September/October 1999 Issue

Pet Paradise

Can’t bear to leave Fido or Fluffy behind during your visit to the islands, even if it’s just for a few days? Fortunately, some accommodations will book both you and your pet. Also, rental agencies have limited lists of private homes or condominiums that allow pets, usually for weekly or monthly stays.
   “We do take pets, but some restrictions apply,” explains Katrina Beckmann, front-desk manager of Brennen’s Tarpon Tale Inn. The motel/cottages on Sanibel’s east end allow pets in just two of its units—cottages that are set apart from the main inn. The only problems arise when guests leave their pets alone, Beckman adds. She reminds people that “you have to call far in advance for anywhere on the islands if you are coming with pets.” 367 Periwinkle Way, 941/472-0939 or 888/472-0939.
   Jane and Ira Roshberg bought the Driftwood Inn on Donax Street on Sanibel in July 1996 and started receiving inquiries about dogs soon afterward. “We have three dogs of our own and are dog lovers, but it never dawned on us [to accept pets] until we started getting requests that first year,” Jane reports. “So we thought we would try it, and it worked out. But I do take just dogs, and I won’t have barkers or let people leave them alone in the cottages.” (She adds that they don’t accept dogs in their rental property on Captiva, however.) The Sanibel units have “large screened-in porches and a huge back-yard area that is shrubbed in.” She notes, “I am careful about my pet bookings. I have noticed a big increase in people bringing pets in the past six months. Pets and people are inseparable. Some people won’t even go on vacation without their pets.” 711 Donax Street, 941/395-8874.
   Guests are allowed to have pets in 12 of the 16 units at Signal Inn, but must stay at least three nights during off-season and by the week in season, according to rental managers Leeann and Chuck Atwood. They estimate that about a quarter of their winter guests bring pets, and “many more come in the summer. More kids and pets come. Of course, we try to talk them out of bringing the kids, just bring the pets,” Chuck jokes. “We’ve had wonderful love birds here,” Leeann says. “And someone once had an iguana that they carried around on their shoulder.” The Atwoods say they’ve had a couple of barkers because people leave them on the porch and go to the beach. “Why do people lock them up?” Chuck asks. “You wouldn’t lock up your kids.” Leeann adds, “Some people request units overlooking the pool so their dogs can see them and won’t bark.” Often, they say, guests are people calling from “other places where they’re being kicked out. They say they didn’t know they couldn’t have pets.” 1811 Olde Middle Gulf Drive, Sanibel, 941/472-4690 or 800/992-4690.
   Bob McClintic of the Caribe Beach Resort explains that the time-share resort allows pets weighing 25 pounds or less. When guests check in, they must register their pets also, agreeing to follow 11 rules. For example, birds must remain in cages, guests must clean up after their pets when walking them on a leash in the designated pet-walk area, and guests must not leave their pets unattended in a unit for more than two hours. “We do have lots of exchanges with other time-share resorts because of the pets,” McClintic explains. “It really works out well. And some of the pets are so small that we see the owner carrying them in a purse.” 2669 West Gulf Drive, Sanibel, 941/472-1166 or 800/330-1593.
   Colorblind pets won’t care, but Waterside Inn on the Beach, formerly the Snook Motel, has been renovated and “painted in varied hues with a Key West flair,” according to new owners Bert Jenks and Joan Good. “When we renovated, we realized there was a need for places that take pets,” Jenks says. “We allow them in our units with terrazzo or tile floors.” Part-time front desk employee Betty Anholt notes that she gets “a fair number of calls for pets, and for more dogs than cats. We also say ‘small pets,’ and some seem to grow. It’s supposed to be 30 pounds or less.” Many of Waterside’s guests are older empty nesters who are real attached to their dogs, according to Jenks. “And we’ve yet to have a complaint,” he adds. The resort uses a Zontec Ozone generator to deodorize the rooms, if necessary. 3033 West Gulf Drive, Sanibel, 941/472-1345 or 800/741-6166.
   Mitchell’s Sand Castles By the Sea “will let any kind of pet stay in any of our cottages, whether on West Gulf Drive or the cottages down at Blind Pass,” explains manager Jessi Stark. “Of course, dogs must be on a leash. Probably about 75 percent of our guests bring pets. It’s great on West Gulf Drive, because it’s a residential area and there is a nice, open beach right from your cottage.” She says the resort doesn’t usually have any problems with pets, as “all the guests are family people, so quiet and peaceful. And we have more repeat guests than not.” 3951 West Gulf Drive 6491 and 6492 Sanibel-Captiva Road, Sanibel, 941/472-1282.
   Bob and Gail Shuford, who bought Periwinkle Cottages in April, own a dog and cat and “figured it’d be appropriate” to allow guests to bring pets. “We haven’t had any problems,” Bob says, “although we like to keep a 50-pound limit on dogs.” One unit recently housed a North Carolina man who runs a bird shop. “The gentleman brought two birds with him because they needed extra care,” so the lucky critters also got a Sanibel vacation. 1436 Jamaica Drive, Sanibel, 941/472-1880.
   Rick and Faun Rogers, resident managers for the past two years at Tropical Winds Motel and Cottages, say that all of the units accept pets. “In peak season, we have guests stay for six to 11 weeks, and many will come with 12-year-old or 14-year-old dogs,” Rick notes. “You get to be on a first-name basis with the guests, and with the dogs.”
   He says there are problems once in awhile out of season, “but it’s not really the dogs. It’s the owners’ leaving them alone in the rooms. The guests don’t like it when you say something, but the dogs annoy other guests. We’ve had about three or four cases like that where we had to do something about it, and we wondered, ‘Why did they bring the dog?’”
   Some guests bring cats and birds. “We kind of screen for the animals,” Rick says. “The worst are the little-bitty ankle biters! Two different times we had Great Danes. And we had a golden retriever that was on the David Letterman Show because he could say the alphabet and count. Of course, you had to use your imagination.” Rick and his wife, who have a miniature dachshund, say they know “how rare it is to have pets in your accommodations, and on the beach. A lot of people are surprised we take pets, and that dogs can be on a leash on the beach. So much of Florida won’t let you do that.” 4819 Jamaica Drive, Sanibel, 941/472-1765.
   Of Rochester Resorts’ three properties on the islands, two will take pets. (Don’t bother calling and begging Beachview Cottages to change its policy. Pets are never allowed there, even though one woman once called and said: “Oh, please. It’s just a little dog. Just a little dog with one eye.”) Tween Waters’ rooms division manager Shane Beach notes that the Captiva resort has “just a few units for pets, the ones with terrazzo or tile floors. But they are very popular. We’re real pet friendly and don’t have any size limit. Of course, once in awhile they scare the housekeepers.” 15951 Captiva Drive, Captiva, 941/472-5161 or 800/223-5865.
   Tween Waters’ sister property, The Castaways at Blind Pass, has 11 stand-alone units that take pets of all sizes. All the units, ranging from a small motel room to a three-bedroom cottage, have linoleum or tile floors. Charlene Robertson, who works at the front desk, says one woman once brought eight cats with her. Other regular visitors always bring their parrots.
   For the guests, a vacation is just better when you can bring along your pet. “It’s worth it to make the extra effort to have him with us,” says Lynn Lyle of Orlando, a Castaways guest accompanied by Ben-Purr-r, her 2-year-old “white, fluffy, declawed cat. I work many hours and am glad when we’re on vacation and get to spend more time with him.” 6460 Sanibel-Captiva Road, 941/472-1252 or 800/375-0152. —LG