Pet-friendly holiday accommodation is becoming almost mainstream in Ireland, but searching for pet-friendly holiday options online is far from that. Here are some tips to make your pet-friendly accommodation search more successful:
Don’t rely on just one website: Use a range of accommodation sites with ‘pet-friendly’ search option. They vary in how comprehensive they are, how intuitive they are to navigate and how helpful the advice is. Using a combination will help you get more results.
The following sites are all useful to some extent (this list is not exhaustive):
- www.ireland-guide.com
- www.dreamireland.com
- www.discoverireland.ie (not very intuitive; hint: after selecting your type of accommodation and area, scroll down and hit ‘more filters’ button on left-hand sidebar, and select ‘pet-friendly’).
Ask friends advice. Everybody knows someone who has brought their dog, cat or hamster (really) on holidays with them. You can’t beat experience of a happy (or not so happy) camper (or 5 star Hotel-goer).
Engage in online pet forums. There are numerous forums with lively discussions on all things pet, including where to find good holiday accommodation (just do a Google search for ‘pet forum in Ireland’).
Work in reverse and see what happens! Decide where you want to stay first and then ask them about their policy on pets – some hotels, B & B, guest house, etc. have quietly welcomed pets for years, but haven’t come up to speed with the marketing of it; or you may be the first to have a pet stay with them!
