“How much is a night?” is the first question we hear on the phone, usually before the caller has told us their dog’s name. It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that a nightly boarding rate is a bundle. Two places can charge similar numbers and give your dog completely different nights, and two very different numbers can turn out closer than they look once you count what is included.
So instead of a single figure, here is what goes into the cost of dog boarding, what changes it, and how to compare one place against another without getting surprised at pick-up. Our current nightly rates for both locations are always posted on the Hobnob dog hotel page, so you can check the real numbers while you read.
What you are actually paying for
A boarding rate pays for three things: a safe place to sleep, the hours of care around that sleep, and the people doing the caring. The first part is the one everyone pictures, and it is honestly the smallest part of the cost.
The bigger part is the day. A dog who spends a boarding stay in a run waiting for three potty breaks is cheap to look after. A dog who spends real hours playing with a group matched to their size and temperament, then naps, then eats on their normal schedule, takes a lot of trained human attention. That attention is most of what you are buying, and it is the part that decides whether you pick up a relaxed dog or a stir-crazy one.
At Hobnob, every night of a hotel stay includes a half day of daycare. Your dog plays with their group, takes a midday siesta, and settles in for the night in a private room with an elevated bed. No cages, no cramped quarters. Rooms are refreshed daily, meals come from the food you pack and go out on your schedule, and the webcams run whenever your dog is in the play areas. Medications you supply are given per your directions at no extra charge, injectables excepted. All of that is inside the nightly rate rather than added on top.
The things that change the number
Once you know what a night includes, the price you actually pay moves with a handful of choices. None of them are hidden, but it helps to know them before you book.
Which location
Our Lakewood and Denver Tech Center buildings have their own nightly rates, and both are posted side by side on the hotel page. Pick whichever is closer to home or to the airport run; the care is the same.
How many dogs
The first dog on a reservation pays the full nightly rate and each additional dog on the same reservation pays a lower rate. Siblings can share adjoining rooms, so bringing two dogs costs less than twice the price of one.
Which dates
Holiday dates carry a small seasonal premium. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s weeks are the busiest nights of our year, and we do not oversell them, so those nights are priced and booked a little differently. If your trip is flexible by a day or two, it can be worth asking whether shifting the stay moves it out of a holiday window.
How you pay
When you book online you choose between two options for the same stay. The Standard option can be cancelled for a full refund up to seven days before the first night; inside seven days, the first night is kept and the rest refunded. The Prepay and Save option costs less but is not refundable and cannot be changed. If your plans are firm, saving is easy. If anything about the trip could still move, the Standard option is cheap insurance. Either way, the discount applies to the stay itself, never to extras.
Drop-off and pick-up times
Check-out is by noon. If you drop off in the morning and pick up in the afternoon, a late pick-up charge for the extra half day of daycare is added, and the booking page shows it in the price before you pay. Drop off after noon, or pick up by noon, and there is no extra charge. It is a small thing, but it is the most common surprise in the industry, so we would rather you know now.
Extras: what costs more and what is free
The extras worth knowing about are the ones people actually want. You can add a daily swim in our indoor pool, a bath, or a nail trim right in the booking, and we schedule them during the stay so you pick up a clean dog instead of adding an errand to your first day home. Stays of five nights or more include a free bath; just remember to select it when you book.
The mini bar is there for dogs who deserve a treat, and on a holiday you can ask us to match the day with a feast: turkey with the fixings at Thanksgiving, milk and cookies at Christmas. Feeding your own food and giving your own medications costs nothing extra, which matters more than it sounds for a long stay or a dog on a daily pill.
How to compare boarding prices fairly
When you are calling around, the nightly number alone will not tell you much. These questions will:
How many hours a day does my dog spend out of the room, and with whom? Is daycare included, or is it a separate daily charge? Where does my dog sleep, and is it a run, a crate or a room? Are medications and my own food included? What happens if I pick up late, and what does that cost? What is the cancellation policy, and does a discount change it? Can I watch my dog while I am away?
Add up the answers for the length of your stay and you will usually find that the cheapest nightly rate is not the cheapest stay, and the most expensive one is not always the best. You are looking for the place where the number covers the day your dog will actually have.
Before the first night
One requirement comes before any boarding price applies: every new dog completes a first-time registration and a FREE trial day of daycare before their first overnight stay. The trial day costs you nothing and is how we learn which play group fits your dog, so by the time boarding night comes, your dog is walking into a building they already know. If the trial day is new to you, here is what happens on it.
Vaccination records need to reach us at least 48 hours before that first visit: DPP, Bordetella and Rabies, from a licensed veterinarian.
Ready to price a real stay?
The fastest way to see the true cost is to put in your dates. The booking form on the hotel page shows both payment options side by side, every extra you add, and any late pick-up charge, before you pay anything. Prefer to talk it through? Call Lakewood at 303-233-8990 or the Denver Tech Center at 303-945-4449, and a person who knows dogs will walk you through it.