Luxury rooms, water play and even video calls between animals and their owners are being promised when Adelaide's new five-star pet hotel opens next week.
Dogs, cats and possibly other pocket-sized pets can be checked in for a "holiday" at the personalised pet stay facilities adjacent to Adelaide Airport.
Guide Dogs SA chief executive Aaron Chia said the $9 million hotel was expected to generate much-needed revenue for the organisation, hopefully as much as $1 million annually in the longer term.
"We're going to be providing a fantastic facility for dogs and cats to actually holiday when the pet owners are having holidays as well," he said.
"Things are getting tougher and tighter [financially].
"I think this is a very innovative approach by the board of Guide Dogs to really look at creating social enterprise and to try and generate revenue.
"Creating a very successful social enterprise allows us to generate our own profits. It has been funded purely through borrowings from the bank."
The hotel is called Beau's, after the first guide dog which was trained in Australia back in 1951, a black kelpie-fox terrier cross.
"Beau's offers climate-controlled boarding suites, doggy day care, grooming and training for dogs and cats," the hotel's website said.
The operation has 262 standard and luxury rooms, indoor and outdoor play areas including a water feature for canine visitors.
Mr Chia said the hotel had TVs in some rooms and staff could even arrange a video call between pets and their owners while they are away from their furry friends on holidays or business trips.
"Premier rooms actually have a TV in them for pet owners to be able to Skype their dogs and cats have actually got an option of loft or penthouse condos," he said.
Guide Dogs SA said the days of pets living outdoors was over for many households and many animals now slept inside, so it was tapping into a booming demand for high-standard pet care.
It said the facility would be the first not-for-profit pet hotel in Australia.
