“People are passionate about cats and there’s a huge market for cat lovers,” Hainstock said. “Our three resident cats, Friskie, Melody and Hendrix, are part of our family and guests really enjoy them.” She said she still remembers walking into the guest lounge several years ago after adding a fireplace and finding one of her guests relaxing in front of the roaring fire, with a glass of wine in her hand and a cat on her lap. “That’s the exact homey atmosphere we want to achieve,” Hainstock said. But in case prospective guests aren’t pet lovers, Hainstock recommends that innkeepers make their pets’ presence known on all promotional materials, including a website and voice mail message.
Patricia Goggans, co-owner of The North House in Vassar, MI, said another option exists for guests who don’t want to pet, talk to, and occasionally cuddle their three resident cats and one resident dog. “We can make sure that the pets aren’t near the guests if they don’t want them to be,” Goggans said. She also said that cats, especially, tend to steer clear of non-pet lovers. “Cats decide for themselves if they want to be approached and usually sense when someone isn’t a cat lover,” Goggans said.
The opposite also holds true, explained Peggy Waller, innkeeper at The Inn at Merridun, Union, SC. Their resident cat, J.D., tends to sniff the luggage of arriving guests and upon detecting other animal smells, assumes that the guest doesn’t mind if he hangs around.
Vie for Attention
Waller observed some guests are such pet lovers that they try to be the first to retire for the night, hoping J.D. will decide to bestow his presence upon them for the entire evening.
But as much as resident pets add to a guest’s stay and help them endure the pain of being without their own cat companion, Waller said when she’s ready to call it a day, until J.D. either finds her or she finds him, she’s not happy. “No matter what, he knows who’s his mama!” she said.
Both J.D. and Humphrey, the resident cat at the Manchester Highlands Inn in Manchester Center, VT, have such a following that each has his own
e-mail address, another way to inform prospective guests of the presence of animals at the inn. According to Patricia and Robert Eichorn, innkeepers, Humphrey always attends the Saturday evening wine-and-hors d’oeuvres hour that they host for their guests. “Humphrey’s the real host,” the Eichorns said. “He’s one mean public relations person!” The Eichorns agreed that Humphrey is a great addition to their inn. “I know that guests stay here just because of Humphrey,” Patricia said. “It’s a deciding factor.”
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