Last Christmas, we wanted to go somewhere warm but also wanted to take along our dog Harvey. He had flown once before on a short trip to Milwaukee, and we’d taken a few road trips, but this would be our first “big” trip on a plane with him.

One of our favorite “warm weather” destinations in the U.S. is always Miami Beach. In almost every category, it compares with some of the best destinations we’ve visited around the world. It has awesome food, great scenery, shopping, nightlife…and lots of sunshine!

Task number one was to find a place to stay. As soon as I began searching online, I was happy to find that the Surfcomber Hotelhas become a Kimpton property. (We’re fans of the Kimpton chain because of their pet friendly and gay friendly policies. Plus, they’re great hotels!) In fact, December would be the Surfcomber’s first month as a Kimpton hotel, and we would be among their first guests with a pet.

As soon as I made the reservation online, I received an email from one of the hotel’s two concierges (Reuben and Mickey) who wanted to touch base since we would be traveling with a pet and staying over the holidays. He offered to make any arrangements we wanted - dinner reservations for Chirstmas, anything dog related, massages, etc. They even offered to have framed photos waiting in the room for us. All I had to do was email a few photos. What a great touch. And this was definitely a sign of the top-notch service to come!

We did end up taking Reuben up on his offer and getting a “doggie daycare” package for Harvey one day that he arranged with Jackie at Happy Tails Wagon. It was perfect. We took Harvey to play in the ocean a few times, so he was ready for a bath. On the arranged morning, Jackie showed up in the lobby and took Harvey for a day that included bath, walk and playing with other dogs, while we had the day to take in some South Beach shopping. She even sent a text with a photo during the day to let us know Harvey was having a good time!

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(Source: ATravelBlogInProgress.com)