It is progress, on the whole, that dogs are now allowed in so many spaces. Some may disagree, but as sensible Country Life readers, you’re probably with me. Dogs can come out for dinner with us; dogs can stay in smart hotels. But just because they can, does it mean they should?
Not so long ago, I went to stay in a smart new hotel in an idyllic East Sussex village while walking a section of the South Downs Way. Pretty headboards; thick dressing gowns; William Morris wallpaper. Splendid. Except unfortunately, when I woke in the morning, Dennis had left a little, erm, present by the bedroom door, on the very new, very pristine sisal carpet (which stains easily, as some of you may know). My one-year-old terrier is largely housetrained, but there is the odd accident and sadly this was one of them. It left a mark that I hoped housekeeping might mistake for mud from a walking boot and it wasn’t, in all, a deeply relaxing experience.
A few weeks earlier, we’d stayed in a big posh Cotswolds hotel. That was very lovely, too: huge, dog-friendly room, with a Le Chameau dog bed, a water bowl and a ‘welcome pack’ of treats for Dennis. However, almost as soon as I’d checked in, I’d remembered why it’s quite nice to leave him with the dog sitter, sometimes. I had to fumble around the room for a fork to mash his supper; I was constantly trying to keep his damp, muddy paws off the immaculate crisp, white bedding; he wasn’t allowed in the dining room; he barked every time he heard another bedroom door open and close. He wasn’t allowed off the lead in the grounds, either, lest he spot a bunny or cause havoc among the hotel’s bee hives.
'Many hotels have made enormous efforts to welcome guests’ dogs in recent years, but I’m not sure this means that they need to come along on every jolly'
Sophia Money-Coutts
And then there was time before that, while driving through France, when he and I stopped at an immensely swanky château hotel in Bordeaux, and Dennis weed on the carpet in the morning before I could hustle him outside. The place was so vast I simply couldn’t find the exit. I then ran — in my hotel dressing gown — between the stairs and a nearby loo for wads of paper to mop it up with, hoping that no member of staff would see me.
Many hotels, and several very grand ones, have made enormous efforts to welcome guests’ dogs in recent years, but I’m not sure this means that they need to come along on every jolly. I feel the same towards restaurants — wonderful to have the option, and very practical, but must we have them with us at all times? Do other hotel guests, potentially paying a good whack of cash for a spoiling weekend, want your dog there, standing near their breakfast table in the morning in the hope of a crust?I’m not sure dogs necessarily want to hang out in hotels and restaurants either, being constantly shushed and told to lie quietly, or ticked off for jumping on the furniture. Granted, not taking them with you involves organising a dog sitter, but it may prove a more restful break, sometimes, to leave them behind in more familiar surroundings. The same goes for children.
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