The Alfond Inn Dog Friendly Hotel Winter Park, Florida

ByCaitlin

I love being from Florida! There are so many fun dog-friendly Florida cities with dog-friendly beaches, dog-friendly hotels and so much more. One of my favorite dog-friendly cities in Florida is Winter Park. Located right by Rollins College and downtown Winter Park, FL is a wonderful dog-friendly Florida hotel called The Alfond Inn. 

The Alfond Inn is one of my favorite Orlando hotels that allows dogs. I brought my two large dogs, Diesel and Annie, for a quick stay last week and we had the most amazing time! In this post I’m sharing my full review of The Alfond Inn, their adorable Very Important Pup (VIP) package, helpful tips for your stay and why we loved staying at this dog friendly hotel in Florida!

 


Planning Your Trip To The Alfond Inn (What To Know Beforehand)

Before I share about our amazing room, the VIP package and our stay, I wanted to share a few helpful things to know when planning your trip to this dog friendly Florida hotel:

  • Valet Parking:
    • $22 overnight and $12 daily per vehicle
    • Dining at Hamilton’s Kitchen (complimentary)
      • SO Worth it! Parking in downtown Winter Park, Florida can be difficult to find, so having this as the parking option is honestly worth every penny. Plus the Valet staff was so kind from the moment we met them and absolutely loved Annie and Diesel! 
  • Cleaning Fee:
    • $50/day nonrefundable service charge to clean the room will be added
  • No Dog Size Restrictions
    • This was so exciting for us! We loved finding a hotel that allows large dogs, as that is not always the case at every location. 


Our Dog-Friendly Room At The Alfond Inn

What I really loved about our stay at The Alfond Inn was how nice our room was! This dog friendly Florida hotel has specific rooms reserved just for their furry guests and their pawrents but that doesn’t mean any of the quality is removed. 

Our room featured a king size bed, a large flat screen tv with access to your favorite networks, a wonderful bathroom with huge walk-in shower and in-room coffee, robes and access to a large balcony with outdoor seating. If you are curious as to how big the shower is, scroll down to see probably my favorite photo from our entire stay with Diesel in the shower with his towel and shower cap on. I truly need to get that framed and hung in my office, because it’s just priceless!

Our room was on the front side of the hotel, so our balcony had an amazing view of New England Ave which has many beautiful historic homes. 

Pro Tip: The balconies are essentially side by side with full visibility of each other, so if your dog tends to react to other people or dogs, it’s probably best they’re left inside as to keep the noise down!




Very Important Pup (VIP) Package

Probably the coolest part about The Alfond Inn is their Very Important Pup Package! I don’t know about you, but my dogs are definitely spoiled to the point of being VIP celebrities, so this package fit them all too well, ha!

Starting at $249 a night, the Very Important Pup Package includes the following:

  • Two Night Stay In A Classic Room
  • Specialty Keepsake Dog Bowl
  • A Variety Of Dog Treats, Toys & More
  • Inclusion of Pet Fee
  • Donation To Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando

Diesel and Annie both received the cutest gift baskets filled with toys, poop bags, a grooming brush, editions of the New Barker dog magazine, and of course their keepsake dog bowls! Even though we packed their dog bowls, it was so nice to have these to use for their water and/or around town when we visited different dog-friendly restaurants downtown Winter Park, FL. Plus, since they have The Alfond Inn’s logo on them, it’s such a fun keepsake to have to remember our trip!




When we took the photos below, Diesel and Annie had us laughing. They share one large water bowl at home, so when we put down the two bowls, they immediately went to share one. They of course realized that there were two, but they had to see what each other got first, because obviously each of them had different, more delicious water, ha!

P.S. If your pups tend to get pretty slobbery like mine do when they drink, I used one of the bathroom towels and placed it under the bowl in the bathroom so that the carpet wouldn’t get wet. Of course I did this after we took these photos, ha!


The Alfond Inn Property

Another aspect of The Alfond Inn that makes it an a great dog friendly hotel in Florida is how open and spacious it is. Not only can it be hard sometimes to find a hotel that allows large dogs, but one that truly has the room for them.

