For some, B&B means bed and breakfast, while for others it means bed and bone.

JO HAYWOOD goes in search of pet-friendly hotels.

Basil Fawlty would not approve. Germans are one thing, but dogs, cats and - heaven help us - hamsters staying in hotels? No way, Jos (Manuel's lesser known brother).

But not all hoteliers are like the Torquay terror; some actually welcome pets with open arms, a warm basket and selection of chew toys.

More than 1,700 of them appear in the new AA Pet Friendly Places To Stay guide, sponsored by Pedigree. This full-colour, 376-page book offers vital information for anyone who wants to holiday with a furry or feathered friend including details of pet accommodation, exercise opportunities and the availability of playmates.

The Mount Royale Hotel in The Mount, York, gets three stars in the new 2004 guide, where it is described as a "friendly hotel in delightful gardens". It has an open-door policy for pets, mainly because it is run by a family with a fondness for all things furry and four-legged.

"Pets are now part of the package," said Stuart Oxtoby, managing director and, rather appropriately, "general dogsbody" at the hotel. "When the Queen goes travelling, the corgis get the royal treatment too."

The Mount Royale used to be home to four Chihuahuas, but now there is just one, Muffin, and a stray cat who lives in the garden.

"Chihuahuas are the best guard dogs," said Stuart. "Before we employed a night porter, our pack of four used to guard reception every night. One night my mother and father heard them attack, so they sprinted upstairs and found them mauling a burglar. They might be small, but Chihuahuas sound absolutely ferocious in the dark."

Dogs, cats and caged pets - that's hamsters, not lions - are welcome, but guests are asked not to leave their pets alone in their room as damage has been done in the past.

"We mainly get dogs," Stuart continued. "We usually have a couple of hours of rumpus with Muffin, but then things settle down. We have had cats in the past, but nothing smaller - as far as we know."

He qualified his comment because he knows from personal experience that not all guests enter hotels through recognised routes.

"Many years ago my mother was told she couldn't take her Chihuahua to a hotel with her, so she smuggled it in in her suitcase," he said. "Our guests can bring their pets in through the front door. There really is no need to cram them into their luggage."

Sarah and Kevin Earl have run Newton House Hotel in York Place, Knaresborough, for just over a year and, in that time, have turned it into a home away from home for holidaying pets. And their owners of course.

The transformation has been so successful that the AA has named the hotel Pet Friendly Guest Accommodation of the Year 2004, describing it in the guide as: "A delightful coaching inn. Our inspector was very impressed with the way pets are made to feel at home here, with special dog rugs, beds, toys and bowls all contributing to a real effort to accommodate pets' needs."

The Earls have three children, aged 18, 16 and eight, and a brown Labrador collie cross called Ben, so they know from personal experience how difficult it can be to find holiday accommodation that welcomes everyone.

"A huge amount of people here in the UK have pets - we're famous for it - but good accommodation that welcomes you and your dog, cat or budgie is hard to find," said Sarah. "We provide toys, books and games for children so they don't run riot, and we have toys, beds, bowls and blankets for pets so they don't chew the furniture. It's quite a simple concept, but it works."

Most of the pet guests at Newton House are dogs, but there have been one or two notable exceptions.

"We had a couple of love birds recently," said Sarah. "And one woman who was moving house turned up with four cats and a goldfish. That was a bit of a surprise, but we coped."

Updated: 07:57 Saturday, November 22, 2003