IPOH, Aug 11 — If you think your vacation is not complete without your pet at your side, worry no more as Ipoh has a few pet-friendly guest houses to offer.
From heritage guest houses to modern ones, visitors have a variety of accommodation to choose from, for them and their four-legged friends.
Malay Mail spoke to owners of two guest houses in the city that allow pets on their premises.
First is 27 Concubine Lane Guest House, a 1908 restored shophouse owned by John Edward Lomax located at the famous Concubine Lane here.
The guest house is pet-friendly as visitors are usually welcomed by three friendly and inquisitive cats — Ginger, Charlie and Tiffy — owned by Lomax.
“Basically, my guests know what to expect when they come here to stay.
“When a reservation is made, I will send them two emails on what the host has and what are the house rules.”
Among the pets that Lomax has hosted were dogs, cats and a rabbit.
Lomax said there are no extra charges for the pets.
However, he said there are certain rules that need to be followed on the premises.
“The pets have to be house trained, well behaved, kept off the furniture and most importantly, should not be a nuisance to my other guests,” he said.
“Visitors can take the pet to the room, but it should not be left alone inside. If the owner goes out, the pet should follow them.
“This is because pets when left alone in a new place might be a handful.”
Lomax also said there were not many customers who came in with pets.
“You get one or two customers. Some people come because it is pet-friendly, but it is not busy with pets coming in.
“We have a separated room for the customers who come with their pets.”
The old Chinese house retains many of its original features and guests can see various old Chinese household items, such as wooden chairs, traditional pottery, paintings and souvenirs.
The house has three private rooms with double beds and an open loft with seven beds. The bathroom in the house is shared.
Another pet-friendly guest house is the EDM Space located in the heart of Ipoh in Jalan Raja Musa Aziz.
The two-storey shoplot, which has been converted to a guest house, is owned by husband and wife, Marcus Love Chiang and Esther Liew Sook Ching.
“The reason why we allow pets in house is because we are pet lovers and even have a few cats,” he said.
Chiang said they charge an extra RM10 or RM20 for customers who bring their pets.
“It depends on the customers. If they bring their own cages, then the price is cheaper. We also provide cages for the animals.
“Guests can leave their pets here when they go out, we will take care of them. So, customers don’t have to bring along their pets to the places they visit.”
Chiang also said house is going through a minor refurbishment where they plan to convert a part of the ground floor into a place where the pets can move around freely.
“We don’t want the pets to be kept in the cages all day, so by having a space for them, they can move around freely.”
Apart from dogs and cats, Chiang said he had an experience of hosting a tortoise.
The guest house has 10 rooms and shared bathrooms.
The living room is filled with bean bags for guests to lounge while there are games and activities that they can join in, including painting sessions.