From the moment you walk into the lobby, whether you have a group of two or a group of twenty, everyone can really have their own space. Plus, every hallway throughout the hotel (throughout the rooms and around the conference rooms) are super wide, allowing people with one dog or two of any size to fit without any issue. 

Below is a breakdown of the property from the inside and out!
 

Inside The Alfond Inn

The photo on the left below features the passage way to an open seating area, a conference room on the right and Hamilton’s Kitchen, The Alfond Inn restaurant that I’ll be sharing about later in the post (scroll down to view now!).

The photo on the right features my favorite room in The Alfond Inn, The Conservatory. This room features the most beautiful art installation called Cloud Cities, Nebulous Thresholds by Tomás Saraceno. It truly captivates the entire room. 


Outside The Alfond Inn

Outside of The Alfond Inn is so pretty and also super dog friendly. When you walk out of any of the doors in the lobby, by Hamilton’s Kitchen or certain doors of the conservatory, you will find a huge courtyard, next to a small garden that you can walk through. Please note that the grass in the courtyard in front of the conservatory is not real. 

Pro Tip: If you’re looking for somewhere to take your pups to go potty, my two recommended areas are:

  • Outside of the hotel in any of the grass surrounding the sidewalk
  • Right out the door of the conservatory by the piano, there is a real grass patch where you can take your dog. 

We used both and had our dog poop bags ready every single time to clean up. Also, along every sidewalk of downtown Winter Park are trash cans where you can dispose of your dog’s poop. Plus, we found a dog-friendly trash station to the left of the outside of the courtyard (going towards the street) that we also used. 

P.S. This trip occurred at the end of March, which is such a beautiful time to visit this dog-friendly hotel in Winter Park, FL. The flowers were in full bloom and the pink flowers seen below can be found right outside of the conservatory (take the door by the piano). It’s definitely a gorgeous photo-op with your pup!




Hamilton’s Kitchen: Alfond Inn Restaurant

The Alfond Inn at Winter Park, FL has it’s own restaurant called Hamilton’s Kitchen. We had a 10am brunch reservation the next morning and were very impressed. The Alfond Inn restaurant features indoor and outdoor seating, and their patio is so nice and spacious for dogs! 

Pro Tip: If you sit at the tables along the window, check to see if your window is actually a door. We realized quickly after we sat down that our table was right by the door that people were coming in and out of. While Diesel was super happy to be the greeter and request his own personal snacks, ha, we immediately moved him to the other side of the table so people wouldn’t trip over him.

While we were there, we got to see other big dogs like golden retrievers enjoying a beautiful morning on the patio, which was so nice! The staff brought our pups complimentary water in their keepsake dog bowls without us asking and we had such a great conversation with the host about her terrier she used to have. 

If you’re wondering what to eat, below is what Chandler I had, both dishes we highly recommend off the brunch menu:

  • What I had: Farmhouse Platter
    •  3 Lake Meadows eggs your way, skillet potatoes and onions, choice of Irish bangers or pecan smoked bacon, sour dough toast
  • What he had: Hamilton’s Kitchn Sausage Gravy & Biscuits
    • Hot jumbo buttermilk biscuits, black pepper house-made sausage gravy, hot honey, skillet potatoes and onions

In case you’re wondering like I was, Irish Bangers are sausages. I chose the pecan smoked bacon and it was delicious!



If you’re planning a trip to central Florida with your dogs, I highly recommend The Alfond Inn as one of the best hotels and best places to stay in Winter Park, Florida. Whether you’re looking for dog friendly hotels in Orlando (many parts of which are super close to Winter Park) or dog friendly hotels in Winter Park, Florida specifically, you will have tons of fun at this dog friendly Florida hotel!

Did you love learning more about The Alfond Inn dog-friendly Florida hotel? Have any questions for me and the pups? Ask away in the comments below and check out more of my dog-friendly travel posts below:

Plus, don’t forget to check out some of my most recent posts below:

Photography: Kate Kelley Collection

*Thank you to the staff and team at The Alfond Inn for providing this complimentary stay, VIP package and brunch meal.*