Sorry, no humans allowed …

Wag Hotel

 5 14th St. (at Harrison), 888-924-5463, www.waghotels.com.

On April 15, 2007, a new luxury hotel will open in San Francisco, but don’t plan your weekend vacation there just yet – there are no humans allowed.

Wag Hotel, a $4 million establishment just for dogs and cats, is the vision of Bay Area technology entrepreneur Ritu Raj, who says he opened the first Wag Hotel in Sacramento in November 2005 for his beloved bulldog.

“There just wasn’t any place I felt I wanted to leave him overnight.”

 
I have to agree with Raj as far as San Francisco is concerned. When I first adopted Jasmine I knew there would be times when I couldn’t take her with me, but when I checked out the very few facilities in The City that offered overnight boarding, I was not particularly comfortable leaving Jazz at any of them. Not that they were bad, just not right for a pit bull princess, especially after her stays in some of The City’s most fabulous people hotels.

Wag Hotel, on the other hand, is just her style: 10,000 square feet of playing area, a pool with a ramp for jumping and splashing, flat screen TVs, faux leather chairs, a 10,000 square foot rooftop garden padded with Astroturf, and a Web cam for mommy so I can watch her from anywhere in the world.

Raj’s team has also worked with UC Davis to design a playgroup program not only by size, but by “family” – which means if your Chihuahua grew up with pit bulls and my pit bull hangs out with a Jack Russell terrier, they all may end up in a family playgroup together so it feels just like home.

The new facility will be the largest in Northern California, housing up to 280 dogs (sound-proofing tiles keep the noise to a minimum). The eco-friendly building features skylights for natural light and a dream kitchen bigger than most star chefs have to work with (an airline cart system can feed 200 dogs customized meals in 45 minutes).

“We’re redefining kennels,” Raj says, “with a high degree of comfort and safety.”
   

Everything is monitored on television 24 hours per day, and the staff is trained to recognize anything “off” about the animals, including signs of illness (Wag Hotel works with Pets Unlimited should an animal require veterinary care).
   

Smaller kennels are ventilated and have state-of-the-art automatic cleaning systems. The large kennels are outfitted with all the creature comforts your pet expects.
   

“This is the same size as my hotel room in Japan,” Raj says, and he’s not kidding.
   

All-inclusive overnight stays range from $25 for cats (housed in a separate area so they can relax) and from $35 for small dog kennels to $90 for large luxury suites.
   

Raj says eventually there will be a grooming school on the second level, but for now he offers the space free of charge to animal rescue groups for benefits and events. “I love animals,” Raj says, “and I want to help animals in need. We want to be a part of the community here.”
   

Jasmine’s already booked a room.

                         – S. D. Reynolds