Hampton is a Hilton brand, so maybe we could prevail upon the
soaring-friendly parent company to intercede.

Seriously, Hampton Inns appear to be mostly franchised operations,
which means that although the parent company sets certain policies and
enforces standards, the actual franchisee/owner is usually free to
operate the property as they see fit. There's nothing on Hampton's Web
site that addresses pets so I suspect that particular policy is left
up to the individual hotel property's discretion.

The bad part is that if the manager gets ticked off by a few too many
inconsiderate pet owners, the pet-friendly policy goes away. The good
part is that you're negotiating with one person (the general manager)
and not a faceless corporate entity. And in the hotel biz, almost
everything is negotiable when there's enough money involved. And a two
week stay is a reasonable amount of money assuming the hotel isn't
already booked up for the contest.

Bottom line: might be worth another call and insist on speaking with
the general manager. Or at least not crossing Hampton off your list
across the country.

Chip Bearden
(currently on a consulting assignment for another hotel company--a
competitor of Hilton--and planning on leaving our pets at home...and
camping at Hobbs for the contest)

FYI for any of you folks headed to Hobbs with a dog and staying at the
Hampton Inn....they have changed their policy from the time that we made a
reservation (several months ago) to today i.e. NO PETS. Pretty much sucks
to get such late notice re this. No more Hampton Inn visits for this pilot
anyway....dog or not.

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix