To kick off February, we took a short and sweet getaway to the super hip, pup-friendly Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs! Dogs are allowed to stay in any of the hotel’s patio rooms and are welcome anywhere on property besides the King’s Highway restaurant and inside the pool. The Ace has an on-site dog park with a water fountain and poop bags, communal outdoor fireplaces with cozy seating, a star-gazing deck, a pool area with cool circle sun shades (though sadly, it was much too cold to take a dip), and bicycles for guest use.
The Westin St. Francis Loves Dogs
We stayed at the Westin St. Francis, a hotel with lots of old world charm and a pretty fantastic location right across from Union Square Park. Surprisingly, this particular Westin doesn’t charge an additional daily pet fee, which is common at most other dog-friendly hotels. Dogs were allowed in any of the hotel’s rooms and there didn’t seem to be a need for advanced notice when we had called the front desk a few days earlier to add Hoku to our reservation. It felt a little peculiar to walk a dog through a nice hotel lobby for the first time, but the Westin staff and other guests were so accommodating and friendly to Hoku that we quickly relaxed.
After we checked in and signed our pet waiver, Hoku stepped into an elevator for the very first time in his life. He wasn’t nervous at all and acted very nonchalant about it, sniffing around curiously and looking through the glass to check out the view of the buildings below.
Soon after settling into our room, someone brought up a pet bed and a food bowl for Hoku. We put out his toys and blanket and it didn’t take long for him to switch on vacay mode, curl up into a ball and sink into his very own version of the Westin’s trademark “heavenly” bed.
As it got darker outside, we discovered that our room had a nice view of the Union Square Macy’s spinning star. How cool and totally appropriate for a dog whose name means star in Hawaiian!
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