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Pooch Hotel
Rating Details »
Categories: Pet Boarding/Pet Sitting, Hotels & Travel
Neighborhood: DePaul2228 N Clybourn Ave
(between Greenview Ave & Webster Ave)
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 348-2646
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.
20 reviews for Pooch Hotel
I can't believe I'm just NOW writing a review for Pooch! I take my Lou to Pooch twice a week, and he LOVES it! (I call it his "work").
When I get his leash in the morning, he runs down the stairs and to the garage, ready to go.
He comes home thoroughly exhausted, running straight for his food dish - inhales his dinner in 30 seconds flat, laps up two bowls of water - and then crashes for the rest of the night.
Good Samaritan Deed:
My friends take their yellow lab to Pooch when they leave town; one day, while my friends were at work, their dog, Captain, escaped from the house and was roaming the streets of River North. He was saved by the Pooch van, who kindly picked him up and returned him to his rightful home.
I would recommend anyone take their pooch to Pooch.
Things have improved lately, so I'm bumping this up to 4 stars! I have to say, that when they screw up they do try to make amends and even change their way of doing things. I respect that.
Still no web cam, though.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/28/2008
I'm bumping my review down to 3.5 stars. After going here for a year, I've decided there are pros… Read more »
I have to set the record straight. My experience has been the complete opposite of the negative reviews on Yelp. I have taken my dog Toby to Pooch for a year and he loves it. All I have to do is say the word "daycare" to get his tail wagging in circles. Everyone at Pooch knows me, knows my dog, and truly care for the dogs.
Toby came down with kennel cough earlier this year (By the way, he could have caught it anywhere, its contagious when you get dogs together, similar to the flu with people) Robin (the owner) did not even hesitate in asking me to take him home. While yes, it was a bit inconvenient to have him at home all day, I know that they were just looking out for the health of all of the dogs. They report any health issues they notice, keep me updated on his play (he has recently been upgraded to playing with the "big dogs" which was a big deal!), and have even emailed me updates on vacation when he boarded for 10 days. Tracey has even noticed small details like the brand of treats I packed.
I think most of the reviews must be based on very quick interactions. How much time do you really interact with the people at Pooch dropping off your dog in 3 minutes and in the 5 it may take to pick them up? Just talking to Amanda, Tracey, and all the others for a few minutes will show you that they do care.
PS- I agree that I would love webcams at the Clybourn location (the West Loop location has them and they are SO great), but I know I can leave Toby with Pooch all day and trust them to care, entertain , and tire out my pup!
I have to agree with the last reviewer (Amanda D.). I too have always had phenomenal service from Pooch Hotel. In reading through some of these it is hard for me to even believe we are talking about the same place.
I have been sending my dog Buster to Pooch for 2 years now (we use them for boarding and daycare). We have never had a problem and in fact Pooch has been the one constant in our daily routine without so much as a hiccup.
The staff (Amanda, Margaret, Jesse, Robin) are all so loving and nice. I see them everyday and they are really almost like family to me and Buster now.
If you have any question about Pooch or the service they provide you should go in and meet with them. I am pretty confident that you will witness the loving care that Buster and I experience everyday.
Sorry....not a fan. I find that the staff really doesn't care about customer service at all (Except for the girls that were there in the evening after 7pm, I found the other staff to be aloof and not at all friendly). My dog never wanted to get out of the car to go inside and I knew something was up. I'm sure they treat the dogs fine once in daycare but it goes beyond that. How about being excited when a client drops off their dog? Greeting the dog by name and saying hi to the client? I only used them because they said I could pick up my dog after 7pm for no extra charge (which was very courteous of them - I always arrived by 7:15pm) but after awhile I stopped going because I could tell that my dog was not happy here. I even left behind 5 sessions. The facility is very nice but I'd rather bring my pooch to a less fancy place where the people genuinely care about your dog.
