Wag Hotels Redwood City, California

TL:DR- Our Labrador stayed at Wag for eight days, and ended up contracting a flesh-eating bacteria resulting in a leg amputation. We believe that the quality of health and safety at Wag has drastically decreased, and warn you away. This past September, our dog, Paige, stayed at Wag Hotels Redwood City while we were on a family vacation. On the 8th and final day of Paige's stay at Wag Hotels, Wag staff rushed her to a vet’s office for what would later be diagnosed as necrotizing fasciitis (commonly called flesh-eating bacteria) in her right, rear paw. After three grueling days battling the infection, we were forced to amputate her leg. Only then did she finally turn the corner and begin to stabilize. The ordeal was excruciating for her, heart wrenching for us, and cost an insane amount of money. Paige had visited Wag many, many times; between 2014 and 2018 she enjoyed All Day Play over 340 times and never had a problem. We were floored that this had happened at Wag and we tried to understand what had changed. To investigate, we collected all the complaints related to health and safety that were posted on Yelp and Google since Wag RWC opened. What we found was shocking: in the last 6 months of 2021, the number of complaints posted has increased so much that they received approximately the same number of complaints for the last half of 2021 as they had accumulated for all of 2014-2018. We then calculated their rating on Yelp for the last 6 months of 2021: ~2.5 stars!!! The Director of Customer Experience informed us that Wag is aware of such quality issues. She claimed that increasing staffing after suffering through the pandemic is challenging. We understand things have been hard for all kinds of businesses, but we don’t believe it is ethical to board more dogs than staffing safely permits. Wag has not taken any responsibility for Paige’s illness. Don’t risk your animal’s health, your peace of mind, or your bank account. Please look for a safer, properly staffed alternative for boarding your pet.

Boarded my dog over thanksgiving and I paid for a deluxe suite so I could have access to the live video in his room and the play area. None of the links worked and one led to a different room and dog. Tried to reach out via email 3x, no reply. Was out of the country and tried to call but was on hold and had to wait, so I hung up or else it would have costed tons of money. Had my friend try to call them and they were on hold for 40+minutes and gave up. This is not ok. I will be asking for a partial refund. No response for over 1 week is unacceptable. edit: they gave me a discount/refund and mentioned they told some folks but werent able to notify all that they were having camera issues. I get it. but the response was still poor so I am still upset about that - I think they were a bit overwhelmed

Never ever answer the phone. Sit on hold or waiting for a callback for HOURS no exaggeration. Can’t get through to save my life. When I finally got through today they put me on hold for 15 minutes and then picked back up and said they had people in the lobby to take care of and would resolve my issue later. I have asked 3 times I. The last day to resolve this issue and keep getting told they will but they don’t. I’m supposed to have a link to my dogs camera and they refuse to send it. I’m guessing my dog is mot in the expensive accommodation I’m paying for but rather a cheaper o e that does t come with a camera. My dog is grieving the loss of our other dog which she loved dearly and we want to look in on her. We unfortunately had to travel and didn’t plan on this being the case and the camera is very important to us Wag Hotel!! We pay through the nose for these services and expect to receive what we pay for.

Updating post and bringing rating up to 5 stars: After not being after to reach Wag for 4 days, I went in today to pick up my dogs and was in A HUFF (understatement) to the front desk. The women who helped me was super empathetic and kind, and she immediately offered me a generous discount and phone number to save in case that ever happens in the future. Pretty classy. I felt bad for bringing such intensity to her at 10PM on a Monday - they have a tough job and they do it really well. Plus, two other staffers came out and clearly love both my dogs dearly. They really have such a nice crew there. ALSO, seeing as there are quite a few reviews of the Google number not being the best way to reach the, I'm adding a pictures of the number posted to the front door of wag. I saved this in my phone as the primary way to get in touch. Thanks Wag! Will be back. --------------------------------------- Original post: I think Wag is great - in fact my dogs are being boarded there right now. The staff is super friendly, it’s clean, the spa services are great, and my dogs love it there. My 3 star review is because it’s impooossssible to reach anyone there over email or phone. They forgot to send us the in-room camera link for our dogs (a service boasted about on their website), and we’ve emailed 4 times, called twice, to no avail. Which is super frustrating.

