Austin ricochets around the Ritz-Carlton hotel room, bouncing from bed to chair and leaping high to lick the face of his personal masseuse. He's an energetic 4-year-old pug, so there is a lot of wriggling as his "privileged pup" pet massage begins. But soon his eyelids droop and his tiny muscles relax under the soothing touch of Darlene Davison, the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota's spa director.
Darlene Davison massages MaiTai, a 5-year-old shih tzu owned by Susan Kornett, at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Sarasota, Fla., on Dec. 16.
"OK, sweetheart, OK. There you go," coos Davison, creator of the luxury hotel chain's latest indulgence — the $130 dog massage.
Figure in the hotel's 20-pound weight limit and the additional $125 nonrefundable pet fee and the "privileged pup" plan comes out to a minimum of $12.75 a pound. And that's the basic package. Read more on this article.
