. The first is that both luxury brands are losing money across the group, and not in one place. Thirty eight of their hotels grade D or F on their own answers, and 24 of those 38 keep the dog out of the bar, the restaurant and the lounge, so the owner who does book eats and drinks somewhere else. [The Economics of Dog Friendly Hospitality](https://rochstandard.com/research/economics-of-dog-friendly-hospitality/) puts a credible dog programme at a representative luxury hotel at $1.88 million a year in incremental revenue, roughly half of it reaching operating profit. The loyalty of the dog owner, which a consistent brand collects at brand level, is being collected instead by Miami, by Banff and by the Miramar, hotel by hotel, with nothing left over for the name. The second is that both brands are letting down the one promise a luxury flag exists to make. Consistency is the product. For a guest with a dog it does not exist. InterContinental holds the best dog hotel we have ever assessed and a hotel that charges $250 for a room and nothing else. Fairmont holds five A grade hotels, thirteen Fs and twenty refusals under a brand that puts dogs on its home page. In both, the fee bears no relationship to what the dog receives and the weight limit is whatever a general manager once decided. That is not a brand standard with a gap in it. It is the absence of one. The third is that the excuse has run out. Kimpton keeps the promise with one brand policy under the same corporate roof as InterContinental, with the same owners and operators, and the result is a brand with no F grade, where the fee, the weight limit and the bed are the same at almost every door. Hilton has decided, for 4,600 hotels at once, that the dog comes in. The Wharf, San Diego and Los Angeles Downtown moved within weeks once someone was counting, and spent no capital to do it. What is missing in the two luxury brands is not budget, not ownership structure and not know how. It is a decision at brand level that the dog is part of what the name means. So this is the ask, to IHG and to Accor. Take the six requirements your own best hotels already meet and put them in the manual that specifies the sheets. Give the fee a reason and the policy one shape on every page, so that a guest comparing two of your hotels reads the same five lines. Say on your own pages which hotels do not take dogs, so that a refusal at the door becomes a decision made at home. Then have someone who did not write the policy check every hotel against it once a year. Miami, Banff, the Miramar and Vero Beach already do all of it. The rest of your hotels are one decision away, and no general manager can make it for them. It is yours to make. ## Methodology and Limitations This fourth edition reassesses all three portfolios on the data of 25 October 2026 and replaces the third edition of October 2026. It brings the Fairmont figures into line with our dedicated study of that brand, [Fairmont and the Four Legged Guest](https://rochstandard.com/research/fairmont-dog-friendly-hotels/), which uses the same definitions: a hotel is counted as keeping the dog out of its bar, restaurant and lounge only where that is the hotel's own rule and not local law, and a weight limit is counted where the hotel says one applies, whether or not it states the figure. All assessments use the [Roch Dog Friendly Standard (RDFS-02)](https://rochstandard.com/standard/): weighted questions scored and graded at fixed thresholds, with [six minimum requirements](https://rochstandard.com/criteria/) determining whether a hotel meets the standard. Hotels were assessed by anonymous guest enquiry between July 2025 and October 2026, or by self assessment through free certification; both routes use the same questions and scoring. Two Fairmont hotels were completed by telephone using the same questions. Unanswered questions score No, so every score is a floor. The data is a snapshot as of 25 October 2026 and live grades are on [rochdog.com](https://rochdog.com). The InterContinental and Kimpton samples are the hotels we have assessed, not the brands' full systems. Our 21 InterContinentals come from a brand with more than 200 hotels and our 27 Kimptons from a brand of roughly 80; both lean to flagships and to North America. The Fairmont sample is the brand's full published list of 94 hotels as of 16 October 2026, of which 63 hold a grade, 20 refused dogs in writing and are counted but not scored, one is closed, two have not opened and eight did not answer two rounds of enquiry. We hold smaller samples of other luxury groups; they show the same pattern but are too small to publish hotel by hotel and have been left out. The Hilton figures in section 6 are drawn from Hilton's own