No cead mile failte for pets

GO FEEDBACK: We may be a nation of dog owners, but finding a place to stay for your pet when you're travelling is not as easy as it might sound, writes ROSITA BOLAND

I WOULDN’T have an idea how many hotels, hostels and BB’s I’ve stayed in over the years in Ireland. A lot, is all I know. Between work, research for books, and holidays, I’ve gone through many doors in every county in the country.

The biggest problem I used to have with accommodation was booking a room while on the road for work in high summer.Then last year, I got a dog – a cocker spaniel, Boo – and suddenly finding accommodation in Ireland included an entirely new matrix.

My first experience of taking my dog on a work trip was to Sligo in January. There are places that take dogs – Cromleach Lodge and Markree Castle among them – but none I found were open midweek in January. Sligo Tourist Office found me a BB that promised to be pet-friendly, some distance out of town.

I arrived to find the “pet-friendly” accommodation for my dog consisted of a wooden garden hut full of uncovered saws and building tools with a door that wouldn’t close, next to the main Sligo-Donegal road.

I had to go looking for a piece of wood to jam up against the door and spent much of the night fretting the dog would get out.

Being a first-time dog owner, I asked on Twitter if this was what “pet-friendly” places were usually like. “Sounds as pet-friendly to me as a smack in the gob,” one Tweeter answered.

The next foray into pet-friendly accommodation came earlier this month, when I was on a week’s holidays in the west with friends. Inis Mór was on our schedule.

I trawled websites, but could find nothing that catered for the four-legged. I called the Galway Tourist Office, and was told there were two BBs that took dogs on Inis Mór, and gave me their names and numbers.

When I called the numbers, I was told by one establishment they had never taken dogs, and the other was closed until May, but didn’t take dogs either.

Let’s be clear, I’m not expecting every hotel and BB in the country to be dog-friendly. But I did think I would find one place on Inis Mór that was.

I heard through the grapevine that there was a common agreement that nowhere would accept dogs, because tourists – specifically Americans – had complained they had allergies and moved their lodgings on discovering a guest had a dog with them. So now nobody takes them.

I put the dog into kennels near Clifden for two nights and we took the ferry from Rossaveal. The irony was that the owners of the BB where we stayed had a dog themselves, which lived inside, and which was the first thing to greet us at the front door.

We were based in Connemara and the west, so I continued with my hunt for places that would accommodate both us and the dog. The Twelve Hotel in Barna does. Great, I thought. And then I looked at their “4 Legged Rules”. First off, the dog is an extra €35 a night. (The kennel in Clifden was €15 a night.) In addition to the fee for the dog, “a deposit of €200 is required in case of pet damage to the room”.

There were 13 additional rules, which included the following: “Dogs are not allowed within the public areas of the hotel – ie the lobby, bars and restaurants; must have health certificate from veterinarian no more than 10 days prior to arrival.”

My head started to spin with navigating the rules. I have the dog vaccinated, including for kennel cough, but that stays in date for one year. This health cert requirement would thus involve another trip to my vet prior to travelling, and yet more expense.

However, dogs staying at The Twelve are provided with “fresh mineral water”. As for my dog drinking mineral water – well, I don’t even drink it myself. The Twelve may consider itself to be pet-friendly, but I wouldn’t call its list of rules very welcoming.

We didn’t stay at The Twelve. We stayed instead at the gorgeous Renvyle House Hotel, which takes dogs, does not charge extra for them, does not ask for a damage deposit, and does not exclude them from the lobby area.

At Renvyle, the hoteliers expect guests will respect the hotel property and take care of their dog responsibly. It works. The dog stayed in my room when we were having dinner, and sat with us in the lobby later when we were having a drink. I kept her on a lead inside, although you’re not required to. She ran all over the beach several times and conked out in her bed afterwards.

It was a wonderful stay, not just because the setting is so beautiful, the food terrific and the welcome genuine, but also because there was no big deal made of the fact we had a dog with us. I’ll be back and, in the meantime, I’m looking for other such places around the country, which have the same kind of relaxed attitude.

Go with pets

Do you have a favourite pet-friendly place to stay in Ireland? If so, let us know. E-mail go@irishtimes.com with your experience of holidaying with pets