Having two dogs, we've had to board them a great deal over the years. Our local, and favorite place, PREFERRED PET CARE, was booked during a recent trip, so we decided to try the new PetSmart PetsHotel. Now, we've always had a pretty good experience at Preferred Pet Care (although once they lost our medical records and we had to do lots of last minute scrambling to get that resolved!) and, more importantly, the dogs always seem to enjoy it. The very first time we took them there, they asked us if our dogs were allowed on furniture, since they had rooms with and without couches. They sleep in a big room, actually pretty close to the size of our bedroom and they have both indoor and outdoor play spaces. But the most important thing was that our dogs played with other dogs for about 10 hours/day, leaving them exhausted and happy.
But, the PetSmart PetsHotel was completely different. First of all, click on the picture below. Why have a map page if you're going to say "The position of this store was not determined with complete accuracy." They couldn't use Mapquest or something to show you how to get to their store? When you click in the map, they actually tell you to call the store for directions! Come on folks, it's 2007!
But, in all of the years that we've boarded dogs (and I've had dogs since 1992), they do something here that we've never encountered before. The boarding here did not include any play time at all! They were put in a 4' X 6' cubicle kinda' space and they would get two walks a day. If we wanted them to go to the playroom, that was all extra. A lot extra. Something we think they should've mentioned when we called to book the reservation. We would've had a pet sitter come to our house if we knew that was all they were going to get. At every other place we've boarded our dogs, the play time came with the boarding. For almost $50/night, they should be able to play with the other dogs!
In the end, it seemed that our dogs had a good time and I guess that's all that really matters. Just a little better communicaiton upfront would've made it a good experience for us too!
i'm surprised you weren't told, unless it's extremely busy they usually always take the time to mention it so there are no surprises at check in. the job is much less fun for them when they are yelled at by customers. the hotel near me happily explained it very thoroughly, the reason you pay extra is because there are many different options for playtime. daycamp is the longest one and its all day, you get a discounted rate if you are already boarding than if it were just for the day. unneutered males cannot go into daycamp because there are unspade females in there, therefore they have individual playtimes for a cheaper price. and if you just dont want to pay for daycamp but still want some extra fun, they have a half hour play, an hour play and combinations of ice cream and kongs in packages with some playtimes for less $$. so in reality its better because most other places like you mentioned, what if they dont get along with other dogs or they arent fixed? they either A. cant play at ALL. B. they come home and have puppies. or C. they are seriously injured from a fight.
i personally love the petshotel and the staff is amazing, my dog had an accident in the lobby once and they just said "it happens all the time" then cleaned it up for me with no hesitation.. the outer store would have just pointed me to the nearest clean-up station and walked away. I would definitely recommend going here to anyone!
Posted by: Bonnie | November 24, 2008 at 10:42 AM