I really dislike this place. I took my little pup to Pooch for daycare no more than a dozen times within a month or two. He got a mysterious infection, an intestinal parasite twice, and pneumonia. I notified them each time about the parasite, but the second time my dog got it, they blamed it on
me. They said I hadn't treated it properly and that it was my fault, but they didn't even know how it had been treated. And, besides, we go to Blum, which is arguably the best vet in the city, and we had fecal exam showing he no longer had it before we sent him back to daycare. Also, I was informed that the small dogs don't get outside bathroom breaks so they relieve themselves in their play area, and they were never able to tell me about my dog's day. Also, when I asked what their dog to person ratio was, they said they don't do it like that, but rather they just try to have at least one person in a play area at any given time. This is disturbing because the city actually has a minimum ratio requirement. Other bothersome issues include the fact that you can't see your dog in the play area by web-cam even though they have cameras set-up, and I couldn't see the play areas from the front desk. They told me they have the tv in the front desk area monitoring the playroom in case no one is in back to oversee the dogs. Also, the dogs do not get to play all day; instead, they are crated at 3pm in small cages that are stacked up like those in petshops. I don't believe that Pooch really cares about dogs, but instead they are more concerned about earning money. Also, the way they run their business is all so secretive; there should be more transparency. There are far better places for doggy daycare and boarding out there. Believe me....I found one that is more than I could have hoped
for. If I could give Pooch negative stars, I would.
I must say I was rather disappointed with this facility. My husband and I never went to the place on Belmont, but when the very elegant (yet deceiving) location opened up just a walk from my house we thought we'd give it a try. The main reason that drove me far away was on Christmas my husband checked them in to board only to secretly discover the owner doubles...sometimes triples them up together in "suites" to make the max profit. I found this to be terribly unsafe and unfair, considering you are paying full price for the suite. Don't believe me? On a busy holiday weekend ask to take a tour...if they let you!
Besides that, my dogs came back starving, items were lost and it was just something that I never want to experience in my life again. Please don't be fooled by the way the building looks or by the fact they over price a room split three ways.
Chalk me up for the converted. I am a tad protective of my dogs. So it has always been difficult for me to board them any place that is not their vet's. My rationale being the vet already knows all there is to know about them to begin with. So it was a combination of desperation that led me to Pooch Chicago. Our vet told us this is where she boards her dogs -jigga wha!? when she goes on holiday.
So I brought my two confused and slightly terrified dogs to this strange place to give it a test. The owners immediately noticed how anxious I was. The facility itself is top notch, no I have nothing to compare it to since I always brought my dogs to their vet. It smelled better than our house and they seemed a tad obsessed with cleanliness.
I will not attempt to project human emotions on how my dogs felt but any place that allows the dogs room to play with other mutts (remember we used to bring them to the vet :-)) for more than an hour -they reportedly let them play for 7!- a day will always get my money when I go out for long trips.
For the record -since the address here seems to be wrong- I am reviewing the Pooch Chicago that's on Clybourn not Belmont.
To add to my review below, a friend used them for boarding. They picked up his dog but did not pick up the medicine she needed nor her special food for her digestive issue. When he came back after his trip the medicine and food were still sitting on the counter where he'd left them. What if it was heart medicine, or something more serious than for a stomach condition??
I was very excited at first to bring my dog here. However, we started having problems as soon as we signed up for the pickup/dropoff service. I gave them 3 strikes (within 1 month, no less) and then decided to take my dog elsewhere. Strikes are as follows:
1). His first day on the taxi, I called a couple hours after he was picked up to make sure he was doing ok. I was told the driver was lost and that he should be in shortly.... 2 hours after he got picked up about 3/4 of a mile away from the facility. I was promised that I would get a call when they left that afternoon (between 3 and 4) so that I could see how long he'd be in the van normally and decide whether to continue with the taxi service. Come 5:30, no call. I call them and I'm told that they confused my dog with another one of the same name, that my dog actually did arrive shortly after being picked up, but the girl was "too embarassed" about confusing the dogs to call me back. What? Sorry if she was embarassed, but I should be kept informed about what's going on (and at least called when promised).
