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Have You Ever Had an Unexpected Animal Encounter During a Hotel Stay?

Cute Hotel Animals! And not the official pet kind like Kimpton's Goldfish or Directors of Pet Relations or the Canine Ambassadors at Fairmont Hotels. We're talking animals in the wild. If by 'wild' you mean the grounds of a luxury hotel...

It dawned us recently that we've spotted a few furry and feathered creatures on recent hotel stays -- pictured above are the baby deer outside our casita at Enchantment Resort in Sedona, the coati we saw rooting around for snacks at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, and one of the many birds who call the lagoon of Rosewood Mayakoba home. (A Cormorant, if we remember correctly...)

Not pictured: the crocodile our next-door neighbor at Rosewood Mayakoba spotted lurking under her over-water lagoon villa. Gulp.

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Cute Hotel Animals / Hotel Animals / Hotel Contests / JW Marriott Hotels / Palm Springs Hotels / → All Tags

Name The Baby Flamingo For a Free Stay At JW Marriott Desert Springs

Where: 74855 Country Club Dr [map], Palm Desert, CA, United States, 92260

Last week on August 5, the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa had a special visit from the stork. That is, if, um, storks deliver other birds. A baby flamingo was born into the hotel's already large flamingo family, and it's the potential guests who get the benefits of the baby shower celebrations.

That's because the JW Marriott Desert Springs is inviting its Facebook fans and Twitter followers to enter a baby-naming contest. The prize for the winning moniker? A two-night stay at the resort and dinner for two at the resort’s Mikado Steakhouse restaurant.

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Cute Hotel Animals / Hotel Animals / Thailand Hotels / Hotel Elephants / Anantara Resorts / → All Tags

Baby Elephant Gets a Bath at Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, The World Melts

Where: 229 Moo 1, Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai, Thailand, 57150

Need a cute reason to visit the Anantara Resort Golden Triangle in Thailand? A Baby Elephant! Need an even cuter reason to visit? Baby Elephant Getting a Bath!!*

The ellie was born on May 23 weighing 220 lbs and was nicknamed Nong 'Phil which is an abbreviation for the phrase "Little Curfew" since the baby was born past the elephants' bedtime. His formal name is Plai Pa Choke which means "to bring luck."

At Anatara Golden Triangle, they house houses 35 elephants, their mahout caregivers, and their families in their Elephant Camp, an extension of the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. Guests can explore the Elephant Camp during their stay and they can even "drive" the elephant after some training (We think that's a bit unnecessary. Showing up for bathtime should be just fine. And you know the ellies love it!)

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Cute Hotel Animals / Green Hotels / Napa Hotels / Auberge Resorts / → All Tags

Eco-Friendly and Cute: Babydoll Sheep Replace Lawnmowers at Calistoga Ranch

Where: 580 Lommel Road [map], Calistoga, CA, United States, 94515

Everyone all together now, "Awwww...." Yes, these babydoll sheep at the Calistoga Ranch in Napa are so adorable. But they actually serve a very important purpose at the resort. The sheep have replaced lawnmowers as a way to reduce the resort's carbon footprint.

No more lawnmower emissions, noisy machines, or a large carbon footprint--the Babydoll Sheep munch their way through the tall grasses behind the lodges and near the Valley View Trail. They'll be surrounded by a solar-charged electric fence that will protect them during their stay at Calistoga Ranch.

The sheep are less than two feet tall and are extremely docile in nature known to be extremely docile. And um, incredibly cute!

The resort has also replaced water bottles at turndown service with handmade glasses and pitchers made by a local artist and potter and last week on Arbor Day, guests were greeted at check-in with their own individually potted miniature olive tree.

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Cute Hotel Animals / Hyatt Hotels / Maui Hotels / Hotel Animals / → All Tags

The Hyatt Regency Maui Hatches New 'Happy Feet'

Where: 200 Nohea Kai Drive [map], Lahaina, HI, United States, 96761-1985

Mondays are hard. So to help kickstart the week, we're going to call today Mai Tai Monday. OK, we're not really drinking before noon, but we are going a bit ga-ga for the baby penguins who hatched recently at the Hyatt Regency Maui. We're not sure if this is Mai or Tai in the photo with his mama, but he sure is cute.

Mai and Tai are African Black-Footed Penguins, and part of the hotel's thriving wildlife habitat. We know, we didn't think penguins were warm-weather creatures either, but this particular species dig the balmy temps of Maui, and we can't say we blame them. We'd take swaying palm trees over frigid ice floes any day.

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