Higgins Bottomley. Photo by Danny Fulgencio
Higgins Bottomley Photo by Danny Fulgencio
Higgins Bottomley has come a long way in the year since his humble beginnings at a shelter. The beagle mix now lives a posh life as the new director of pet relations at the Hotel Palomar on Mockingbird and Central Expressway. The Palomar’s chief concierge, Andrew Bottomley, rescued Higgins a year ago. Soon after, the hotel was looking for a new face for the program, and Higgins’ was the clear choice. Now the hotel pup is ready to dive into his responsibilities, paws first. “His main role is to greet our guests, both our four-legged ones and our two-legged ones. I’m still debating which ones are more important,” Bottomley says in his British accent. The pet-friendly Kimpton hotel allows guests to bring furry friends with them free of charge. “The idea behind the pet friendliness is really to create the idea of home,” Bottomley says. “People are so busy nowadays that they travel and bring their whole family and pets.” Although Higgins is on hand to greet VIPs (very important pets), don’t expect him to be at the front desk handling your check-in. “When he is on property, we just like to walk him around. He is very personable with people and with other dogs,” Bottomley says. “People really flock to him because he is absolutely adorable.” As Higgins’s owner, Bottomly may be a little biased, but there is no denying the dog’s charm. People slowly trickling into the lobby stop and coo at the pup, and even get on bended knee to scratch him behind his floppy ears. In addition to greeting guests, Higgins and the Palomar concierge offer to arrange pet sitting, grooming, veterinary services and walks. Higgins’s British themed coming-out party in June benefited Paws in the City and kicked off the Palomar’s new “WAGS” package. The package includes discounted room prices and a “wag” bag for your furry traveler. Traveling solo? Try the hotel’s “guppy love” program, in which the hotel will “send up a pet goldfish to keep guests company during the visit,” says Andrew Wright, general manager of the hotel. If fish aren’t quite your style, you can just pet Higgins. We’re sure he won’t mind.
