When in Rome, Leave Fido at the Luxe Dog Hotel

Dog owners often face a dilemma before traveling: leave your beloved pet with a sitter or at a kennel? Both require quite a bit of planning and hassle, so Rome's Fiumicino International Airport has sought to streamline the process by opening one of the first on-site hotels at a major European airport. Dog Relais' workers even retrieve pups from the terminal so travelers can proceed straight to their flight, reports the AP. "This project is fitting into a strategy to provide a very immersive experience to passengers," said Marilena Blasi, chief commercial officer at Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Rome's two airports. "In this case, we provide services to dogs and the owners of the dogs."

Basic rooms at the dog hotel cost about $47 and feature temperature-controlled floors and private gardens. More timid or solitary dogs can be placed in kennels at the edge of the facility, where they interact with staff rather than other dogs in the common grass pens. At night, ambient music that has a frequency with a low, soft tone—432 hertz—designed for relaxation is piped in through the rooms' speakers. There are extras that range from the usual grooming, bathing, and teeth cleaning services, to the more indulgent, such as aromatherapy with lavender or peppermint scents to help induce calm, or arnica cream rubbed into aching muscles and joints.

Owners unsatisfied with standard-issue webcams for checking in from afar can spring for a $70 premium room equipped with a screen for round-the-clock videocalls. They can even toss a treat via an application connected to a dispenser. The facility not only provides its services to travelers, but also to dog owners who need daycare.

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Dario Chiassarini, 32, said he started bringing his Rottweiler puppy, Athena, to Dog Relais for training, another service on offer, because it's clean, well-organized and its location was easily accessible. And he said he plans to check his beloved pup into the hotel whenever he and his girlfriend need to travel, "both because we got to know the people who work here ... and because of the love they have for animals and the peace of mind of knowing who we are entrusting Athena to."