As I mentioned last week, Chloe and I stayed at L’Hermitage Hotel on our recent trip to Vancouver, B.C. We could have stayed at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, located just across the street from the conference we were attending — how easy it would have been, and the views! Dear heaven, the views! Another blogger attending the same conference tweeted her delight at gazing over Coal Harbour from her vast and luxurious tub, and I’ll freely admit that I coveted.

However, I like to reward hotels that truly welcome pet dogs, and the Fairmont’s restraint (“Pet amenities (please contact concierge to arrange)”) simply couldn’t compare with L’Hermitage’s enthusiasm. The home page of L’Hermitage includes a button for “Canine Concierge,” which leads you to a page featuring Hippo, the hotel’s own French Bulldog, and an overview of the services available for visiting dog owners. It doesn’t include details like the pet fee ($25, plus taxes, per night) or any maximums (2 pets only, up to 40 lbs. each), but the attitude is positive. [Other pet policy details? Pet dogs must be leashed in the hotel, and may not join their owners in the business center, the pool area, the Robson terrace, or L’Orangerie (a breakfast room and guest lounge).] I should mention that I paid my own way at the L’Hermitage — I’ll always let you know when something I’m reviewing has been paid for by someone else.

Dogs are greeted warmly in person, too, not only by Hippo, who turns out to be an extremely attractive, a downright sexy male French Bulldog, but also by the doorman, the front desk staff (who learned Chloe’s name long before they learned mine), and the room service attendant. In what was surely an oversight, I never saw the “welcome amenity” (a “stylish Torres & Tagus doggie bowl with water and kibbles and a Lavish Leather Bed….plus, a special gift”), but I’m not devoted to welcome amenities and never missed it until I looked again at the hotel’s home page to write this post.

The hotel is located in central downtown Vancouver, on Richards, between Georgia and Robson. That puts it about equidistant between beautiful walks along Coal Harbour and beautiful walks along False Creek — as you know from my earlier post, we opted to walk south to False Creek. I don’t have a good grassy spot to recommend to you for early morning or late-night bathroom breaks, since Chloe hurried out to a patch of sidewalk on both occasions.

I thought I’d be traveling with my husband, so I opted to stay in a “one-bedroom boutique suite,” which had a small sitting room, a bedroom not much larger than the king-sized bed, a terrace with a couple of chairs overlooking the street, and an appealing bathroom. There were bathrobes and there was excellent water pressure. There was a Nespresso coffee maker and a mini-fridge. There was a fireplace — fake, to be sure, but still a great delight. My dinner from room service wasn’t divine, but it was perfectly acceptable.

The price for my low-end suite was $225, which seemed appropriate. The pictures on the web site are accurate — mine, from my actual room, look just about identical:

Chloe threw herself onto the sofa before I had a chance to deploy the sheet I carry to protect hotel/rental apartment sofas

The bedroom was tiny, but the sitting room provided all the space Chloe and I needed

I’d return happily to L’Hermitage on future trips to Vancouver. I’d probably choose, next time, to stay in a “boutique room,” rather than a baby suite — it would still have the fireplace, and if I’m traveling without my husband, I don’t need the separate sitting room for office space.