My good friends heard that Rio is pet-friendly and will be taking advantage of it for their upcoming Xmas trip. They have two small dogs and will be bringing them along for the first time.

Does anyone have any experience with dogs at the Rio? Any advice, suggestions, information etc you could pass along would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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No personal advice but I know in the past at casinos such as the Hard Rock that are also pet friendly that they require someone to be in the room at all times if there is a pet in the room.

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I have experience from my last visit in November, and it was not good. The damn woman should have kennelled her 'lil yapper.

It isn't any special different kind of thing they're doing at the Rio. Caesars Ent. has designated "Pet-Stay" rooms at all their Las Vegas properties, including the higher end places such as Caesars Palace. They've been doing this for about a year or so as best I can recall. If you check rates with their online booking system through "reservations" at http://www.caesars.com you'll see "Pet-Stay" listed as a separate room type (with quoted rates that may differ from other room types) which can be selected at each hotel.

I haven't seen a lot of evidence of very many people using them at any of their properties. In fact the only time I can remember seeing a dog at one of them recently was at IP about a month or two ago, and I'm in most of these places at least several times a week.

Here is the blurb from their "Pet-Stay" room description for the Paris:[Highlighting added.]

So I guess if you book one of these your darling little Fluffy gets a chew-thingy, instead of a mint on the pillow. And you may get a bill for the disemboweled feather pillow.

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I actually see dogs at IP all the time. There is a fenced in area (a dog run) in the back of IP with grass. I assume they have something similar at Rio.

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Are you referring to your own dog or someone elses? Where you in the pet section--I assume they have a separate section for the pet friendly rooms? Or was the noise so bad that it bothered you in other parts of the hotel? I would love it if you could be more specific. Thanks.

It appears that it is ok to leave the dogs alone in the room from what I have read. But they say they must be crated or kennelled when you do so, Benton. I wonder how they enforce that?

AG, have you had any conversations at the poker table at IP (or elsewhere) with folks who have their pets with them? Any feedback?

Thanks to all who responded so far!

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As much as I love my animals, not sure if having them in a unknown hotel room would be best, especially since one of them is a real yapper. Can you imagine the sounds from the hallways when one on the floor starts to bark and gets them all going?

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Don't do it. Sorry, I can't in good conscience lead with anything else.

I have not stayed at the Rio with a dog. I have stayed at the Rio and my wife and I have traveled (driving) extensively with our dogs including a couple of cross-country trips. Generally the best places are those where you can be on the first or second floor and have quick and easy access to an exterior door. In the mega resorts of Vegas, it seems to always take forever to get to the casino level, much less outside. Even if some of the 4-star hotels that are truly pet friendly (no charge and they provide dog goodies like treats and bowls), it's inconvenient to be a long elevator ride away from a potty break. I'd really find out how far the room is likely to be from the bathroom area.

But beyond getting the dog in and out of the room, Vegas vacations (at least mine) aren't compatible with having a dog along.
1) The dog isn't on Vegas time, so he's going to wake up at 6 or 7 and want to go out and have breakfast. That sucks when you get in at 3 AM.
2) Vegas is not particularly pet friendly. You aren't going to take your dog shopping or wandering through casinos. You might be able to walk down the strip, but do you really want to navigate those crowds with a dog?
3) Vegas is huge and spread out. And getting back to walk the dog isn't convenient. Maybe your dog is OK for 8 hours left alone at home. But in a strange place, it's horrible to be crated for 8 hours. My Vegas agenda is usually leave room at 9 AM and return at 3 AM. Or if I'm doing more of a family thing, I stop back at 5 to shower before dinner. But if you're enjoying Vegas, you're going to leave the dog crated about 14 hours/day. And you're going to have to make a mid-afternoon trip back to the room to walk him. And that's a long trip to the Rio then back where you were. And if you're gonna crate the dog all day, why bring him?

Now if your friends are still set on bringing their dog, I'd suggest staying at a smaller, near-strip hotel that might make it easier to get in and out. And for sure they should call the Rio and talk to someone about having a dog. Don't just rely on what the web site says. Know what it costs, know if you can leave the dog, if he has to be crated, know where the rooms and dog walk area are.

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Thanks for your lengthy response, AdRock. Appreciate your thoughts.

Let me say if it was me, I could never go to Vegas with dogs, for the reasons you elaborate. But my friends actually don't gamble. They spend a good deal of time in their room, (even if the dogs are not with them). They probably won't be out of the room together more than four hours at a time, and then only once or twice that long during their stay.

I do have concern for how long it will take them to get to the approved potty areas, and I did suggest to them they talk to Rio about that. But I think they can get around that based on the way they do Vegas, which is a lot different than you or I.

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Well, my friends did indeed take their dogs to the Rio with them and they actually had a great time, and so did the dogs. The dogs actually loved walking through the casino on the way to the dog relief area, making friends with gamblers and especially the cocktail waitresses, who just all fell in love with the two Maltese dogs.

One waitress from Peru bent down to greet the pups and got her cleavage licked by one. She wanted to know if they were boy dogs or girl dogs. She was told they were boy dogs.

She said, "Oh. No wonder they wanted to lick my ta-ta's!"

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