Where Your Dog Goes, You Go: Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel

It is not often that a hotel makes me want to pack a bag for my own dog the moment I finish assessing it. Most of the places I certify are dog tolerant rather than genuinely dog friendly, and you learn to spot the difference quickly. So when a property earns our A+ rank, the very highest we award, I take notice. The Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa earned it, and it wears it beautifully. This is my review of the hotel and the barrier island around it, for anyone who wants to bring their dog to Florida's Treasure Coast and never once feel like the awkward guest.

A Hotel That Delights In Dogs

There is a particular feeling every dog owner knows, the small apology you make with your body as you cross a hotel lobby, half braced to be told your dog is too big or welcome only in a certain wing. At the Kimpton Vero Beach you can put that down at the door. Every single room is dog friendly, so there is no set aside annex and no compromise on where you sleep. There is no weight limit and no size limit, so the big, lolloping retrievers so often turned away are exactly as welcome as any lapdog. And in a gesture almost unheard of at a spa hotel of this class, your dog stays completely free. No nightly fee, no deposit, no small print, just an open handed welcome.

Your Dog Goes Where You Go

The thing that separates a truly dog friendly hotel from a merely permissive one is where the dog is allowed to be. Here your dog goes where you go. Into the bar for a nightcap, into the restaurant for dinner, out onto the terrace, through the lounge, and happily at ease in the room while you take an hour in the spa. That completeness is rare, and it is the clearest sign a hotel has thought about dogs as guests rather than as an exception to be managed.

Hazel And The Pampered Paws Paradise

The welcome even has a face, and it belongs to Hazel, the hotel's Pet Experience Director, a golden retriever who greets arriving dogs as her personal guests. Under her watch runs the Pampered Paws Paradise programme, where your dog arrives to a luxury teepee with a plush bed of its own, a Vero Beach bandana in cheerful island colours, and a gift bag chosen just for them. A dog with its own bed and its own corner settles far faster in a strange room, and these are the touches that turn a stay into a holiday for the dog too.

Dinner Served On China

Then there is dinner. The Pampered Pets menu is served on china with a bowl of bottled water, and it is no afterthought, running from organic chicken breast to Atlantic salmon, ground beef, and a filet of beef with gravy, each plated with steamed rice and seasonal vegetables. If your dog fancies something that is not on it, the kitchen simply asks what they would like. Back in the room there is a proper bed, real food and water bowls, treats and toys on arrival, and a wash and shower area for sandy paws after the beach.

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The Barrier Island On Your Doorstep

The setting is half the reason to come. The hotel sits on the barrier island with the Atlantic a few steps away, and the best of the local dog life is within a short drive. A word on the beach, because Vero Beach is particular about it. The guarded town beaches nearest the hotel do not allow dogs, but the stretch immediately north in Indian River Shores does welcome leashed dogs, and even permits off leash running at set morning and evening hours with a simple town permit. It is worth the five minute drive for a proper beach walk. Closer still is the Vero Beach Dog Park, five fenced acres on the Indian River Lagoon just minutes from the hotel, with separate areas for small dogs, for older quieter dogs, and for everyone else, plus water and shade. It is lagoon side rather than oceanfront, and all the better for a safe off leash run.

Walks Worth Waking For

For a morning walk with a lead on, you are spoiled. The Lagoon Greenway gives you around three miles of mulch path and boardwalk along the Indian River Lagoon, flat, shaded and quiet. The Historic Jungle Trail runs eight miles of unpaved track through native hammock on the barrier island, best taken early before the heat. Captain Forster Hammock Preserve, just north in Indian River Shores, is a short trail through oak hammock that ends at the ocean, and because it sits in the Shores the beach end is dog friendly. And for something gentle on the doorstep, Riverside Park near the bridge has grassy fields and easy walking tracks.

Where To Eat And Drink With Your Dog

You will not go hungry with a dog at your feet. The easiest option is Mulligan's Beach House, an oceanfront seafood spot a few minutes from the hotel with a pet friendly patio and leashed dogs welcome. Across the bridge, the downtown arts district clustered around 14th Avenue is where the town eats, and it does so happily with dogs. Kilted Mermaid is a lovely wine and beer bar with a dog friendly patio and water bowls on request. Post & Vine is a wine bar the locals bring their dogs to as a matter of course. Armani's Cucina serves Italian in a covered courtyard where a water bowl arrives with the menu, and the Azul Mexican Restaurant keeps a pet friendly side patio for its Mexican plates. For breakfast, Beach Bum Bagel has a handful of outdoor tables where your dog is welcome.

The Practical Corner

Two things every travelling dog owner wants to know are covered here without you having to ask. If your dog needs a wash and tidy after all that sand, Orchid Island Dog Spa in town handles grooming, and the hotel front desk knows the way. And should the worst happen, a round the clock emergency animal hospital sits about fifteen minutes away, and Kimpton Vero Beach keeps its number to hand so your dog's wellbeing is looked after before you have even had to think about it.

The Verdict

Quite simply, this is one of the finest places in the country to bring a dog, a rare marriage of a spa hotel's polish with an unforced, wholehearted love of dogs, in a town that largely feels the same way. Book it, bring your best friend, and spend the entire stay without once apologising for their presence. Its A+ rank is not merely earned, it is celebrated. To see this hotels official Roch Dog review click here.