Brews & Beds: A DogHouse Hotel Review for Pet Parents

Dog-Friendly Hotel in Columbus Ohio

The BrewDog beer company has built a great dog-friendly hotel in Columbus Ohio. It is the world’s first hotel inside a craft brewery and is perfect for the beer-loving dog owner. Your stay will include several free beer opportunities, a free continental breakfast, and access to a relaxed atmosphere with numerous ways to pass the time. The staff and hotel were more than dog-friendly, they were dog lovers and we loved seeing our dogs spoiled by them. This DogHouse Hotel Review will go over what you and your pup can expect when you book a stay here. I think it’s also important to mention that they do serve non-alcoholic beer and ciders if you do not drink beer or alcohol.

*This review is not a sponsored post. We did not receive any free items or discounts during our stay here and look forward to sharing our honest opinions with you.

DogHouse Hotel Overview

DogHouse Hotel is designed for beer lovers. It houses 32 beer-themed rooms, each has a beer shower fridge, normal beer fridge, and a beer tap. It is attached to Columbus’s BrewDog Brewery and restaurant giving visitors a unique insight into the creation of its beverages. Everywhere you go, you will see the company’s passion for beer. Parking is free and in the summer the bar and outdoor area explode with activity.

The hotel is incredibly dog-friendly. They have a fenced-in dog park onsite and your pup is allowed almost everywhere in the building. If you are nervous about bringing your dog to a hotel, we have put together a post full of Tips for Staying in a Hotel with Your Dog. If it is your first time, I suggest booking a stay in a slower month like January like we did. We had one of 4 rooms that were booked, and it was a great way to re-introduce our youngest pup to hotel life.

There is a 2- dog limit per room and they are only allowed to stay in the King rooms. It’s important to know that your pups are NOT allowed in the restaurant, fitness center, or on the brewery tours. They are however allowed in the hotel lobby (even on the furniture), the merchandise store, and the beer museum. You are also able to leave them alone in the hotel room if you want to eat inside the restaurant, work out, or go explore the city.

Room Options

There are four types of rooms that you can choose from at the DogHouse Hotel; King, Double Queen, Punk Suite, and the Brew Master Suite. The King Room is the only type of room that allows dogs. If you are bringing your dog along, make sure you call and confirm with the hotel so they can make sure to put you in the right rooms.

The main difference between the King and Double Queen rooms (aside from the bed sizes and pet-friendliness) is that the King rooms are available on the ground floor and have semi-private patio access and the Double Queen Rooms are on the second floor. The patio access is great for letting your pets outside for bathroom breaks.

The Punk and Brew Master Suite both have an additional entertainment space where you can relax outside of the bedroom area. The Punk suite overlooks the courtyard and Brew Master Suite overlooks the Overworks center.

All rooms come with a fully stocked fridge of beer and water in both the main room and bathroom, along with a live beer tap in the main area that you can have hooked up with your favorite beer. The shower and bathroom sink both have areas that will hold your beer, so you never have to be without your drink if you don’t want to be.

The drinks and snacks in your room will be the same price as the bar and the water is free. For those that require caffeine, don’t worry,  there is also a coffee machine in each room.

Room prices start at around $190/night and vary based on room type, time of the week, and season.

We stayed mid-January with two of our dogs in the King Suite and loved it. The cement floors meant easy clean-up of water bowl spills. Our room had a record player, records, and a guitar that we used to entertain us and our pups the little time that we spent inside of our room.

Optional Add-ons

When you book your room, there are several add-ons that you can order to enhance your visit. You can pre-order a particular tap for your room or one of the hotel’s special occasion bundles. They have one for bachelor/bachelorette parties, honeymoon, birthdays, and even one for your dog. Each bundle comes with different swag and of course – beer! There is also the option of adding on virtual beer school for $25 where you can increase your knowledge and have a guided tasting. The taps are around $60 and the packages range from $15 up.

We got the doggy package and received a toy, balloons, birthday hat, treats, and a beer for $15.