June 2022 release and from the Hilton family hotels in our dataset, which are not a representative sample of that company. Grades and scores are Roch Dog's assessment opinion, produced by applying the published criteria to what each hotel told us or published; the dataset has not been externally audited. Where a hotel's policy has changed since it was assessed, its live page will reflect the next reassessment. Which of the six minimum requirements any named hotel missed is reported to the hotel and not published. The revenue figures in section 7 are the companion paper's model, not measured results, and carry the limitations stated there. ## Sources ### Roch Dog research 1. [RDWP-FMT-01: Fairmont and the Four Legged Guest, October 2026](https://rochstandard.com/research/fairmont-dog-friendly-hotels/). Every Fairmont hotel tested against the brand's own promise; the source of the Fairmont figures in section 4. 2. [RDWP-03: The Economics of Dog Friendly Hospitality, Second Edition, Revised, October 2026](https://rochstandard.com/research/economics-of-dog-friendly-hospitality/). The revenue model summarised in section 7. 3. [RDWP-HPP-01: The Fine Print, An Anatomy of the Hotel Pet Policy, October 2026](https://rochstandard.com/research/the-hotel-pet-policy/). 236 published policies from 29 countries, and the Friendly Dog Policy. 4. [RDWP-WTP-01: What Dog Owners Will Pay For in a Hotel, October 2026](https://rochstandard.com/research/what-dog-owners-will-pay-for/). A hotelier's guide to the Kyung Hee choice experiment. 5. [NTPF-01: Nobody Trusts Pet Friendly](https://rochstandard.com/research/nobody-trusts-pet-friendly/). 6. [The Roch Dog Friendly Standard (RDFS-02)](https://rochstandard.com/standard/), its [six minimum requirements](https://rochstandard.com/criteria/) and the [Assessment Framework (RDCAF-02)](https://rochstandard.com/framework/). 7. Roch Dog Assessment Dataset, 2024 to October 2026, more than 3,000 hotels assessed in 56 countries. Internal. Per hotel grades at [rochdog.com](https://rochdog.com). 8. RDWP-IHG-02, third edition, October 2026, and the InterContinental case study of March 2026 (RDWP-IHG-01): the earlier editions of this paper, which this edition supersedes under its new reference. ### Booking data and market 9. [Hilton: Hilton Expands Pet-Friendly Offerings and Mars Petcare Partnership to More Than 4,600 Hotels Across the U.S. and Canada, 21 June 2022](https://stories.hilton.com/releases/hilton-expands-pet-friendly-offerings-and-mars-petcare-partnership-to-hotels-across-us-canada). Seven brands; Mars PET On-Demand for all; bed, bowls and bark bag at Canopy by Hilton. 10. [KeyData: Are Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals Taking Over? (18 September 2026)](https://www.keydata.co/blog/are-pet-friendly-vacation-rentals-taking-over). Paid occupancy 54% vs 48%, ADR 9% higher, RevPAR 24% higher. 11. [AirDNA: The Best Airbnb Amenities to Boost Your Occupancy Rate, ADR, and RevPAR](https://www.airdna.co/blog/the-best-airbnb-amenities-to-boost-your-occupancy-rate-adr-and-revpar). $17.41 ADR premium on pet friendly listings, 5.4% more demand. 12. [Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Opens 1,048-Room Fairmont Austin Marking Brand's Largest U.S. Hotel, March 2018](https://www.hotel-online.com/news/fairmont-hotels-resorts-opens-1048-room-fairmont-austin-marking-brands-larg). The largest Fairmont in the United States and the second largest worldwide, after the Royal York. ### Regulation 13. [FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464)](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/rule-unfair-or-deceptive-fees-frequently-asked-questions). 14. [Texas Attorney General: $1.25 million Hyatt settlement over hidden hotel fees (30 December 2025)](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-secures-125-million-settlement-hyatt-hotels-forcing-company-stop-hiding). 15. [Competition and Markets Authority: the DMCC Act consumer regime, drip pricing ban in force 6 April 2025](https://competitionandmarkets.blog.gov.uk/2025/03/10/our-new-consumer-enforcement-regime/). ### Academic 16. Joo, D., Woosnam, K. M., Lee, S. and Lee, C. K. (2023). Hotel attribute preferences of pet owners: a choice experiment. Current Issues in Tourism. DOI: [10.1080/13683500.2023.2223912](https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2023.2223912). 17. Buhalis, D. and Chan, J. (2023). Traveling with pets: designing hospitality services for pet owners/parents and hotel guests. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(12). DOI: [10.1108/IJCHM-10-2022-1192](https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2022-1192). ## Published by Roch Dog **The certification body for dog friendly hotels.**