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Jacqueline Tsang

We’re at the W Hong Kong and my dog Brooke has no idea why she’s suddenly so popular. Granted, she’s the more sociable one of my pets – one of my cats hates human beings in general and the other is grounded for hissing at Rami Malek – so it’s fallen to Brooke to experience the hotel’s Pets Are Welcome (PAW) programme.

At 15.3kg, Brooke is just over the weight limit of 15kg – which seems to be standardised across Hong Kong’s pet-friendly hotels – but I manage to convince the powers that be that it’s nothing a good number two won’t fix.


And so Brooke trots through the W’s doors like she owns the place, and the staff take us through the hotel’s urban, quirky interior as my country mutt wonders why anyone would put a TV on the floor of a lift.

At the moment, the 28th floor is the only level with furry residents, with the aim of protecting allergic or animal-averse guests. Up we go to the Fantastic Suite, where we see a Pet In Room hanger on the door, a yellow teepee set up in the living room with Brooke’s name on it, a brand new banana chew toy for keeps, a WOOF! feeding mat laid out with food and water bowls, and even a litter tray for dogs who are clearly more gifted in the bathroom department than my bemused hound.

It’s a stroke of genius on the hotel’s part. The bright colours and tongue-in-cheek humour are completely in line with the W’s DNA, while the entire set-up is just so ridiculously Instagrammable that guests are literally paying to do the hotel’s marketing for them.

I am clearly no different, as I ignore the poor lady who’s trying to check me in to my room and start snapping pics of everything. Brooke, having done a circuit of the 700-square-foot (65-square-metre) suite that flows from the living room to the bedroom, the bathroom and back out to the entrance hall again, is already fixated on her new stuffed banana. Her own stuffed toy, which I packed in case she got homesick, lies forgotten.
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A quarter of an hour later, there’s a knock on the door – it’s a delivery of sweet treats for the humans and dog ice cream for Brooke, all arranged artfully on a clapper board customised with our pictures.

It’s only after I finally put my phone down that I realise a pet staycation does come with its own set of challenges. At home, pets tend to fall into a certain rhythm. Meals are predictable, as are naps and walks. A new setting with new toys and food throws all of that out of whack, and while the W has certainly decked out our puppy pad, it does, like most other pet-friendly hotels in Hong Kong, restrict access to restaurants as well as the spa, pool and gym.

Although I’m craving a swim at the hotel’s rooftop pool, which offers a rather stunning view of the city’s skyline from the 76th floor, it doesn’t seem responsible for us to leave Brooke behind in an unfamiliar room while we go for a romantic sunset swim.
However, the hotel does have a handy Pet Insider Escapes guide, which details everything from “paw-friendly” parks, hikes, beaches and restaurants to grooming and even vet services. We decide to go to the West Kowloon Art Park, which is the only spot under the parks and hikes category that’s actually nearby and within walking distance. The rest of the venues are lovely, but require taxi rides to different corners of the peninsula and island.

To get there, we walk through the Elements shopping centre and through the Kowloon MTR; it feels deliciously taboo to walk our dog past shops like Balenciaga and Shanghai Tang. In her defence, Brooke does dress for the occasion in a black and tan fur coat.
By the time we come back, it’s dinner time. While you can certainly bring your own pet food if your pet is a picky eater, the hotel also has a fun Pet Munchies in-room menu, which has everything from cookies and lollipops to proper protein meals.

We get steak and salmon for ourselves from the human menu and order the chicken bites for Brooke, which a staff member delivers with rice, vegetables, and an oversized carrot slice with W Hong Kong seared onto it. Unfortunately, Brooke sticks her whole face in the bowl before I can get a picture of it.
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Come bedtime, Brooke ditches her teepee in favour of the suite’s king-size bed. It’s worth noting that the hotel does offer dog beds for pets who can’t fit into the tent, but Brooke has always enjoyed high thread count sheets.

The next day, we order in-room dining for three again, and I find a packet of freeze-dried salmon that must have been delivered the night before with Brooke’s dinner. That’s another thing with bringing a pet on a staycation – your room tends to be much messier with toys and accessories strewn everywhere. The W allows for two pets in a suite and one in a regular room, but unless they’re cats – or your dogs are the size of oversized rats – I’d suggest picking your favourite for the staycation and apologising to the less loved pet when you come home.

On that note, PAW is currently offered to cats and dogs only, so your slimy, scaly, feathery or other kinds of fluffy friends will have to sit this one out. Guests have to sign a Pet Acceptance Agreement before the stay, which is fairly standard: the room comes at an extra HK$300 per pet, per night, and the hotel can claim an extra HK$1,000 fee for fumigation if your pet brings uninvited guests along in the form of pests.
The room comes with a litter box, litter and scoop for feline guests, and pee pads for canine ones, while collars, leashes and toys come at an additional cost.
The verdict

Is it worth it? Absolutely. I would recommend short stays, because as fun as the room and experience are, there’s only so much in-room dining you can do, and there is a healthy measure of guilt that comes with leaving your pet alone in a strange room while you go to the gym, spa, pool or restaurants. But for one or two nights, it’s a very fun way to get some bonding time in with your furry pal. Just make sure your phone is charged and has plenty of storage space for your pictures.
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