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Service Dog Rules for Staying in Hotels

27 March, 2017

There are a number of people that require the assistance of a service dog. These specialized and highly trained canines provide the person with a disability the right most of us take for granted; to freely participate in all of the activities of life without judgment or discrimination.

However, there are still some establishments, like hotels, that are falling behind on the rights of these individuals. If you or someone you know is disabled and requires the aid of a service dog, the following information is important for you to know.

Can Hotels Charge for a Service Dog?

Under the ADA laws, the hotel cannot charge an extra fee for the service animal as they would another client with a pet. This also means you and your dog will be allowed in the public areas of the hotel, as well as having the right to a floor and room that are not normally designated for people traveling with pets.

What to Expect With Hotels and Service Dogs

When traveling with a service animal, according to the ADA, the hotel staff only has the right to ask you two questions;

Is your dog a service dog?
What task(s) does your service dog provide?

If the task is apparent (seeing eye dog, wheelchair-related) the staff has no right to inquire about either the service dog or your disability. When dealing with ignorant hotel staff members, presenting your service dog certification and identification card can help alleviate tension. Remember, the staff members are only employees and may not be properly trained in dealing with service animals in the hotel.

In addition, the hotel staff still has to act according to the rules of conduct the general public should adhere to concerning a service dog. These include;

Not petting the dog
Speaking to or teasing the dog
No feeding the dog

The staff is also not required to help you perform any of the tasks related to the service dog such as taking it out to relieve itself, feeding, handling etc.

Following the Rules of the Hotel

Under the ADA, persons with a disability do have a number of rights. However, you will still be expected to follow the rules of the hotel as they are set forth for all their visiting clients.

Your service dog must be under your control at all times, whether this is by the means of a leash, hand gestures or voice control, your dog cannot become unruly. In addition, if your service dog were to damage anything in the hotel room, you are still liable for the cost of those damages.

Hotel Stays with Your Service Dog

Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you should be stripped of your rights to stay in a hotel with your service dog. Under the ADA, hotels cannot refuse you and your service canine accommodations and they cannot ask you personal questions about your condition or your dog’s certification. If an improperly trained hotel staff member makes any of these mistakes, don’t hesitate to ask for the manager.

Staying at an AirBNB with Your Service Dog

As AirBNB becomes more popular with travelers, people have asked us if service dogs are allowed in AirBNB rentals. AirBNB hosts in the United States must allow service animals if they are renting out the entire home or apartment to an AirBNB guest. AirBNB’s nondiscrimination policy requires hosts to allow all service animals into their home unless local laws restrict access for service animals. Please research your intentional destination before booking an AirBNB with your service dog.

Service Dogs Defined Under the ADA

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) was established in 1990 and was put into place as a way to prevent establishments from discriminating against those people with a physical or mental disability, which also includes any companion they may have along for help and support. However, those “companions” began moving away from humans to the animal world and many people used this policy to treat their exotic pets such as reptiles, ferrets, pigs and parrots as “service animals.”

To stop people from taking advantage of the true nature of the ADA, amendments have been made to their policies. These changes state only dogs would be considered a service animal and on March 15th, 2011 those changes became official.

However, under the ADA definition, even the service dog will be scrutinized. Their policies state the dog must be there to directly help the person with a disability. This means the canine aids in areas such as pulling a wheelchair, guiding the person safely, alerting to seizures or medications and other services that are needed for the person’s health and well-being.

Although, under the ADA policy, they also ask that establishments make reasonable modifications to also allow the use of miniature horses as a service animal, as these are becoming more popular over time.

15 comments

Jay says: March 4, 2019

I think businesses like hotels, restaurants, Etc. should be allowed to ask owners who claim to have ada service animals for their animal identification card. If not why give them one in the first place. If you’re not allowed to ask for any animal identification card by law. What’s to stop someone from claiming their animal is a service dog when it really isn’t.
I work for a hotel and get customers and all the time claiming to have service animals. Since I can’t ask for there i.d. without threats of being sued. There’s no real way of knowing if the dog this is legit or not. I’m sure only about 5% of Our Guest who claimed they have service animals are really real ada service animals. I mean I understand that you shouldn’t be allowed to ask for medical paperwork or having the dog perform a task to show that it is one. I was told by a guest that her service animal have the same rights as a human. And if that is true. it’s not illegal to ask a human for their identification when they are purchasing cigarettes, alcohol for operating a vehicle to verify who they say they are. If we didn’t have identification cards that had to be shown anyone cuz they there anybody or any age.

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- Melissa Garrett says: April 3, 2019
  
  My husband has a service dog, but I agree there needs to be a way for businesses to ask for proof. We have a certificate and a photo ID for our diabetic alert dog and would not be offended if we were asked to show proof. I’ve seen too many fake service animals cause chaos and injury.
  
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- robin mcneely says: April 26, 2019
  
  well this or training for employees i have a good friend that trains service dogs also i know how to identify one many people don’t know that only two types of animals can be service animals that is a dog of mini horse i also work for a hotel and people come in all the time Trying to say they have a service cat there is no such thing you can have a esa cat but not service and esa is not under the same rights as service also if the dog or mini horse is actually a service animal then your going to be able to tell if the animal walks in calm that is a good sign if the animal nis upset and barking or shaking prob not a service animal service animals go through very extensive training in the field theses are just a few tips
  
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- John nichols says: April 26, 2019
  
  I have and my family has allergies. So why do you think it’s ok for me to get sick if your dog has been in a room. The article says dogs are allowed in rooms not designed for people traveling with pets. How is that fair for young children and people like me ????
  