We had our dog, Sophie, stay at this Wag Hotel in Redwood City from 9/27 until 9/29. She is a small (10 lbs) dog. When we picked her up today she came out with injuries above her left eye (picture attached below). She is in pain and cries when we try to take a look at the injuries. We are going to take her to the vet as soon as possible. We asked two employees who were there and they said they only noticed the injuries today and they thought it wasn't a "big deal". They said it may have been from the feeding slot that has sharp edges but they couldn't explain it well and sounded like they were trying to come up with excuses. She could have been bit by another dog or something else. It is not acceptable that they didn't "notice" such noticeable big injuries and they didn't treat them nor reached out to us to let us know. We will never take our dog back to this location and based on what the vet finds we will be taking actions accordingly. It's been a few hours since we picked her up but we have not yet heard from the manager.

It’s often easy to get a reservation here. Staff is friendly and they have a lot of options as far as care packages and add-ons you can do. But, We had a dog with medical needs that needed boarding. and it took us over 48 hours to get them to respond to our phone calls and send us over her WebCam link once they had the dog in their care. We explained the needs of the dog to them before we dropped her off, but there are things we need to check on and nobody would answer the phone which is a problem for us

They took care of my dog.

Dependable with staff who really care about dogs. The customization that they offer is perfect for our pooch.

We just picked up our dog Suki (10 months puppy) from Wag Hotel Redwood city and we couldn't be more angry. She spent there 10 days while we were out of the city, we had several issues during this time but probably the most worrying part was that they returned her back with a wound on top of her right eye. When we asked them about the wound, they said that they haven't noticed anything. The wound was very visible and it was clearly untreated (see picture). We understand that accidents happen but the fact that they didn't reach out to us when it happened or at least treated the wound says a lot about this business. We also had other issues during Suki's stay. We payed for a Deluxe room, which includes a dog bed and a webcam. Before leaving, we asked for the link to see the room but they told us that they were going to send it later. After waiting a day, we had to call them and create a ticket in order to get the link to the webcam. Once they gave us the link we noticed that the room they gave her had no bed (see picture), she spend that night and probably the night before without the bed that we paid for. The day after receiving the link they gave her a bed. After 5 days, the link to the webcam stopped working, again we had to call several times and wait two days to see our dog. We also paid for several other activities like a morning and evening stroll or playing fetch. They never sent us any pictures of Suki doing these activities and considering what we saw with the bed and the wound, it is really hard to trust that they have done any of those activities.

NEVER AGAIN!!! My dog was there for eight days about two weeks ago. Over the past year and a half he has boarded there several times and we have always been pleased. He does all day play and seemed to love it. When I dropped him off I left PLENTY of his fresh food with feeding instructions. Because we would be away for over a week I left them with way more than enough food, probably 11-12 days worth-just in case. We always tell them to feed him more if he seems extra hungry. When my husband picked him up none of the left over food was returned, and he was EMACIATED. His spine was clearly visible and his ribs were showing. He was skin and bones. For three days he was throwing up and had SEVERE diarrhea, like he was readjusting to his normal food. After he was no longer sick, he ate double, sometimes triple his normal daily intake. Whether he was sick during his stay or not eating, I never received a phone call from the Wag hotel to let me know something wasn’t right with him. He also had scratches all over his face. I have since called several times, asked to speak with managers and supervisors. They have looked at his file during his stay and reported that nothing unusual was noted. I was told they would look into and get back to me. No one does so I have to call back. Of course not a direct number to the Redwood City location, just their main number. I have asked for a Redwood City number but they claim there isn’t one. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of my dog when he first got home from Wag hotel but he looked like he had been starved for a week. I will never take him there again and I caution anyone who is thinking about taking their pet there. Any business that won’t give customers phone numbers for their branch locations should be a HUGE RED FLAG.

