France's Pro-Pet Hotels Are Dog's Best Friend

Games in the garden, behavioral psychologists, personal trainers, massage therapists, beauticians, healthy haute cuisine, even custom-made beds covered in violet fake fur — just part of the pampering of clients at the Trianon Palace hotel on the edge of Louis XIV's Versailles.Nothing very exceptional here, except that these clients are not people. They're dogs.

As part of a campaign to lure customers — particularly rich Americans who will travel only with their best friends — the newly renovated, four-star hotel is now offering a $400-a-night Heavenly Pets package.

For that price, the dog and his or her owner receive a "deluxe" double room including breakfast. (Cats are allowed but have to rough it — there is no program for them, although on request the chef will prepare a special cat-friendly meal.)

For dogs, there is a choice of four round-the-clock room-service menus at $17 each: the Queen's Hamlet (poached chicken with carrots, zucchini and onions, wheat bran and low-fat yogurt); the Sea (a fish fillet, carrots and green beans, white rice, soy sauce); the Dog Hamburger (ground beef with fresh carrots and green beans, served in a hamburger bun); and the Vegetarian (a medley of seasonal vegetables, oatmeal, pasta and a fresh soft cheese with sunflower oil).

For a snack, there is always the Cocktail de Croquettes (dry dog food) for $11."We hope to satisfy you and incite more owners of dogs to travel, in complete serenity, with their canine companion," said Giovanni Caronia, the hotel's director-general, in a brochure that shows photos of a golden retriever perched on a royal blue armchair and jumping through a big red hoop.

France has long been a country where dogs have a special status. The 8.8 million dogs that live here easily ride public transportation, sometimes govern the sidewalks and are warmly welcomed in restaurants.

At Hermès, dog collars start at $278, and leashes cost $150. At l'École Vétérinaire de Maison Alfort outside Paris, animal medicine students can take a special course in dog psychiatry.

Yet the cleanliness campaign introduced by the city of Paris this month with colorful posters of dog droppings has yet to have an impact. The national police, not the mayor, are responsible for controlling traffic, parking and public sanitation, so the $210 fine for failure to pick up after a dog is seldom imposed.

As part of the V.I.P. (Very Important Pet) welcome at the newly renovated Trianon, a selection of doggie toiletries — cleansing wipes, doggie shampoo and a tiny flask of a fruity perfume called "Oh My Dog!" — are included. The products — as well as the beds and shocking pink water bowls — are on sale at Les Cadors, an upscale dog boutique in the Marais in the heart of Paris.

Dogs can enjoy the washing and grooming of their fur by specialists, and walks in the formal gardens of the Chateau de Versailles. A psychologist is available "to help you understand and better communicate with your dog," according to the hotel's brochure. An "agility course" in the gardens is offered, although dogs are not invited into the humans-only spa.

The Trianon's service is so exclusive that a request to interview dog owners and photograph them with their dogs was denied. The privacy of the guests has to be preserved, said Vanina Minassian-Sommer, the hotel's public relations official.

The Trianon's dog services may be the most extensive in the Paris area, but the hotel is certainly not — as its press release boasted — the first or only hotel to cater to canines.

The even tonier Crillon Hotel, on the Place de la Concorde close to the American Embassy, has a Dog de Crillon program that offers clients a dog tag engraved with the dog's name on one side and the address of the hotel on the other, a sleeping basket with a softball, a bone containing fluorides, a bottle of mineral water and biscuits, a menu that changes daily and the services of a bilingual veterinarian recommended by the embassy. The hotel chef, Dominique Bouchet, is poised to prepare special $17 meals for dogs with either chicken or beef.

Meanwhile, the Meurice Hotel allows clients to host dog parties in the Belle Étoile suite on the eighth floor. The Four Seasons-George V offers a coverlet embroidered with the dog's name that can be custom-ordered in advance.

While the Crillon, Trianon and Meurice welcome dogs of all sizes, the Four Seasons-George V has a 15-pound limit, except for guide dogs; the Bristol — which for years banned dogs altogether — has a similar small-dogs-only policy.

Still, when it comes to dogs, Vincent Smarella, the manager of the Bristol Hotel, has seen it all.

One client from Florida arrived with trunks filled with grass sod that she unrolled onto the terrace so that her four dogs would feel at home.

Another demanded that her dog's drinking water be served at room temperature in Limoges porcelain with the dog's name on it and that rugs be laid out on the bathroom floor so the dog wouldn't catch cold. A third required a messenger dispatched to the airport to retrieve veal liver flown in from the dog's butcher in Miami. Then there was the woman who dressed herself and her dog in matching Chanel outfits.

But Mr. Smarella said nothing compared to what he once experienced in a hotel in the United States, where he was required to organize a doggie birthday party every year for 150 guests. "The dog would actually sit at the dining table with his owners," he recalled.

