Pet resorts, hotels and country clubs cater to animal best friends in style

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Allie jumps from her wrought-iron bed and runs to the window of the presidential suite, past the flat-screen TV tuned to "Animal Planet" just for her.

The black shih tzu presses her nose against the glass overlooking the lobby of Pet Paradise Resort, one of Charlotte, N.C.'s newest boarding facilities for dogs and cats.

Here is Allie's view from the resort's ritziest, $70-per-night room:

Framed portraits of terriers, bulldogs and spaniels hanging on all four walls of the lobby.

Chairs upholstered in fabric printed with black and yellow Labrador retrievers.

And visible through a window behind the reception desk, a golden retriever-poodle mix splashes outside in a bone-shaped swimming pool.

"A lot of people say, 'We don't treat him like he's a dog,' " resort manager Dina Beam says. "We say, 'Great! That's what we cater to.' "

This Club-Med-for-mutts near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport is part of a growing trend toward luxury pet boarding — where businesses calling themselves "hotels" and "spas" pamper pooches with everything from golf cart rides and "Yappy Hour" ice cream to bedtime stories and orthopedic mattresses.

Blueberry facials

"Ten to 15 years ago, there started to be a dramatic change in how people viewed their pets," says Joan Saunders, chief executive officer of the Colorado-based trade group Pet Care Services Association. Pets became "members of the family," she says, rather than animals that stayed mostly outdoors.

The shift left some pet owners unsatisfied with boarding Puff and Spot in a cage behind the vet's office. They wanted more deluxe services and were willing to pay for them.

Spending on boarding, daycare, grooming and other non-medical pet care is growing at a rate of more than 5 percent a year, despite the sluggish economy, Saunders says. Many boarding facilities have expanded to offer day care, retail boutiques and other amenities.

"You might drop your dog off for the weekend," Saunders says, "and the facility owner might say, 'Do you want your dog groomed while they're here? Do you want a blueberry facial and their nails done?' "

Golf-cart rides

Tuscarora's Country Club for Dogs comes complete with golf carts, as any proper country club should. And that's just what Fifi is riding in this afternoon.

The white Maltese with a pink bow on her rhinestone collar is bouncing along Tuscarora's ¾-mile nature trail in the back of a cart, held securely by staffer Kim Culley.

"In the summertime, we let them swim in the creek," Culley says, as Fifi sniffs the woodsy air along Cabarrus County's Little Buffalo Creek.

The 33-acre club has a summer-camp feel that attracts the pets of a few Charlotte Bobcats, as well as former Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis and his wife, Donna.