TRAVELERS’ CHECK : Pet resorts not right for area airports
Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008
Dogs are great.
No one debates this.
Dogs that lick only a little are better than dogs that lick a lot.
No one debates this, either.
But when it comes to making travel plans, there’s always debate about what to do with Fido, even if he’s great and licks only a little.
Fido, as a rule, gets in the way when a family or business trip is planned. He won’t be satisfied lounging on the beach or sitting quietly in the corner of the corporate board room.
So imagine The Guru’s surprise when he came to learn that pet resorts, spas and lodging opportunities are popping up near some of the nation’s busiest airports in a bid to assist travelers.
There was an article about it in USA Today last week, noting that dog hotels exist near airports in New Orleans and Houston and a new one is planned near Chicago’s O’Hare.
The Guru, of course, tried to figure out whether such a concept might work if it catered to the Northwest Arkansas or Fort Smith regional airports.
Conclusion: No way.
Pet Paradise, based in the Jacksonville, Fla., suburb of Ponte Vedra, has pet resorts near airports in New Orleans, Houston and Jacksonville. At Houston, the cost is $ 32 a day for dogs; $ 22 for cats.
There are even Web cams so people who could have stayed home and spent time with their dog can go on vacations or business trips and watch Fido splash around in a bone-shaped pool (www. petparadiseresort. com ).
No kidding: Bone-shaped pools. You won’t find that at the Hyatt.
Moreover, the smallest of those airports where Pet Paradise operates (Jacksonville, Fla. ) sees 2. 8 million passengers a year. That’s just enough to make the business work, said Fred Goldsmith, one of the owners of the Pet Paradise locations.
That’s far more passengers than the nearly 600, 000 at XNA or Fort Smith’s 99, 127.
Also important is that most passengers using pet hotels are vacationers. That makes things different than in Northwest Arkansas or at Fort Smith where most travel is for business.
So, pet hotels are a cute idea and all, but it’s not right for Northwest Arkansas or Fort Smith.
American Airlines on its Web site (www. aa. com ) didn’t clarify that the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is in Highfill, but it did do the next best thing with a change it made Feb. 28.
The airline eliminated a statement that suggested the airport is in Fayetteville. It is not.
Now, people who purchase tickets through the airline’s Web site reservation system see both Bentonville and Fayetteville mentioned prominently. The Guru can understand why the airline wouldn’t want to mention Highfill as many travelers purchasing tickets online wouldn’t know where Highfill is.
Listing the two larger cities should dissuade people from assuming commercial flights depart from the Fayetteville Municipal Airport, Drake Field.
They’ll see both cities, do a little research to figure out where the airport is, and head to the correct place — Highfill. Robert J. Smith’s column about people on the move in Northwest Arkansas appears each Monday. He can be reached at rsmith@arkansasonline. com.
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