Sometimes, I wonder if people ever trust others to do their jobs?
When you have a service animal with you, that thought becomes dominant to the point where you almost forget why you even came to the store to begin with. Or registered for the hotel. Or thought dining out would be pelasant.
I attend an annual event held in a hotel in another state. I've gone to that event since it started, and I've always been accompanied by Itzl. The first few years, there was no problem from the hotel and hotel staff. My biggest issue was always being delayed getting to event sbecause people always wanted to stop and talk with me and get a chance to pet Itzl.
Since I travel with a service animal, I am very good about letting the hotels know I will be accompanied by a service animal. Letting them know in advance often smooths the check-in procecss. That only works when the hotel bothers to share that information with the check-in staff. And if the check-in staff isn't all new and full of themselves.
Most of the thime, though, just stating Itzl's a service dog is enough and even if check-in is time-consuming and frustrating and a little humiliating, at least te rest of the stay is pelasant enough.
Except one year. At this annual event that we'd already attended together several times before. The hotel changed management, had an all new staff, and the check-in was the longest, most humiliating experience I'd had in years. The check-in staff wanted Itzl's vaccination records - not uncommon, and I was prepared. I laminate them so they don't get bedraggled. The pilot in line behind me rolled his eyes, shook his head then kind of grinned at me. He scribbled "Good one!" on his notepad and showed me. I grinned back.
Then she wanted verification that he was a service dog, so I handed her his photo ID. A woman 2 lines over looked shocked and sent her husband over to tellt he check-in clerk that what she was doing was illegal. The clerk took Itzl's ID and went into the back office. And stayed there for nearly 20 minutes. While she didn't say anything, that's about how long it takes to call the ADA number listed on the card and get the business accommodation information.
![Jas and Itzl](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5023785571_76719edaaf.jpg)
When she finally returned, the pilot who was behind me had changed lines (I didn't blame him, I'd have changed lines, too!). She handed Itzl's ID to me and said, "This is a no pet hotel, but since you are here, we'll have to charge you a $25 a day pet fee."
A different woman who had just come up to check in spoke up (did I say the people I attend this event with are all awesome, outspoken people?) and said, "That's a service dog, you can't charge a fee for a service dog."
Three other people also spoke up, as did the pilot, who'd just finished checking in. The poor clerk looked kind of bewildered and went into the back again. She was gone for another 20 minutes. I was wishing for a chair by the time she got back.
She said they could probably waive the pet fee this time - and one of the other people in a different line spoke up and said, "That's a service dog, not a pet!" The poor clerk was beginning to look shell-shocked by now, and was getting confused. She shook her head and said, "I don't know. I think I'll charge you the pet fee and you can have it taken off later."
There were nearly 20 people checking in at that point, and nearly half of them said they'd pay the pet fee because Itzl was a service dog, not a pet and I shouldn't have to pay it.
That's when the manager came out and finished checking me and Itzl in, and he did so silently, just slipping the paperwork over for me to sign and sliding the room keys over.
![El Paso Hotel Room 1](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5693603613_a0bdee8957.jpg)
That long, awkward, challenging check-in was the start of a very nerve-wracking weekend. The hotel security staff followed me everywhere I went, peering into the programming rooms, standing at the door when I went into the hospitality suite, and wandering the halls outside my room.
Whenever it was just me and Itzl, some member of the hotel staff when come up to me and tell me that pets weren't allowed. Sometimes, they only thought we were alone because other people had their backs to us or were down the hall a ways. What the hotel staff never quite understood is that while I was the only person with a service animal in attendance at this convention, we all knew one another and not one of the people was shy about speaking up. When anyone was in earshot and this happened, at least one of them would pause and turn to look at us and say, loudly and clear enough even I could hear it, "That's a service dog!"
![Itzl](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5056292110_039cdfbe80.jpg)
Even though the constant challenges were nerve-wracking, the constant support from all the cenventioners was gratifying.
When I got home, I composed a letter to the upper management of the hotel chain and informed them of our treatment at their facility, enclosed a copy of the ADA Business Brief, and recommended they train all their staff on the proper procedures for handling the presence of a service animal.
It took several months, but I got a response back. The hotel lawyers (judging from the letterhead and signatures) assured me changes had been made at the hotel, staff had completed a training session on service animals, and they hoped my next stay would be more pleasant.
And it was. The following year, when we returned for the event, the check-in was no slower than anyone else's, no hotel security followed us everywhere, no hotel staff challenged us, and my only complaint was that we missed the lunch special Saturday (Oktoberfest - sauerkraut, schnitzel, bratwurst, kartoffel salat...) and had to settle for burgers in the bar.
![El Paso Hotel Room 4](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5694178792_7de0f1808e.jpg)
We spend a surprising amount of time in hotels for people who don't travel much. I added it up - Itzl and I spend an average of 12 days a year in out-of-state hotels and 6 days a year in-state attending seminars, conventions, and training sessions.
Most of our hotel stays are not as stressful as the one I detailed here (and I left out a lot of details!). It helps that when I do stay in hotels, it's always en masse, with hundreds of other people who know Itzl and I are a service team and who, by their acceptance of us as a team seem to compell others to also accept us as a team. Events like this hotel experience I just related are rare.
Three weeks ago, we stayed at a local hotel for the weekend, working at a carnival convention (those carnies know how to party!), and while that hotel was pet-friendly, Itzl was the only dog there until my friend Pixie showed up with her puppy (who was already bigger than Itzl). We traded dog-training tips while the two took a potty break, then went into the hotel.
We will be in another hotel in a month, with a few hundred friends.
And, crazy me! I've agreed to co-chair a convention in 2012! All 4 of the hotels under consideration for the convention are new to us. They are all chain hotels, too, ones we've never used. Itzl and I will be breaking new ground.
and maybe we'll be educating another set of hotel staff on handling a service animal team.