Asked whether he ever found such requests ridiculous, Mr. Smarella replied with appropriate sang-froid. "I don't judge them," he said.

As part of a campaign to lure customers — particularly rich Americans who will travel only with their best friends — the newly renovated, four-star hotel is now offering a $400-a-night Heavenly Pets package.

For that price, the dog and his or her owner receive a "deluxe" double room including breakfast. (Cats are allowed but have to rough it — there is no program for them, although on request the chef will prepare a special cat-friendly meal.)

For dogs, there is a choice of four round-the-clock room-service menus at $17 each: the Queen's Hamlet (poached chicken with carrots, zucchini and onions, wheat bran and low-fat yogurt); the Sea (a fish fillet, carrots and green beans, white rice, soy sauce); the Dog Hamburger (ground beef with fresh carrots and green beans, served in a hamburger bun); and the Vegetarian (a medley of seasonal vegetables, oatmeal, pasta and a fresh soft cheese with sunflower oil).

For a snack, there is always the Cocktail de Croquettes (dry dog food) for $11."We hope to satisfy you and incite more owners of dogs to travel, in complete serenity, with their canine companion," said Giovanni Caronia, the hotel's director-general, in a brochure that shows photos of a golden retriever perched on a royal blue armchair and jumping through a big red hoop.

France has long been a country where dogs have a special status. The 8.8 million dogs that live here easily ride public transportation, sometimes govern the sidewalks and are warmly welcomed in restaurants.

At Hermès, dog collars start at $278, and leashes cost $150. At l'École Vétérinaire de Maison Alfort outside Paris, animal medicine students can take a special course in dog psychiatry.

Yet the cleanliness campaign introduced by the city of Paris this month with colorful posters of dog droppings has yet to have an impact. The national police, not the mayor, are responsible for controlling traffic, parking and public sanitation, so the $210 fine for failure to pick up after a dog is seldom imposed.

As part of the V.I.P. (Very Important Pet) welcome at the newly renovated Trianon, a selection of doggie toiletries — cleansing wipes, doggie shampoo and a tiny flask of a fruity perfume called "Oh My Dog!" — are included. The products — as well as the beds and shocking pink water bowls — are on sale at Les Cadors, an upscale dog boutique in the Marais in the heart of Paris.

Dogs can enjoy the washing and grooming of their fur by specialists, and walks in the formal gardens of the Chateau de Versailles. A psychologist is available "to help you understand and better communicate with your dog," according to the hotel's brochure. An "agility course" in the gardens is offered, although dogs are not invited into the humans-only spa.

The Trianon's service is so exclusive that a request to interview dog owners and photograph them with their dogs was denied. The privacy of the guests has to be preserved, said Vanina Minassian-Sommer, the hotel's public relations official.

The Trianon's dog services may be the most extensive in the Paris area, but the hotel is certainly not — as its press release boasted — the first or only hotel to cater to canines.

The even tonier Crillon Hotel, on the Place de la Concorde close to the American Embassy, has a Dog de Crillon program that offers clients a dog tag engraved with the dog's name on one side and the address of the hotel on the other, a sleeping basket with a softball, a bone containing fluorides, a bottle of mineral water and biscuits, a menu that changes daily and the services of a bilingual veterinarian recommended by the embassy. The hotel chef, Dominique Bouchet, is poised to prepare special $17 meals for dogs with either chicken or beef.

Meanwhile, the Meurice Hotel allows clients to host dog parties in the Belle Étoile suite on the eighth floor. The Four Seasons-George V offers a coverlet embroidered with the dog's name that can be custom-ordered in advance.

While the Crillon, Trianon and Meurice welcome dogs of all sizes, the Four Seasons-George V has a 15-pound limit, except for guide dogs; the Bristol — which for years banned dogs altogether — has a similar small-dogs-only policy.

Still, when it comes to dogs, Vincent Smarella, the manager of the Bristol Hotel, has seen it all.

One client from Florida arrived with trunks filled with grass sod that she unrolled onto the terrace so that her four dogs would feel at home.

Another demanded that her dog's drinking water be served at room temperature in Limoges porcelain with the dog's name on it and that rugs be laid out on the bathroom floor so the dog wouldn't catch cold. A third required a messenger dispatched to the airport to retrieve veal liver flown in from the dog's butcher in Miami. Then there was the woman who dressed herself and her dog in matching Chanel outfits.

But Mr. Smarella said nothing compared to what he once experienced in a hotel in the United States, where he was required to organize a doggie birthday party every year for 150 guests. "The dog would actually sit at the dining table with his owners," he recalled.

Asked whether he ever found such requests ridiculous, Mr. Smarella replied with appropriate sang-froid. "I don't judge them," he said.