The dog still needs a bed, and the cat has not agreed to any of this. One Boston pet hotel will not board a new dog until it has done three days of daycare. Another stops drop-off at noon. MSPCA-Angell will not take a pet it has not already seen.
The Urban Hound
A new dog cannot book The Urban Hound the week of the trip. The hotel, at 129 Malden Street in the South End, wants a full-day temperament test on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, then three full days of daycare, and only then a boarding reservation. Staff stay in the building overnight. The lobby does not.
The rooms are a standard 4-by-6 and a larger 6-by-10. Posted non-holiday rates are $105 and $135 a night, daycare included. The solo rate drops the group play and substitutes four walks. Half the stay is due up front, and that deposit does not come back. Cancel inside 72 hours and the card is charged for the whole reservation. Holiday weekends want 10 days’ notice. Food has to arrive in a labeled bag for each meal. A small blanket is fine. One toy is fine if it is quiet. Dogs older than six months have to be spayed or neutered. The vaccine list includes both rounds of the canine flu shot, so a last-minute booking can die there.
Suite Escape
Suite Escape puts dogs in glass-fronted suites at 200 Terminal Street and walks them in the Charlestown Navy Yard. It is taking new clients. The tour is by email, not by wandering in off Terminal Street. Drop-off ends at noon every day, Sunday included. Pickup runs until 8 p.m. A flight that lands after lunch does not get the dog in the door that afternoon.
Red Dog
At Red Dog on 274 Southampton Street, a dog stay is either social or private. Social means daycare and two potty walks, after the dog passes a daycare evaluation. Private means no other dogs, and four potty walks. Cats have separate rooms, meals the way you wrote them down, and a report card at pickup. Half the bill is due when you book. A dog or cat that is 10 or older needs a senior questionnaire before the stay is confirmed, and Red Dog will not give that older pet an injection. The care team is there overnight. The lobby is not: weekdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. It is also closed for check-in and check-out on New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
The Boston price list includes a bedtime tuck-in with the Presidential Patio and the Seasonal Suite. On a cheaper room, the tuck-in is an add-on, and so is a pup cup or a mid-day snack.
Luxe Pet Resort
Luxe Pet Resort, at 1220 VFW Parkway in West Roxbury, will sell a cat a Beachfront villa for $100 a night. Garden View is $50. A standard villa is $45. Food and the litter box sit in separate parts of the room. Two cats from the same house can be joined through a porthole. Dogs get their own crate-free suites, daycare included, at a posted premium rate of $90 a night. Peak dates add $10 for a dog and $5 for a cat.
Luxe says someone is on site all night. The hours for walking in the front door do not match from one part of the site to the next, so ask for the pickup time before you pay. Grooming and dog hikes are extra. Dry food has to be portioned by meal. Wet food can stay in the can.
MSPCA-Angell
MSPCA-Angell boards healthy dogs and cats at 350 South Huntington Avenue, and only if that pet has seen one of its non-emergency veterinarians in the past year. An emergency visit does not count. The suites are separate from the hospital wards. Dogs get four private walks a day, and photos go out twice a day. If the animal gets sick, the vets are in the same building. Pets that need more care than a healthy stay can be booked as medical boarding instead. Bathing is available before pickup.
Drop-off and pickup run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. A boarding assistant can be reached from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. After that, nobody at the boarding desk is picking up.
Get the tour. Ask which vaccines they want, whether a new dog has to pass a trial day, who is in the building after the lobby locks, what time pickup actually ends, and what the stay costs once the deposit and the holiday rate are on the bill.
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