Picked up our dog after 5 days of boarding and she had developed a big rash on her underbelly and was caughing.

Long post! But I hope it helps someone else when making their decision! My two dogs have stayed at Wag Hotels (Redwood City) a handful of times between daycare and boarding. The past 2 boarding experiences have been less than satisfactory. I am frustrated by the lack of communication, the expectations and the actual reality of their stay. Communication - I had to have called 20-30 times during their stay with no answer. No one ever answers the phone here. This was at all different times of the day. I left 3-4 maybe 5 messages. No one got back to me. TO THIS DAY (they stayed about a month ago now), no one has called me back to address my questions/concerns. Expectations - My dogs stayed in the Ultra Suite. This is way too expensive, but I thought, it will be the most comfortable for them, plus they get lots of extra little special things. I have no problem paying a high price, if what is promised, is delivered. First of all, the room is nothing like the pictures they have online. From the camera I had access to in the room, the rooms had a small foam bed, covered by one sheet, with a pillow. The description of a Spacious, themed accommodation is interesting - what was the theme of my dogs room? I was told I would have an app-controlled treat dispenser (I did not), customizable music selection - (I did not), In-room television with dog-friendly programming (the TV was on the Netflix home page the entire time). Nightly 2-way video chat (I did not have this). I also never saw someone come in for a before bed belly scratch or bedtime story. I saw the door open, food dropped off, and the team member walk away. If I pay for something, I expect it to be delivered. Now they might say, well you should have called us to have the nightly 2-way video chat! Or, you have to call us to enable the treat dispenser or the custom music -- but that brings me back to issue number 1 - I called. At least 20 times. Other issues that are not a big deal, but again, when I am paying top dollar, I expect the small things to be standard -- The lights were never turned off when it was bedtime. I check at midnight - lights still on. I checked at 3 am, lights still on. I checked at 7am - lights still on. (Yes, I am crazy, but I was up at these times for flights) When I checked in at the front desk before their stay I asked the receptionist, can they please have dinner by 7/7:15pm? I was told, sure. I checked the cameras and to my surprise, they were not in their rooms, the room was not even set up yet- no sheet on the bed. I obviously tried calling. No answer. I watched them get fed around 10pm. I have photos/timestamps, I have screenshots from the cameras. I have tried reaching out to Wag about these issues- and to no surprise--- NO response! I paid over $1k in the last two visits (2 nights and 1 night) and did not receive half the promises that were made. I want to continue to use Wag Hotels, I want to trust when I drop my dogs off they are in good hands, and that they are getting the things I was told they would get - but unfortunately, that has not been my experience. I also want to be able to REACH an employee! Or at least have someone CALL ME BACK (or email me back!!) to address my concerns. If you have other options - USE them! Wag was a last resort option for me and I am so disappointed in the amount of money that was spent for my dogs to not get the things that I was told they would.

Web site not showing my account...& they are not answering phone

It's a nice large mix of dogs to socialize. But like everything in the Bay area it's a little bit out of the way.

Rio has been a Wag puppy since he was 5 months old. The team is a huge part of our lives. I used to work 9-10 hrs a day, including the commute time, so I wanted my baby to have buddies and friends. We love this place.

I would like to thank the Redwood City Staff for being so kind to my dog Zeus. He was treated well by everyone.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Our dog loves it there. We also boarded her for a week and it went quite well.

EDIT: problem seems to be solved. 24 hours pick up and friendly staff. Changing to one star because we consistently have issues with late night pickups when we return from trips. One time we called, knocked, etc for 20 minutes and had to give up and try the next day. Today, no answer and voicemail full. Not reliable for 24-hr pickup. Please fix!