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KaZ Akers says: March 4, 2019

An AirBnB host recently quoted a service fee to us for my husband’s service dog in violation of THEIR own policies. So it looks like even those who are AirBnB hosts don’t know their own rules and regulations. We have not decided whether to report this to AirBnB or not but the email exchange took place via AirBnB so either this person doesn’t care or he doesn’t know or he figured my husband was trying to get over on him with a fake service dog. Unfortunately, that has become all too common with people wanting to have their dog with them all the time and getting fake ids and jackets for their untrained dog. It is quite obvious when a dog is not a trained service dog. We have had to educate many restaurant staff who want to sit us only in outdoor seating and hotels who try to put us in a pet room not knowing my husband’s service dog is an extension of him and performs a very important function for him.

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Jan Rittenberry says: March 7, 2019

I work at a hotel and we have people to come here and stay. They bring dogs here and they say they are service dogs but I know they’re not how can we get around this so we won’t have dogs stay in here that are not service dogs.

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- Lesnluna says: March 30, 2019
  
  You state “you know they are not”, how do you “know” this? I’ve a balance issue, from a brain injury, looking at me, you would think there is absolutely nothing wrong with me, but the reality is, I have a dibilitating condition, I feel as if I’m spinning, all the time, and I have prism glasses to help with this disorder, but you wouldn’t know that either, but just looking at me. I hold my husbands arm, or hand when walking, but I now have a service dog to help me with my balance issues… I can walk by myself, for a very short distance, but it is absolutely debilitating, and literally hurts my brain… So these people, and their service dogs, that you say “you KNOW are not”, may have a disability that is not visibable, so please do NOT be so judgmental…
  
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  - Dani says: April 17, 2019
    
    We know this because service dogs are trained not to bark at people, urinate on the floor, ect. It’s not based on observations of the person with the disability, but of the dog itself. It’s very obvious most of the time. Sorry, but if somebody is lying to take advantage of ADA, I’m going to be super judgmental. It makes things harder for people with legitimate service animals.
    
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Reba says: March 30, 2019

I went to my timeshare in Mexico and was denied my service dog. I have all her paperwork. They said 3 months ago that they were no longer letting service dogs stay there. I went in March of this year. They made me leave my dog at a boarding house not even close to me. Is this legal. Hope someone can answer this for me.

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- Ranae says: May 13, 2019
  
  Service dog or not, all should have to pay a fee if there is a fee to have you dog at a hotel. It’s more a matter of cleaning up after the dog has left. Sure the owner is responsible for the pet but they’re usually long gone before anyone has noticed there is any mess or damage done. I don’t mind paying a pet fee for my animal. But just because your dog is a service dog doesn’t mean you should be exempt from the fee also. At least that is my opinion. And if they don’t have to pay the fee for their service animal then they should show documentation because then everyone will say they have a service dog to avoid a fee. Which isn’t fair to the establishments.
  
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Sam P says: April 2, 2019

I agree with providing documentation. What’s the harm of asking for a certificate? It doesn’t have to state your condition. I agree that people lie about their pets as service animals. I have seen so called service animals misbehaving and even grabbing food from other guests plates at breakfast at our hotel. Humans have been lying since the dawn of mankind, so why would that change in current times? Even famous actors are being caught for lying about having service animals on airplanes. Just today I had to argue with someone who was complaining that animal hair could cause her to go to the hospital for asthma problems. As stated by others, we provide documentation to prove our age, our nationality, our membership, etc, etc,. Why not provide documentation for your service animal? We are not against service animals, just the false claims that people use to get away with allowing their pets in where they are not welcome.

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Pet Lover says: April 9, 2019

I believe in fairness to everyone; Service dog owner should carry a certificate like an ID, to make it easy on everyone. with that hotel and other public places shall allow guest with disability and service dogs. Similar to what we have as designated parking spot and the person must have a decal on their vehicle.

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Brit says: April 28, 2019

All these comments and opinions are very interesting. I think that one should not have to show proof of legitimacy, but if their service animal acts out in any way, then the management of the establishment should be allowed to ask for an ID. I have a service dog who helps me medically and another one who is a medical service dog for my asthma and a second psychiatric service dog who helps with my ptsd and anxiety. I look very normal and my dogs are very happy and seem normal as well. I don’t have any vests; just a patch on each of their collars, so they look like pets. I’m about to go on my first vacation with them and stay at a hotel. I notified the hotel but it’ll still be interesting to see how this goes since I have two.

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Sandy says: April 28, 2019

My service dog will only bark at people who talk to her while she’s working. We have tried to train it out of her but the only thing we can think about it is that she knows they aren’t supposed to acknowledge her so she barks to get them to leave her alone. If they ignore her as they are supposed to, she ignores them.

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David Lahman says: May 10, 2019

My service animal was taken out of my hotel room by hotel staff and animal control. I have never met such ignorance by any hotel staff. This was at Ramada inn Reno Nevada. When I returned they kicked. Me out of room. My animal is ADA certified and I was checkedand with my service animal by my side on a leash with a service vest on the hotel staff then told me that they didn’t have it as a service animal in the room okay even though I checked in and told him it was a service animal and I was not charged for the animal this is the most horror v critic night I’ve ever endured I can’t believe this hotel did this to me I feel like I under law I had the right to sue I will be contacting an attorney to further address the situation they still have not returned my service dog to me and I’m having very very emotional problems with this whole situation the service animal has been used for seizures also heart attacks he alerts he’s such a good dog and I just want my family back

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