By UPDATE! A few more twists and turns since earlier this morning (I am blessed to have such time to fucking waste!) So it turns out Expedia was completely wrong in telling me they were not pet friendly– I should know better than to book through a stupid 3rd party site, this *really* will be the last time! (I hope.) So, Expedia told me don’t worry we will take care of negotiating a refund, go ahead and book another place.
Did that. Cottage, nice, fine!
I call Expedia. Hi y’all, so it turns out the hotel is pet friendly but I was encouraged to book elsewhere. It was only an hour ago so can we undo this?
Nope, that is a different reservation call number 93423r988295w. Wait, what? Who is that number to? I don’t know who it is. Really? So I just call them?
Turns out Expedia is pilfering off of HomeAway and Evolve, and such things– they are taking their handful of nickels for the reservation I suppose– how ridiculous. The internet can be such a meaningless mess of capitalism.
But as Nadia aptly says below, a happy ending! I am glad to be going to the first place I booked it’s much nicer.
And before I go I’ll just say, that on the hotel website, their pet policy says service animals only. The hotel emailed me a more current pet policy, which was how I sorted out that my dogs would be ok to go there.
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I’ll keep it short, but fellow readers– do the words we use mean nothing anymore? Here is a short tale about the term “pet friendly”.
On a whim, I decided that my husband, dogs and I should go to the Russian River next week for a few days outta town. I did all the right things and booked a pet friendly hotel.
This morning, upon revisiting the site, I see a policy that says “No pets allowed”. Confusion.
I call Expedia (I regret even deciding to use this website- I don’t know why I bother) and they said — service animals only.
Here is a screenshot from the hotel’s website:
Why use the term pet-friendly if you are only welcoming service dogs? Why have a photo of a dog that is clearly not a service dog on your website? Oh, that’s right- so you can charge me a cancellation fee.
Pet-friendly refers to pets, not service animals, right? Am I losing my fucking mind?
Open Arts Spring 2024 
Arrggh! It all has to do with the wiggliness of language and the greed of the capitalist economy. Have you heard of this site?
https://www.bringfido.com/lodging/
I’ve never used it, but I’ve heard it is a good place to look for places that allow dogs. I’ll never forget asking about the pet policy at a swanky hotel in Boston’s Backbay and being told by the concierge that dogs up to 40 lbs were allowed just as I watched a Great Dane and his person check into said hotel and swagger up to the elevators….!
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bringfido is pretty ok but they really throw you through hoops to actually reserve anything – good for identifying but not booking in my experience. I ended up finding a cottage that will be ok- just such a colossal waste of time and unfair to consumers but that is the unfortunate norm in America – I should have known better, right ?!
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It’s so hard to balance the hope that this time will actually be different with the usual reality that consumerist America is just out to invent new ways to leverage money out of our pockets. Good to know about bringfido–thanks!
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Guess what. The hotel just called me and they are pet friendly. Expedia sent me down quite the rabbit hole on this one!
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Now there’s a happy ending!!
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It is but I already booked another place while waiting for the first reservation to resolve itself – so now I’m on the phone trying to cancel the second reservation – ha! 🙃
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Ohh! What a day it’s been for you!
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I hope your doggies appreciate your, well, doggedness on their behalf! Have a good get outta town.
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I’m sorry it’s been so frustrating, but I’m also relieved to know it’s not just me–wrangling with Jet Blue customer service (they canceled my flight twice and once rebooked me on the wrong flight)…seems this is modern internet life. 😦 Have a good trip!
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Thanks, Sejal! The consumer chaos seems thematic in all industries these days– capitalism kills (time, people, planet…)
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I’m not going to get into the story here, but reminds me of an incident with my friend and her peacock that was falsely reported and sensationalized.
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