Specials

DogHouse will occasionally offer special deals or bundles for booking in the off-season. We were able to get the Dog Days of Winter deal which offered different extras depending on what room you booked. For our King Suite, we received several BrewDog stickers, a koozie, a keychain, and a $40 gift card to use on food, drinks, or merchandise during our stay. This deal was available if you booked more than one night during the promotional period and one of the nights fell on a Sunday through Thursday.

Food & Drinks

On property, you will have access to food and beverages all day long. There is a bar right at the check-in counter in the hotel lobby and a full restaurant just a few steps next door. You can order anything from the restaurant from inside the hotel lobby or as room service if you don’t want to eat at the restaurant.

When you stay at DogHouse, you will get access to their delicious free continental breakfast that runs until 11 am. The menu changes slightly each morning for a nice variety but there are always plenty of choices. You will have a hot breakfast option (like French toast casserole or huevos rancheros), cereal, yogurt, fruits, and pastries. For drinks, there is OJ, cranberry juice, milk, coffee, and of course your free morning beermosa.  There are several beermosa options and you can’t really go wrong with any of them.

The lobby even has a small area where you can purchase snacks throughout the day. Your room also has a basket of snacks and beer selections which will be charged to your room if you decide to partake. The lobby also serves free cookies and beer for happy hour each evening.

Restaurant

The restaurant opens at 11 am and provides a full-service bar and a range of food options. The meals we had were delicious and the menu even had vegan-friendly selections. There is plenty of seating and the restaurant has windows that allow you to look into the actual brewery so you can watch the beer-making process. You will also find several pinball machines and shuffleboards available for your enjoyment near the bar area.

Dogs are not allowed in the restaurant (but you can walk quickly through with them to get from the hotel to the merchandise store if you need to).

Free Beers

The DogHouse Hotel is attached to a brewery and one of the biggest bonuses to staying here are the numerous opportunities to drink their beer for free. To start, each registered guest of drinking age will get a free check-in beer. 

*They do provide several non-alcoholic beers for non-drinkers and some hard cider options for non-beer drinkers.

Every day along with your continental breakfast, you will also have the opportunity to get a free morning beermosa. There are several flavors and I loved all of them!

Each evening from 7-9 pm is happy hour where you get another free beer and cookies.

You will have another free beer opportunity for being environmentally conscious during your stay. If you booked more than one night and re-use your towels, housekeeping will leave you a token that you can exchange for a free beer at the bar.

Amenities

Fitness Center

On the first floor next to the lobby is a fitness center. In here you will find treadmills, a stationary bike, weights, and kettle balls. They also provide towels and water for your convenience.

Games/Entertainment

This hotel provides games, books, and magazines for your enjoyment throughout the hotel. In your room, you will find small versions of games like connect four and in the lobby, there are more options like chess and checkers. This is perfect if you forgot to pack your own travel board games and it’s a great way to encourage fun and conversation among guests.

There is even an area set up for table tennis in the far corner of the lobby.

The books range on topics from travel, fun facts, to beer so you can enjoy curling up with a good story and a relaxing drink. Attached to the lobby is another room with a large TV if you want a bigger area to watch TV with friends or a quiet space to read.

Dog Park

Dog owners will appreciate the dog park onsite. It is a fenced-in area with two different access doors. It also has some large tires and some toys for the dogs to play with and run around inside. They do provide poop bags and there is a nice seating area outside of the park where you can take a break with your pup and enjoy a beverage. They do ask that any dog that uses this area is up to date on vaccinations, not in heat, and of course, is not aggressive. Your dog is also not to be left alone in the area at any point for their (and others’) safety.

If you are not comfortable using the dog park, there is also a walking/bike trail just a little further down the path.

Merchandise Store

There are two places where you can buy Brew Dog merchandise; the hotel lobby and the larger store at the front of the restaurant. The stores sell shirts, hats, keychains, dog toys, and more. In the larger store, you can also purchase beer to drink on-site or to take home.

