Customer Reviews

Vacationing With Your Pet, 4th Ed

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is one of the most self-serving pieces of... I have ever bought. It's more of an autobiography of the author (Eline Barish) than a directory. The listings are stale and MOST (5 out of 7) of the places I stopped at last week didn't accept pets and NEVER HAD... That's all you can say about it. As a single woman traveling with my dog, this is a headache that I didn't need and don't want anyone else to have either...

This book is an excellent place to start and gives you an idea of chains that typically take pets -- a surprising number.

However, I just got burned trying to find a place to stay late at night in Baltimore. Two of the places listed in the book did not take pets, had never taken pets. I ended up in a hotel you would not believe because I was just too exhausted to keep driving.

So ... take what's in this book with a grain of salt and phone ahead. Or buy a different book. I threw my copy away when I got to New York, if that tells you anything.

I wish I'd read the customer reviews BEFORE I bought this book. I gave it as a gift to some dog lovers and they report back that only about 50% of hotels/motels listed actually accept dogs. Often BIG dogs are not as welcome as smaller ones! This book is not as useful as one would hope...

Don't waste your time or your money. I've tried to use this book on three different trips, all for different regions of the US and only ended up frustrated. I thought having the latest edition would make a difference. I guess not, I've had more people than I care to count tell me *I've worked here for X number of years and we have never allowed pets of any kind.* How this book received *1st Place Best Reference Book by the Dog Writers' Association of America* is beyond me.

I've only called 2 listings in this book but neither take pets and were quite adamant about it. Don't know where the author got this information or if anyone has bothered to update it from edition to edition but it might be worth the time and expense to check everything before the next edition comes out.

We had difficulty planning a trip with our dog using this book because while there are thousands of places that take pets, specific information is sketchy. With just the name, address, telephone number and rates to go on, I felt uncomfortable trying to guess which place was appropriate for us to stay with our dog. We did ultimately take a trip using the book, but were dissapointed with most of the accomodations.

I, too, am amazed to read the bad reviews. An "autobiography of the author"? "self-serving"?, are we looking at the same book? Mine has pointers about traveling with your pet, training tips, road tips, kenneling, tips for vacationing with your pets, etc, certainly nothing related to the above quoted comments from other reviews. I always call ahead for reservations and tell the motel/hotel I have a large dog (60+ lbs.). I have never had a motel listed in this book say they did not take pets, there is generally a small additional charge at the motels for having a pet, not unexpected nor unreasonable. I travel frequently (although not cross country) and this guide has been invaluable. Perhaps mine is a later edition than others reviewing here have, however, I have nothing but praise for this book. It is much better than other similar books I have used when traveling.

I don't know what would be a better book, but when I left on vacation with my cat, everyplace I stopped at didn't take pets. Perhaps there is a newer book?

I ordered this book without reading the reviews. When I got it, it was really just an autobiography of the author with old infomation that wasn't accurate or helpful. Don't buy it, try another book.

We used this book to find a dog-friendly place on the beach for our honeymoon. We were very pleased with the accomodations we found. The only reason we did not get into every hotel we called was due to no vacancy. Otherwise, we enjoyed where we ended up and were grateful for the book. This book is a great resource guide but you will have to do your homework. And as a consumer, you have to be responsible for yourself. The book does not give details on the hotels it lists so take it upon yourself to call and inquire. With so many listings it would be hard to also stock it with pictures and details. Even if the book listed details you would need to followup on your own. It is hard to be 100% accurate in a fast paced changing world. I found this book useful and would reccomend it to all my dog owner friends.