Pet Hotels of America: What It Was and What to Use Instead

In 2011, a site called Pet Hotels of America launched with a simple pitch: one place to find pet-friendly hotels, airlines, car rentals, and boarding options, without clicking through a dozen sites to piece it together.

It was a reasonable idea. At the time, traveling with a pet meant a lot of manual legwork. You called ahead, hoped the hotel’s website said something about pets, hoped what it said was accurate. The site is gone now. The domain is dead. What it was trying to do hasn’t stopped mattering.

What’s Still Standing

Two directories that launched before Pet Hotels of America are still running. That’s worth noting.

How to Search for Stays Now

If you’re looking for pet-friendly accommodations, the practical search is:

1. Start with BringFido for the overview and reviews.
2. Cross-reference with the hotel’s actual site — pet policies change, and what’s listed on a directory isn’t always current.
3. Call to confirm. Fees, size limits, whether a pet can be left in the room — this is where surprises live. A two-minute call saves the headache.

PetsWelcome is worth a look for less-traveled areas where BringFido’s listings get thin.

“Pet-Friendly” Means Different Things

This hasn’t changed since 2011. Pet-friendly can mean a welcome treat at check-in and no additional fees, or it can mean allowed with a $75 nightly surcharge and a weight limit that rules out half the breeds. Always check:

• Pet fees (per night vs. flat fee)
• Weight and size limits
• Number of pets allowed
• Whether pets can be left unattended in the room

Most hotels list this, but not always prominently. Ask directly.

A Few Things Worth Packing

If you are bringing your pet:

• Collapsible water bowl or a 3-in-1 Dog Water Bottle & Bowl Set
• A towel or small blanket from home
• Their regular food, you don’t want to experiment with new food during travel
• A leash plus a backup
• Current ID on the collar

If You’re Not Bringing Your Pet

For boarding and in-home pet sitting, Rover is the most practical starting point. Services include pet boarding at a sitter’s home, house sitting where someone stays at your place, daycare, drop-in visits, and dog walking for both dogs and cats. You browse local sitter profiles, read verified reviews, and book directly. The meet-and-greet before committing to a stay is worth doing. Fifteen minutes in person tells you more than any profile will.

Sittercity is another option worth knowing about. You post a job, local sitters apply, and you hire directly. It covers dogs, cats, and other animals. Because you’re choosing from applicants rather than browsing a marketplace, it tends to suit people who want more control over who they hire.

If you need someone last minute, Wag covers boarding and sitting too, and their on-demand model moves faster. The tradeoff is consistency. You’re less likely to get the same person twice, which matters for some pets more than others.

For traditional kennel-style boarding, a local search is still the most reliable approach. Availability, quality, and pricing vary too much by area for any national directory to give you a useful shortlist.

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Their original press release

Pet Hotels of America Launches, Simplifying the Search for Pet-Friendly Hotels and Hotels for Pets

I like to travel with my pet. So does my business partner. But it seems that up until now, it was a hassle. This is why we decided to build a website for one-stop pet-friendly travel planning.

Pet Hotels of America is the first website designed solely to provide comprehensive pet-friendly travel services so animal lovers can get specific information and reserve pet-friendly hotels, airlines and cars. The site eliminates the need for travelers who want to take their pets along to be forced into surfing multiple sites or thumbing through magazines to find what they need. We think anyone who feels this way will be glad that there’s finally an online community that understands this.

Our goal was to make traveling with pets in America as easy as possible. If you visit the site, you’ll see we did just that.

On the other hand, those that want to leave their pet at home can look through the website’s growing list of kennels, pet hotels, doggie day care centers and other pet lodging. The listings are searchable by city and such establishments can add a photo of their facility with a link to their site for only $4.95 a month. What’s more, the Kennels page is an easy solution for those who want to travel with Boxer, but for one reason or another, need a nearby kennel or pet resort.

We believe the days of having to leave your pet at home or wondering what your pet is doing while you’re away, are over.

Either way, traveling with your pet is now as easy as traveling without. And take it from me, I much more enjoy having Lola by my side when room service arrives.

At Pet Hotels of America, our goal is to keep abreast of our visitors’ travel needs, likes and dislikes to keep providing helpful traveling services. To this end, you can find extensive travel information through our blog.

We also want to keep Pet Hotels of America fun. We invite everyone to submit a pet photo to our “Pet of the Week,” where friends can “Like” your submission, giving you the opportunity to win an e-gift certificate to PetSmart. A new winner is chosen every Monday.

Visitors also enjoy an assortment of funny pet-related videos and, on a more serious note, listings of rescue dogs waiting for someone to claim them.

Pet Hotels of America was made for you! Please help spread the word. The more people that travel with their pets, the more hotels, airlines and car rental companies are going to offer in the way of amenities that cater to us pet lovers.