Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

A room with a view

By LEONORA LAPETER
Published April 20, 2006

PINELLAS PARK - The TV was tuned to Animal Precinct, in which gritty dog cops narrowed in on the neglectful owner of a limping dog with mucous-filled eyes.

Below the wall-mounted TV, Shade, a black Labrador, and Patti, a beagle, rested on toddler beds in a presidential suite at Paws Inn Paradise, a luxury pet hotel that recently opened in Pinellas Park. The rooms come with a TV, continuous access to an outdoor patio and doggie cams so owners can check on their pets.

Diane Sembler, 49, says her German short-haired pointer, Sophie, loves to go to the doggie day care at the pet hotel so much she takes her even when she doesn't need to. Cost per day: $20

"She stands at the door and cries to go," said Sembler. "She'll run around and whine and run around and then back to the door. And she keeps this up until I finally relent."

Obviously this is no ordinary kennel.

"We cater to top of the line," said Sandy Bittaker, an owner of the pet hotel. "We're the Don Cesar for dogs."

Across the country, more and more pet owners are pampering their animals, from high-end suites at pet motels to spa packages and pool days at pet resorts. The market for pet products and services increased from $17-billion in 1994 to $31-billion in 2003, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

One Indiana hotel even offers pet weddings. And high-end pet hotels with names that include "palace" and "resort and spa" have opened in Tampa and Land O'Lakes.

At Paws Inn Paradise, about a dozen dogs mingled Thursday in a doggie day care room with a toddler slide and a painted wall mural of dogs at the beach.

Next door, a yellow Lab named Poppet took nose dives into a heated saltwater pool while Doug Culmer, 34, a veterinary technician, threw toys for him, chanting, "kick, kick, kick," and "stretch those legs, stretch those legs."

In another corner of the building, Rainbow, a white cat with green eyes, moved around a three-story condo with an aquarium view. The litter box was on the ground floor.

The 9,000-square-foot facility has 10 penthouse and 17 presidential suites, some with pool views, at a cost of $30 to $39 a night. In the event of a hurricane, Paws Inn Paradise will take up to 200 animals. It even has a generator.

It also offers economy rooms, some indoor, some with outdoor runs, for $16 to $18 a night, which is closer to the rate for a more traditional kennel. A private pool party for up to six dogs costs $150.

On this day, Sembler dropped off Sophie and her other dog, Krissy, a yellow Lab, with Paws Inn Paradise founder Ron Bittaker and told him she'd be back by 5 p.m.

"Do you want her bathed?" Bittaker asked.

"Yeah. And Sophie has something in her ears...And you might want to check her nails. Thanks. I have to get going. I'm off to get roots colored."

Bittaker, a 52-year-old police officer for the St. Pete Beach Police Department for the past 23 years, had been thinking about opening a luxury pet motel for about eight years. But with a police officer's salary, he didn't have the money. A K-9 cop for the past 15 years, on the side he helped many people train their dogs and one day met a Kentucky developer who agreed to be his partner in the venture.

Bittaker still works the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift at the police department with his K-9, Ben. He goes home and rests for an hour-and-a-half and then shows up at the pet hotel around 6:30 a.m. to begin receiving animals. He gets a few hours of sleep in the afternoon before returning to his police job.

He said many customers have taken to the luxury rooms, and many check on their dogs by Web cam every day. The Web cam had 100 to 300 views a week the past few weeks.

"When you're talking about your dogs, $10 here or there isn't a big deal," said Reed Mosgrove, owner of Patti and Shade in the presidential suite who were to receive cooked chicken and rice for dinner last night. "You want them to be happy. You know essentially what they like and don't like."

[Last modified April 20, 2006, 21:36:03]