Cello’s First Hotel Stay!

Cello participated in a dock-diving contest this past weekend.  What was planned as a camping trip in our travel trailer, wound up as a hotel stay due to yet another nasty snow storm that was predicted to hit both PA and NJ Sunday-into-Monday.  After a search of dog-friendly hotels in the area, we narrowed our choices down to three.  Two hotels were more “high-end”,  and the third, was more middle-of-the-road, but also recently built.  So, we went with the newest built hotel, and  “reluctantly” booked a room at La Quinta Inn and Suites Harrisburg/Hershey, in Harrisburg, PA.

I say “reluctantly” because Brian and I hadn’t stayed in a hotel since the weekend we got engaged in Boston, MA, in 2006!!  After our engagement, we began staying in bed and breakfasts for all our trips.  We continued choosing bed and breakfasts until 2009, when we bought our dream home (a log cabin on a lake) that wasn’t quite in dream-home condition.  So, we gave up traveling to begin renovating our cabin.   In 2011, we gave tent camping a shot…a last-minute decision trip that wound up being the start of a new love for us.  We tent camped with Cello until August of 2012, and then upgraded to “Glamping” and bought a Jayco travel trailer to continue our camping adventures. Since we bought our travel trailer in October of 2012, our thought has been “if we can’t camp there, we don’t go there.” …UNTIL it meant “scratching” a dock diving event that we had already signed Cello up for.

Leading up to this hotel stay, I was very, VERY nervous – about not sleeping in our own bed, about Cello and how she would react… about all aspects of our upcoming hotel stay!…and I have to say, I was quite pleased…with EVERYthing.  The hotel was just recently built, so it was very clean – still very new looking and smelling, and the staff couldn’t have been more helpful, pleasant, and dog-friendly.  Each time we entered the hotel, Cello was greeted by the front desk staff with hugs, kisses, and dog treats!

Cello took her first ride in an elevator and wasn’t scared at all!

When we got to our room, Cello made herself right at home, and was SO well-behaved during our entire stay!

Cello was a diva and did not pack lightly…here are is Cello’s spot on the bathroom counter for all her toiletries 🙂

And here are some pictures of the hotel and our room…

Front Desk

Lobby

Breakfast Area

Our Room

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience – although we did all still miss camping in our travel trailer!