Disappointing Experience -- "Pet Friendly" Comes With Major Fine Print…read more
As a Rochester resident, this experience was especially disappointing. My husband and I are currently renovating our home and booked the Royal Park Hotel while in town for business and personal reasons. We planned to bring our small, well-behaved, 10-year-old dog.
After booking online, I called because there was no option to add a pet. Cynthia confirmed they allow dogs and explained the policy. Most rules were reasonable, but two immediately stood out: a strict no-barking policy and dogs MUST be crated whenever the owner leaves the room.
We have traveled extensively with our dog and stayed at upscale hotels including the Amway Grand Plaza, The Drake, Hilton properties, and others without issue. Our dog has never been crate trained. I completely understand requiring a dog to be secured when housekeeping enters, but requiring us to cage our 10-year-old dog simply to leave for dinner seems excessive.
The no-barking rule also lacks reasonable nuance. Obviously, no guest should be allowed to leave a dog barking continuously and disturbing others. But an occasional bark? Do we also have a no-child-crying policy? There's a difference between normal occasional noise and an actual disturbance. Our dog isn't even a barker, and we travel with a dog camera to monitor her.
Then there's the $150 pet fee, which is one of the highest we've encountered. For $150, I'd expect a genuinely pet-friendly experience--not simply permission to have a dog while imposing unusually restrictive rules.
I went to the hotel in person hoping common sense and reasonable discretion might prevail. Deanna at the front desk reiterated that it was policy, while a manager beside her confirmed the same. There was seemingly no willingness to discuss an alternative.
So we cancelled our reservation and booked The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham instead.
What a difference. The Townsend charges a $50 pet fee, provides dog beds and bowls, and does NOT require our dog to be crated when we leave the room. That's what I consider pet friendly.
Something else happened while I was at Royal Park that further illustrated my concerns. An older gentleman was attempting to check in early. He was told that even if his room was already ready, he would be charged a $75 early check-in fee.
Ironically, I made our same-day Townsend reservation around noon. They had a room available, welcomed us immediately, and charged no early check-in fee.
That's hospitality.
If a room isn't ready, obviously a guest should wait until check-in. But if it's cleaned, available, and ready, charging $75 just to hand someone the key a few hours early feels like nickel-and-diming rather than luxury hospitality.
Perhaps Royal Park should reassess its $150 pet fee, mandatory crating policy, barking policy, and $75 early check-in fee against comparable luxury hotels and current industry standards.
This is particularly disappointing because my husband and I got married at the Royal Park last year and spent tens of thousands of dollars there. Unfortunately, even during our wedding experience, we often felt policies took precedence over hospitality. At times, it felt like constantly being reminded of what we could and couldn't do rather than being treated like valued guests.
After this experience, I genuinely regret choosing Royal Park for our wedding.
It's also surprising for a hotel in Rochester, an incredibly dog-friendly community. Leader Dogs for the Blind is headquartered right here in Rochester Hills. Nobody is asking the hotel to tolerate destructive animals, aggressive behavior, incessant barking, or irresponsible owners. Address an actual problem when one occurs. Charge for damage. Address legitimate noise complaints. That's completely reasonable.
But don't treat every well-behaved dog as a problem before one exists and then charge guests $150 for the privilege.
Royal Park has unfortunately lost our business. I will no longer recommend it to friends, neighbors, or visitors--particularly those traveling with pets.
The Royal Park markets itself as a luxury hotel. Luxury hospitality should involve discretion, common sense, flexibility, and making guests feel welcomed--not simply repeating, "It's policy."
Policies are important. Hospitality is knowing how to apply them with common sense.
