Hotels That Allow Large Dogs

If your dog weighs more than 50 lb, a large share of “pet-friendly” hotels are not actually friendly to your pet. Weight limits are the single biggest filter for owners of labradors, retrievers, shepherds, huskies, boxers, doodles and every giant breed. The good news is that the limits are predictable by brand and often negotiable.

Why do hotels have weight limits for dogs?

Hotels set weight limits to control wear on rooms, noise and insurance risk, not because large dogs behave worse. In practice a calm 80 lb labrador is easier on a room than an anxious 12 lb terrier, and most hotel managers know it.

The usual reasons:

• Room size. Small urban rooms leave little floor space for a large dog and a crate.
• Cleaning. More hair and bigger accidents mean more cleaning time.
• Noise. A big dog’s bark carries further down a corridor.
• Insurance and liability. Some policies specify size or breed limits.
• Other guests. Hotels worry, rightly or wrongly, about guests who are nervous around big dogs in elevators and lobbies.

Because these are business judgments rather than legal requirements, a manager can usually make an exception. That is the opening you will use below.

Which hotel chains accept dogs over 50 lb?

Kimpton, Best Western, Red Roof Inn, Motel 6 and many La Quinta hotels. The table shows typical policies, which vary by property.

Chain	Typical weight limit	Good for
Kimpton	No limit	Any size, including giant breeds
Motel 6	About 150 lb combined	One giant dog or two large dogs
Best Western	80 lb per dog	Most large breeds
Red Roof Inn	80 lb	Most large breeds
La Quinta	Varies, often 75 lb	Most large breeds
Extended Stay America	Varies by property	Ask first
Hyatt Place	50 lb, or 75 lb combined	Medium dogs; exceptions possible
Aloft	40 lb	Small and medium dogs; exceptions common

For a full comparison including fees, see dog-friendly hotel chains compared.

What weight class is my dog in for hotel purposes?

Hotels effectively sort dogs into four bands, and each band cuts the number of available hotels.

Dog weight	Example breeds	Availability
Under 25 lb	Dachshund, pug, shih tzu, most terriers	Accepted almost anywhere that takes pets
25 to 50 lb	Beagle, border collie, cocker spaniel, bulldog	Accepted at most pet-friendly hotels
50 to 80 lb	Labrador, golden retriever, boxer, husky, standard poodle	Excluded by many upscale and lifestyle hotels
Over 80 lb	German shepherd (large), rottweiler, great Dane, mastiff, Newfoundland	A short list: no-limit brands and independents

If your dog is close to a threshold, know its actual weight from the last vet visit. “About 50” is a much harder conversation than “48 lb at her check-up in March”.

How do combined weight limits work for two dogs?

A combined limit is the total weight of all dogs in the room, and it catches out owners of two medium dogs.

Hyatt Place’s typical policy is the classic example: one dog up to 50 lb, or two dogs up to 75 lb together. Two 40 lb dogs are each under the individual limit but 5 lb over the combined one. Motel 6’s typical combined limit of around 150 lb, by contrast, comfortably fits two labradors.

When you travel with two dogs, check three things:

1. The per-dog limit.
2. Whether there is a combined limit.
3. Whether the fee is per pet, which doubles the cost.

How do I get a hotel to accept a dog over its weight limit?

Call or email the hotel directly before booking, speak to the front office manager, and describe your dog specifically. Exceptions are granted far more often than most people expect, particularly outside peak periods.

A request that works usually includes:

• The dog’s exact weight, breed and age. “A 68 lb, seven-year-old golden retriever” is reassuring in a way that “a big dog” is not.
• Evidence of good behavior. Crate-trained, does not bark when alone, has stayed in hotels before.
• Your plans. That the dog will not be left unattended, or will be crated if it is.
• A willingness to pay the standard fee or an additional deposit.
• Your dates, especially if they are midweek or off-season.

Then, crucially, get the approval in writing. Ask for an email confirming that your dog is approved for your dates, and bring it with you. The person at the desk on arrival may not be the person who agreed.

Do not book first and ask later on a non-refundable rate. If the answer is no, you have lost the money. Either get approval first or book a rate with free cancellation.

Should I just not mention my dog’s size?

No. Arriving with an unapproved large dog risks losing the room, a penalty fee, or both. Hotels do not weigh dogs, but nobody mistakes a 90 lb shepherd for a 40 lb dog.

If the hotel refuses you at check-in, you are looking for a pet-friendly room at short notice, late in the day, with a large dog, which is the hardest version of this problem. Penalties for undeclared or non-compliant pets commonly run from $150 to $300 or more. Honesty is also simply cheaper.

What kind of room is best for a large dog?

A ground-floor room near an exit, with hard flooring and enough floor space for a crate or bed.

• Ground floor: no elevators, which many big dogs dislike, and faster trips outside.
• Near a side exit: avoids walking a large dog through the lobby at busy times.
• Suite or divided room: all-suite and extended-stay brands give a large dog somewhere to stretch out.
• Hard floors: easier to keep clean and less likely to hold odors. Some hotels put pets in designated hard-floor rooms.
• Exterior entry: motel-style rooms open directly to the parking lot and grass.

Ask for these when you book. Hotels are usually glad to place a large dog where it will cause the least disruption.

Are breed restrictions the same as weight limits?

No. Some hotels restrict specific breeds regardless of weight. Restrictions most often name pit bull type dogs, rottweilers, Dobermans, German shepherds, chow chows and wolf hybrids, and they usually come from the hotel’s insurer.

Breed restrictions are less common than weight limits and are not always published. If you have a breed that is frequently restricted, ask the hotel directly and get the answer in writing. Also check local law at your destination: a small number of US cities and counties have breed-specific rules that apply to visitors. Denver, for example, runs a permit system for pit bull type breeds.

Neither weight limits nor breed restrictions can lawfully be applied to trained service animals in the United States.

How do I find large-dog hotels on Dog Friendly Rooms?

Use the “Weight limit 50 lb+” filter on any city page. It keeps only hotels whose published policy accepts dogs of 50 lb or more, or states that there is no weight limit.

Every hotel page then shows a pet policy table with the exact weight limit, the maximum number of dogs and any breed wording the hotel has published, taken from our data supplier’s hotel content. When a hotel has not published a limit, the table says “Confirm at booking” instead of guessing, and those hotels are not included by the 50 lb+ filter, because we cannot vouch for them.

Cities on this site with a notably good choice of hotels for large dogs include Denver, Colorado Springs, Asheville, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago.

Does a large dog cost more at a hotel?

Usually not. Most hotels charge the same pet fee regardless of size. A minority use tiered fees with a higher charge above a weight threshold, and some ask large-dog owners for a bigger refundable deposit.

The more significant cost is indirect: with fewer hotels to choose from, you have less ability to shop on price. Booking early matters more for owners of large dogs than for anyone else. For how fees are structured, see hotel pet fees explained.

The short version

Start with the brands that typically take big dogs: Kimpton for no limit, Best Western and Red Roof Inn for up to 80 lb, Motel 6 for two large dogs. For anywhere else, ask the manager before booking, be specific about your dog, and get the approval in writing. Request a ground-floor room, and filter our city pages by “50 lb+” to skip the hotels that will say no.