This is also where the main entrance to the restaurant is which means there is plenty of seating available for people to relax, in addition to pinball machines, a photo booth, and a beer museum to explore while you wait to be seated.

Beer Museum

The Beer Museum is free to enter and will walk you through the history of beer and the beer-making process. Inside they have several hands-on exhibits to make it a bit more fun while you learn. I highly encourage you to go through with a beer in hand as some of the exhibits will take you through the steps of how to do a proper tasting and the different ways to identify the types of beer. There is also a section that goes over the history of Brew Dog and the owners. This is one of the areas that you CAN take your dog through.

Brewery Tours

The $5 Brewery Tour will take you into the Brew Dog brewery and your guide will tell you more about their beer-making process and give you a closer view of the machinery that makes it happen. This coincides nicely with the beer museum where you can dive deeper into the details of the process. The tour also comes with a free beer.  *Dogs are not allowed on the brewery tour.

Pros

• There were plenty of things to do onsite and the atmosphere was very fun and relaxed. I think this would be a great hotel to book a family or friend vacation that everyone’s pups could be included in too.
• This company is very environmentally conscious. Check out their website to get the full picture but just to name a few things:  They use cardboard water bottles instead of plastic. (This company also plants two trees for every picture posted with their container). The yogurt for breakfast is in mason jars instead of individual plastic containers. They find ways to re-use as much of the by-product of their beer-making process as possible.
• So dog-friendly! The staff was great with our pups and knew to ask before approaching them or offering treats. I think our dogs gained some weight too from all the extra snacks. This was amazing to see since our husky Emma typically doesn’t like people to get too close to her and can be very anxious if her space is invaded. We have never seen her so relaxed, and it made the trip extra special for all of us. Having direct access to the outside via our patio also made bathroom breaks so much easier.

Cons

• With all dog-friendly places, there is of course the need to watch your step to avoid stepping in animal waste. This is not the hotel’s fault- purely bad dog owner behavior but it is something to be mindful of.
• If you are afraid of dogs, you will most likely find the hotel stressful. During the summer months, we were told how crazy busy it gets with all the visitors (locals and otherwise) that bring their dogs to enjoy the drinks and atmosphere.  Therefore, if you are not a fan of dogs, I would stick to visiting in the off-season.
• This is a pro and a con, depending on the dogs and owners. You are able to leave your dog in the room while you explore the city which is great for the owners. However, if their dog doesn’t do well in their absence, it is definitely a con if the dog cries the whole time. Please be a responsible dog owner and adjust your itinerary to your dog’s needs.

Nearby Attractions:

Columbus is full of fun things to do from the Columbus Zoo to several museums around the city.  

For beer enthusiasts, Brew Dog is a part of two different beer trails; Route 33 Brew Trail and the Columbus Ale Trail.  Route 33 has about 6 brewery stops on it and upon completion, you get a free pint glass. The Columbus Ale Trail does have a time limit and comes out with different editions every year. After you visit 4 participating breweries you get an embroidered patch and if you visit all of them, you get a limited edition screen art print.

As a book lover, I do have to point out the Book Loft book store which is a massive store with 32 rooms and full of every genre you can think of. It’s located in the German Village nearby several other interesting shops.

Conclusion

The DogHouse hotel is admittedly not ideal for a budget hotel stay, however, the money you save being able to bring your dog with, plus the other amenities (like the free beer), make it a great investment. It was truly a vacation for us in the sense that our dogs were allowed most places we went which allowed us not to stress out about them being left alone in a strange room. The employees also made us feel like our dogs weren’t just a policy or inconvenience, you could tell they truly loved having our dogs around. The dog park also made it incredibly easy to keep them well-exercised during our brief stay. The food and beer were great, and my husband loved the vegan options that were offered. We were never bored during our visit and look forward to another visit in the future with our other dogs.

Don’t forget to join our Facebook group for Traveling Pet Owners to share travel tips and pet-friendly destination ideas!

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