Strike 2) Last week, the driver locked the keys the van with the dogs in it -- certainly an innocent mistake (and an understandable accident), but then I was given conflicting stories of when the van left, how long it actually took for Triple A to show to open the van, and why I wasn't called to tell me my dog would be THREE HOURS late (obviously AAA didn't show up in 30 minutes) -- the owner swears they called all of the other owners and she didn't want to get into a "he-said she-said" about what I was told on the phone, and that if I was that upset, perhaps I should take my business elsewhere. Fine. I had already bought a package in advance so figured we'd cancel the taxi service and just drop him off/pick him up ourselves.
Strike 3) I called the Monday after the keys-locked-in-van debacle to let them know we wouldn't be needing the taxi service, I'd be dropping him off. Got a confirmation call back (I think from manager Margaret or Megan). Dropped off the pup Tuesday morning. Left work early to get there to pick him up. Get there, and MY DOG IS GONE. Owner sheepishly comes out saying he was put on the taxi service and taken home.... despite my call, the confirmation return call, and the fact that I dropped him off in the morning. This time she did apologize, maybe because now it was obvious that I wasn't the one lying about the last incident and her staff was dropping the ball.
The only reason Pooch doesn't get zero stars is because the owner sincerely seemed to feel bad by the 3rd time they screwed up and let me get my money back for the package purchased in advance. I think they mean well, but maybe the business has just grown too fast. All of these issues are accidents, but the way they were dealt with boil down to communication and trust, and the fact that I don't trust them with my little puppy.
Pooch was the first boarding facility I sent my dog to. Although she liked it, I didn't enjoy interacting with the owner - unpleasant, unfriendly, and un petit peu snob. Look, I may not be a Prada-wearing, Fendi-B toting blondie from lincoln park, but my money is exactly the same. Treat me that way!
The facility itself is small -- good for puppies and small dogs, but if you have a bigger dog, you may still have to deal with a lot of energy when you go to pick Fifi up at the end of the day. There's lots of play time but not much space for romping. I bring my pup to daycare so that she can socialize and not chew the carpets when she gets home. Pooch just didn't work for her after awhile.
If you are looking for a place where people are friendly, give your dog lots of love, and seem happy to have you as a customer, whether or not you own the latest 'must-have' handbag, try All for Doggies. Yeah, they are corporate, but at least they know that dog owners are gatekeepers, and it is the owner who needs to feel welcome first. Afterall, if the owner is put off, there's no way he's going to keep bringing in his dog when there are so many other options in the city.
First, full disclosure - I do not own a dog.
But customer service is customer service and if it's lacking 1000 and 1 dalmatians ain't going to fix it!
Such was the mood I encountered at Pooch - Chicago, otherwise known as Pooch Hotel, Inc. There was no price list to hand to a casual drop-in client, "everything is on the web," including, unfortunatley, the counter gal who couldn't tear her eyes away from the computer screen long enough to give me details about the services they provide.
So check out their web page:
http://www.poochhotel.com
Certainly the lobby area is very clean and cutsey, which probably appeals to a certain clientele, but the fact that the front door is locked and I needed to be 'buzzed' in, that the employee is more interested in the web or an incoming call than the flesh and blood standing in front of her, and that the web graphics are trade-marked by an operation calling themselves HIGH MAINTENANCE BITCH just gave me the willies!
So if your precious pooch needs precious treament, go to Pooch - Chicaga. But if you want the family pet to be cared for my more down-to-earth, dirt under their fingernails types, I'd look further down the street!
The marketing tool is completely false. I have taken my dog here and spoke with some of the employees. The dogs are kenneled most of the day which completely takes away from the point since I could buy a kennel for home.... don't recommend.
Never take your pup to Pooch. I took my dog there for boarding and he came home with cuts and scratches on him - with no explanation as to what happened from the staff. He was so wound up when we got him home that it was clear that he had been kenneled most of the day. The price is outrageous for that type of service - take your dog somewhere where the actually care about dogs and not just raking in the cash on overpriced services.
