WHEN CAT'S AWAY... BURBANK HOTEL LANDS FELINES IN LUXURY'S LAP.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

BURBANK - Normally a timid and obedient cat - as felines go - Huxley turned stubborn when it was time to go home after few days stay at the Cat Hotel.

To owner Linda Cook's dismay, Huxley was content to perch atop one of the half-dozen cedar climbing trees in the hotel's forest near the back windows. No amount of coaxing could persuade Huxley to come down; the calico kitty was simply not interested in leaving.

Who could blame her?

Starting at $25 a night, the Cat Hotel - named best in the country by Cat Fancy Magazine - offers everything a pampered feline could want: roomy cages to jump around in, a comfy couch to sink a tired body into, soft lighting and even a television set tuned to the Animal Planet cable channel.

``I've noticed that now when I take her there, she jumps right into the condo,'' said Cook, who first brought 5-year-old Huxley to the hotel when she was 8 months old. ``I think she's comfortable there.''

Until recently, the renowned Cat Hotel on Magnolia Boulevard was in violation of a city ordinance barring kennels from commercial areas unless linked with a vet.

The facility had been associated with a veterinary clinic that vacated the bottom floor of the building more than a year ago. But city officials didn't press an eviction of Richard and Sandra Kelley's business and worked with them to secure a new permit in the interim.

``It was not an ongoing situation with adverse impacts on the neighborhood that rated a problem, so there was no immediate need for the city to intervene,'' said Paul Deibel, assistant community development director.

The city's planning board unanimously approved the permit recently, classifying the hotel as similar to a veterinary clinic or pet shop, both allowed in commercial zones. The board also increased the maximum capacity from 24 cats to 36.

The board toured the hotel before their meeting and complimented the tranquillity, joking they were tempted to curl up and sleep themselves.

``Not being a cat person or cat lover, my jaw dropped,'' said Jef Vander Borght, a member of the planning board. ``Many houses should look that nice.''

The entrance to the hotel takes guests up a flight of stairs, through two locked doors - to prevent escapes - and into a large, airy room containing individual cages standing 6 feet high.

Cricket and bird sounds are piped into the room, dark with soft lighting coming from small lamps overhead and from tiny white lights wrapped around plastic trees.

Accommodations, which include room and board, are $25 per night per cat for a regular cage and $35 for a queen-sized cage complete with a couch and optional television set.

While changes in environment can be especially traumatic for cats, the atmosphere and staff make the transition a bit easier.

``Some cats come in and don't miss a beat, they're eating right away,'' Kelley said. ``It takes others about 24 hours before they really know they're safe and they start asking for pets.''

When she started the business five years ago, Kelley, 54, had never owned a cat, was allergic and afraid of their sharp claws. Now she has come to appreciate them, although that hasn't translated into getting a feline of her own.

``I feel like I've got 20 at any given time,'' she said.

Owners bring pets in for various reasons: extended vacations and business trips, allergic houseguests and even one man who needed to hide his nine cats from a landlord who doesn't allow even one.

Kelley said the average stay is nine days, but some cats are there for as little as one day and as much as three months.

She encourages people to leave their cats home when leaving for short periods, though, calling the hotel the second-best option to the pet's own environment.

``If you're gone, you want to know your cats are cozy, comfortable and safe and people are going to give them the love you would,'' Kelley said.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color in Bulldog edition only) A feline guest at the Cat Hotel on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank enjoys the private couch and television set

(2 -- color -- ran in Bulldog edition only) Cats roam outside their cages during play time at the Cat Hotel on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank.

(3) This Cat Hotel guests feels right at home lounging on the front desk with the resplendent majesty of a lion fattened with fresh zebra on the African veld.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News