 |
| Brie and Murphy at the Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal |
But
about 10 minutes after the initial excitement and shock wore off, I was
overcome with a wave of pure and total panic. After all it wasn’t just me
moving halfway across the world, I had two dogs and a cat to worry about. Luckily
when I had visited Luxembourg during my interview, I had seen enough dogs on
the bus, trains, and in the stores to know that the general atmosphere appeared
to be pet friendly, but it was at that moment that it occurred to me that I
would be completely starting over to build up my web of pet references,
resources and referrals.
My
first order of business was to find and book a pet friendly hotel, one that
would accept both my 85 lbs (40kg) German Shepard, McKayla, and my 22 lbs
(10kg) Shih Tzu, Hunter. After scrolling through the lists of rental properties
without any luck of finding one that was “pet friendly” I decided that it was
best to wait until I arrived to resume my search for appropriate accommodations.
And since I would be staying in a hotel for an undetermined length of time, I
decided to leave my cat, Zoe, with my parents, and send for her after I’d found
a place to live.
The
second task was figuring out a way to ship my pets directly to Luxembourg since
I wouldn’t have a car initially after arriving. After calling several shipping
companies I stumbled upon Jet-A-Pet International. My representative, Leigh, was a Godsend,
and took care of everything. The only thing that I had to do was get their
shots and health certificate. Jet-A-Pet made all of the arrangements to ship my
dogs directly from our house in NYC to Luxembourg. All of the other companies
that I had called told me that I would need to send my dogs to Germany and have
them transported to Luxembourg by car. However, Jet-A-Pet had an arrangement
with Cargolux, which shipped my dogs on a direct flight. They even arranged for
the kennels, walked the dogs before they were crated, took care of all of the
paperwork, and cleared them through customs. I must admit that I was nervous
the whole day, wondering whether or not they would be OK. But in the end Hunter
and McKayla were perfect and didn’t seem affected by the trip at all.
My
dogs were traveling on a separate flight and I arrived a few hours before them.
That gave me enough time to go and find the essentials like food and beds. I asked
the hotel where I could go and after searching on Google they directed me to a
pet store in the city center. I stocked up on food, bowls, toys, treats, and
beds, and since I didn’t have a car, was obliged to take a taxi the 3 km back to
the hotel at a cost of €10.
As I
was alone in Luxembourg, I had asked my best friend, Rhonda, to come and stay
with me for two weeks to help me get settled. While I spent my days at work and
lunch breaks looking for apartments online, she would spend her morning calling
various rental agencies and afternoons looking at properties. During her stay Hunter
and McKayla had company and someone to walk them before I finished work, but as
the time approached for Rhonda to leave I was obliged to search for a dog
walker and hire someone to come to the hotel and walk my dogs for 30-45 minutes
while I was at work.
Needless
to say when I finally moved into an apartment after 18 days in a hotel, paying
an additional €40 per night for 2 dogs, €50 per day for dog walking services,
and €200+ on food, bowls, and toys, I was ecstatic and relieved. I was grateful
to the hotel for their hospitality, but I was thrilled to be moving and
settling into my new home.
A few
months later I met a colleague who had just moved to Luxembourg with her
husband and two dogs. We ended up comparing hotel experiences, but
astonishingly hers sounded nothing like mine. She was staying at the Sofitel Luxembourg Le
Grand Ducal in Luxembourg City (Bonnevoie), and couldn’t say enough good things about their five
star level of hospitality towards her, her husband, and their dogs. When I told
her about my rush to buy the essentials after arriving, and how I had to take a
taxi back to the hotel, she was sympathetic, but not empathetic. She explained
that at the Sofitel the essentials for their dogs had been provided upon
arrival, that the hotel staff was so nice and friendly, and couldn’t seem to do
enough to help them.
 |
| Brie checking in with Murphy and Maya |
 |
| Murphy and Maya relaxing after dinner |
Curious
to learn more about the hotel’s philosophy behind their pet friendly approach,
I visited the Sofitel and interviewed their communications and public relations manager, Belen Irazoa.
She explained that in 2007 the hotel chain underwent a reorganization which is
when they made the corporate decision to treat pets as members of the family.
They introduced the program called “My Dog” where they actually established a
product for dogs. As part of the program the Sofitel provides hotel guests with
beds, bowls, blankets, toys, and dog walking services for just €20 per dog per
night. If a guest needs dog food that can be purchased at a store, a Sofitel
staff member can go to get it. And if the dog has specific dietary needs, Sofitel
can prepare meals to order. The hotel has no hesitation to prepare chicken or
beef and rice and bring it to the pet in their room or even at the table while
the owners are dining.
Ms Irazola explained, “This approach started as a mentality. We love animals. We really believe that a dog is a member of the family. We want to treat the whole family in that way. We want people to feel like they are at home.”
 |
| Settling into the suite |
Unlike
some hotels that I have visited, when Sofitel described themselves as being
“dog friendly” that means more than just allowing dogs to enter the premises.
At the Sofitel, dogs are allowed in all of the common areas, to stay unaccompanied in the rooms, and there
is no limit to the number of dogs that are allowed in the hotel at one time. This
is useful not just for families that are moving to town, but also for participants
in dog shows. The rooms are typically 35m2 but normally there is no
size limit that the dogs are restricted to. The most important thing that the
guests have to remember is that they must maintain their dogs in a responsible
way. The Sofitel strives to provide a wonderful five star experience for guests
and their pets, and over the years say they have had no problems as a result of
allowing dogs in the hotel and instead see only the benefits.
 |
| Murphy relaxing in the room |
“When you decide one thing, believe in it, and go for it,” Irazola said. “Adopting this program has given the Sofitel a more positive reputation. People that have come here have been very happy. Our hotel is like an experience and we want people to have a good experience whether its business or family, doesn’t matter.”
Christine, Brie, Murphy, and Maya enjoying a drink at the bar
Sharing
vital information with other pet owners, like the Sofitel Experience, is just
one of the reasons my husband and I created, Petopia – a new web platform that
serves as a one-stop-shop providing all the vital information to maintain
healthy and happy pets, mainly to people in the Luxembourg region. Our aim is
to help as many people reduce the amount of chaos that I experienced after
moving to a new country accompanied by pets. If I had known about the Sofitel’s
“My Dog” program, that they would take my dog for a walk if I was stuck in a
long meeting, or even arrange for my Shih Tzu to visit the groomer, I would
have been grateful and a lot less stressed. Some hotels may have different prices and pet friendly packages. Visitors and those moving to Luxembourg should check several accommodations to see what best fits the needs of your budget and family. To me and many people, our dogs are
not just our pets, they are members of the family, and we should do what we can
to help each other out.
 |
| Sofitel has five star bathrooms for guests and pets |
 |
| Bedtime |
No comments:
Post a Comment