Best Pet-Friendly Stays in Winston-Salem

Reading the Fine Print on Pet Fees

Extended-stay suites near Hanes Mall, including Home2 Suites and Residence Inn on Marriott Crossing Way and Oxford Station Way, list pets as welcome and pair that with a kitchenette, useful for anyone traveling with pet food and bowls rather than eating out every meal (both sit off I-40 Business with free self-parking a few steps from the door). A ground-floor room is worth requesting at booking rather than at check-in, since these two properties fill their accessible-entrance rooms first during a busy Hanes Mall weekend, and a longer walk from a distant parking spot with a crate is worth avoiding.

Downtown, the Kimpton Cardinal in the historic R.J. Reynolds Building and the Winston-Salem Marriott on Cherry Street both confirm pets are welcome despite their more upscale positioning, though downtown parking here runs to valet rather than free self-parking, worth budgeting for if the trip already includes a rental car. Both sit close enough to the Salem Creek Greenway for a pre-breakfast leash walk, a genuine advantage over the Hanes Mall side, where the nearest paved trail means a short drive rather than a walk from the lobby door. That trade-off, valet cost against a walkable trail, is worth weighing before booking either property with a dog in tow.

Spark by Hilton Winston-Salem University, off Mercantile Drive near University Parkway, keeps things simple with free on-site parking and a pet-friendly policy in a lower-rate two-star tier, a fit for a one-night highway stop rather than a multi-day stay. Its University Parkway address also puts it under fifteen minutes from Wake Forest's north campus, useful for a family splitting a visit between a game weekend and a dog that needs a stretch of grass before check-in. The lower nightly rate here also leaves more budget for a pet fee that isn't listed online in advance.

Fairfield Inn and Suites and Hampton Inn on the Hanes Mall side both list pet-friendly status alongside free parking, and their location a short walk from chain restaurants means a quick pet-sitting swap between two travelers over a meal without a long drive back. Both also carry the family-friendly tag, which in practice means the suite layouts have enough floor space for a crate without blocking the path to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Free parking at both also means a late-night bathroom walk for the dog doesn't require moving the car first.

Winston-Salem itself is an easy city for a dog in the car: it is compact enough that a downtown stay and a Hanes Mall stay are both under fifteen minutes from Wake Forest's north campus, and the Salem Creek Greenway offers paved trail miles for a leash walk without hunting for a formal dog park.