Ok, with the whole rental debate in other threads, my plan was to book a hotel/motel for a week or two, while we find a decent rental.

Only problem is, we will have two cats with us
Are there places we could book for a couple of weeks that will allow us to have pets in the room?

Suggestions on a postcard.............

Pet policy is hotel dependant, check directly with them.

We moved and got settled in perm accommodation and a few weeks later flew back and got ours and had them in the cabin with us.

Yep, basically you have to check with individual places. Some allow pets, some do not. There's no sweeping rule for it, so just have an ask around and see what you can come up with. I suspect (but it's only a gut feel) that motels will be less strict than hotels and hostels.

We stayed in a hotel for the first few days with our dog. It wasn't hard to find hotels that would allow her in the room for a charge -$15 a night.

We stayed in temporary accommodation with a cat. I phoned to book from the UK and asked the owner. Understandably he was a little concerned about damage from scratching so we agreed that our cat is in his carrier when we're not here to supervise him which also prevents him from accidentally escaping when people come into the property to change linen and deliver post etc. We always had the agreement that if it caused any problems we'd put him into a local cattery. Six weeks and it's been fine for all involved. I was a little worried by the number of 'no pets allowed' signs when we arrived but the owner has stayed true to his word and it was a good arrangement and at no extra cost to us. We also stayed in overnight accommodation near Heathrow the night before leaving, with our cat. We had more problems making sure we booked cab companies that would transport him in England than anything else!

I guess it depends a little on your cats' temperaments I would say and what they're used to. It did also mean that when we arrived late in the evening after a very long journey we had to drive to the local superstore to purchase the litter pan set up and food for him!

Thanks for the advice folks, there seems to be plenty of inns and suites that will allow cats for a fee, so should be ok