Pooch is my dog Bentley's home away from home. I have been sending him there for boarding for a little over a year whenever I travel and he loves it. Boarding your dog can be a very scary thing with all of the horror stories you hear out there, but knowing Bentley is with the caring people at Pooch makes it so easy! The staff is always very helpful and accommodating even when I have had last minute changes in my plans.
My dog has been going to day care here for about 3 months now, and we have been nothing but pleased. My dog loves coming here (the second I get him out of the car, the race is on to get to the front door) and he always come home tired and happy. Also, Pooch has always been more than willing to accommodate my dogs special needs. I am very happy that I found Pooch, and so is my dog.
I have gone to Pooch hotel for the last 3 years and I was even at their old location. I feel like they are not as stellar as they use to be and that's disappointing. And after reading all of these reviews, it's even more unsettling.
Last time I picked my dog up from boarding for 5 days, he had a gigantic sore on his paw that was really bleeding. My dog has a liver condition so I'm already pretty hyper about him. This did not help in my worries. I like to go on vacation and know that my dog is perfectly fine. I will unfortunately be trying a new boarding kennel. I just can't rest comfortably with this one anymore.
I have mixed feelings about this place. I've been going to pooch hotel for three years now for dog boarding (I use them 2-3 times a year). By the outside look, I call it the puppy resort. Unfortunately, my biggest complaint is the price, it's really expensive. And, they just changed the rates for multiple dogs. So, I'm going to have to find somewhere new. :( The staff is really friendly and my dogs seem to love it there, too. They run into the place as soon as it's in view and always seem sad to leave. I've had a problem with Pooch Hotel once, they clipped one of my pups nails too short and I didn't find out til I got home and his paw as bleeding! Also, I'd recommend having them groom your dog before you pick them up, they'll come home smelling like a zoo if you don't. But, if you opt for the grooming, the shampoo they use will keep your dog smelling fresh for weeks!
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*Update 5/15/08: I'm going to have to take a star. It's been a couple days since I boarded my dogs, and both came home with Kennel Cough!
I was a bit skeptical when taking my puppy to Pooch after reading some of the other reviews, but I must say that I am so happy that I didn't listen! I am a bit of an over-protective mom when it comes to my little one, but Pooch has put me at ease. My little Lola loves this place!! She is so happy when she gets there in the morning, and so happy when she leaves :) She plays so much that she is usually asleep in the car before we even get home! The facilities are clean and well-kept and the staff is very accommodating. When I have to board my puppy overnight she always seems content, and the staff is great when I call to check up on my little one! I would highly recommend Pooch!
Just started boarding my pooch here and have no complaints. The new building is incredible. I was impressed by the cleanliness, but still fun and warm. The people don't know me there, yet, but BUT they know my dog by name--and he's only been twice. I think that's awesome. He only goes twice a week and I didn't feel pressured into buying some big package or bringing him every day. WE picked it over Stay and Petsmart because it's 2 minutes driving and I don't have to deal with cluster f morning traffic at Elston/Fullerton/Clybourn, etc.
My dog is little and I love that they have separate floors for the big and small dogs. He comes back so spent he sleeps until the next day--the care is just as much for me as him--makes me feel less guilty for leaving him all day :(
To be fair .. I will let you know I haven't been here in a while; but I never got around to writing a review. My husband and I started going to pooch when we got our first dog Nalah about 2 years ago (this was right before they moved locations).... however, after they moved ..... the owner had absolutely no customer service skills, the staff never remembers who you are (and has even brought out the wrong dog to me before!!!), and I have talked to three previous staff members that informed me that the dogs are crated a lot of the day, you often don't get the services you think you are (ie swimming, dog massage, etc), and the boarding dogs don't get play time. Which just confirmed my concerns when I picked up my pup after boarding her the first time and I called the owner about her wierd behavior and the fact that she was not clean; just smelled like she was sprayed with perfume . We have tried our share of daycares to know that pooch doesn't care about their customers or their dogs. I can't even begin to tell the stories I have been told about this facility from former staff. Don't be fooled by the glitz - there are plenty of daycares out there that are compassionate about dogs without the fancy lobby.
