Pet Friendly Holiday Homes

Pets are one of the family and many pet owners would never contemplate leaving their four-legged friend behind. So this brings about the question “should my holiday property accept pets?” This is a question only you can answer and here are some positives and negatives on the subject of allowing cats and dogs in your accommodation.

You may find it interesting to know that Welcome Cottages, a major UK based holiday cottage agency, built up its brand on the back of a ‘Pets go Free of Charge’ policy and now boasts over 5,000 pet friendly holiday homes in the UK, Ireland and France. To date they have also donated over £500,000 to the Dogs Trust charity. So if a big player like Welcome Cottages thinks it’s a good idea to not only accept pets, but also allow pets to stay at no extra cost, maybe it’s time you reviewed your pet acceptance policy.

The positives of having a pet friendly holiday cottage:
According to PFMA (Pet Food Manufacturers Association), there are over 8 million pet dogs, and over 8 million pet cats in the United Kingdom. Based on these numbers it is safe to assume that a decent portion of these pets will go on holiday with their owners. So by allowing pets to stay at your holiday home you are opening yourself up to a wider market of customers.

Dog owners especially will be used to walking man’s best friend in all weathers; rain or shine, so if your holiday cottage is located within an area that offers a lot of walking trails, it may boost your property’s bookings in the off-season months if you allowed dogs to stay. 

The negatives of having a pet friendly holiday cottage:

Pet hair and odour is something every home can live without and it is something to watch out for when accepting pets into your holiday property. One way to combat pet hair and odour is to provide high quality cleaning equipment and products in your holiday cottage; most responsible holidaymakers – not just pet owners – will clean up as they go along and by providing them with the right tools for the job they should be able to remove the bulk of any pet by-products. You may now be asking yourself, “why should I foot the bill for expensive cleaning products and a high-end vacuum cleaner?”, the simple answer is you don’t have to foot the bill, you could charge a pet supplement – but be wary of charging too much as many customers do not like additional fees. But on the other hand is the cost of cleaning products and equipment a drop in the ocean compared to the potential income from an increase in off-season bookings? Sadly nobody has a crystal ball but the aforementioned PFMA figures suggest that accepting pets could encourage more bookings.

By making my holiday home pet friendly am I losing potential customers who are put off because they have allergies? This is a very good question as it is true that some people may be discouraged from booking by the thought of you accepting pets in your property.

Not everyone is an animal lover and some have allergies relating to animals. So what can be done? Firstly you could give assurances that your accommodation will be clean and show no trace of pets staying; this may be a bold statement to make but if cleaning is to a high standard and you ensure all remnants of previous pet guests have been removed, you should feel confident in your claim. To increase the success of this, you could include a section in your booking terms and conditions dedicated to pets. This section would inform pet owners that they should not allow their pets on any furniture or allow pets in any bedrooms, also it should be made clear that pets must not be left unattended in the property at any time. You may also wish to make clear that the property and its grounds must be left in the same clean and tidy condition in which they were found. Failure to adhere to these terms and conditions may result in additional cleaning and damage fees being charged. By conveying this upfront and for all to see, this will possibly reassure a potential customer who normally would not consider a pet friendly holiday home, and also go some way to ensuring you get responsible pet owners booking your property.

Secondly you could highlight the fact that The Equality Act 2010 means that accommodation providers in the United Kingdom must amend their ‘no dogs’ policy to allow guide dogs and other assistance dogs. So even if a hotel, bed & breakfast or holiday home advertises itself as ‘no pets allowed’, they cannot guarantee that no pet has ever stayed there, as any registered guide / assistance dog belonging to someone with a disability is allowed access to accommodation even if the accommodation description says that pets are not allowed.

There is a lot to think about when contemplating whether or not to you want your holiday cottage to be pet friendly. Would you consider making your holiday home "pet friendly" for the chance of more out of season bookings?