Our pup (IG: disappointed_doodle) had a pretty good experience today. He is very shy so we will be going back to continue the socializing. The facilities in the video seem pretty clean (could not go inside due to covid) and someone was watching over them. The app needs some work though. Haven’t been able to use it much and it seems like a great idea but not applied properly.

Cost is high but have free puppy social

Very good service and very clean.

They've always been nice to me and my dog and cat.

Love the staffs, online reservation system and doggies camera. It’s not cheap and I’d say the doggie room isn’t large but my dog is small so it’s fine. The selection of services they offer is a big plus for me since my dog hates hanging out with other dogs but do get lonely so 1:1 playtime and morning stroll are super helpful to keep her routine. With all good things, my dog still hates the hotel but oh well

Great place for doggy day care and boarding. Our pup would get very excited to go in as soon as she realizes she's close to wag hotels. The staff are courteous and remember all dogs personally.

Do you realize that their STANDARD policy for boarding is: 8am-9am play/walk, 2pm-3pm play/walk... then not go out again for 17 HOURS!? "Your dog will be in their room from 3pm - 8am with no bathroom breaks", and they stand by this. I think it's borderline inhumane. Sure, you can pay an extra $10 per walk if you want in those massive breaks of time, but it's hard to imagine dogs aren't peeing/pooping all over their rooms with that kind of standard policy. The people that work there are great, and this isn't on them, but Wag Hotels should be embarrassed with this money-grab, inhumane policy.

I have been trying to set a "profile" (because that is ONLY way to book an appointment) for the last 36 hours & am just done with the service. They did however send me emailed documents to fill out, WHICH I DID with my dogs & my personal information & submit it with no response. All I wanted to do was sign up for classes for my pup during a pandemic to get social skills. But being handicap, this has been a terrible experience before I even got the service. Seemed professional over the phone..

Best lobster rolls I ever had. So delicious worth it.

I am a essential healthcare worker, working long hours in the clinic. I saw the Instagram postings of cute art that they were going to do during all day play, I thought it would be great and lift my spirits in such hard times. I paid full price for shorter all day play hours, front staff at drop payed no attention to me, barely even asked my pups name before taking her. I picked her up on time and was unwelcomed by front desk staff. I got home to realize I wasn’t given the art. I called and was told ‘yes, guess the morning staff just never got around to it’ with multiple moments of silence. I was beyond frustrated and he stated ‘guess the manager can reach out to you’. I said yes, please. And I had to say are you going to take my information down for this worker to do anything. He took my pups name and ended the call. It’s three days out and haven’t heard from the manager. So guess I have to call them again. Horrible service, don’t advertise activities if you don’t plan on getting it done.

Wag Hotels RWC has been such a blessing for me, and would be for any single dog parent. Everest and I went to their free puppies socials since he was 13 weeks old. Junior and Alexa do an awesome job running the puppy socials, teaching you how to communicate with your puppy and teaching you how to intervene or not intervene. I even started doing individual training sessions with Alexa and junior and I am so impressed with Everest’s progress! Wag Hotels RWC has been such a blessing for me, and would be for any single Once Everest was fully vaccinated, I signed us up for the doggy daycare unlimited package. I am a nurse and am often gone over 14 hours for work; there will be weeks I work less than 35 hours, but others I work 60-70 hours; I often have to take call and might need to head to the hospital last minute. The fact that they are open 24 hours a day, puts me at ease throughout my shift, if I have to stay over on call, or when I am on weekend call. Our second day of doggy daycare, Megan came up to Everest and I, she said “Everest!” and put her arms out in excitement. That meant so much to me. There are times I even get a report card for him, telling me who his best friends are, how his eating habits were and anything else they find notable, which is one of my favorite parts. My second favorite part of him being in daycare is the wagcam. I love that I can watch Everest and check in on him throughout the day. Everest has found his second family. I wish I could name all the employees because everyone has been simply wonderful to Everest and I. Nicole and Lisa, on nights, always gives me detailed reports on Everest; they don’t have to ask who I am picking up, because they know and remembers us. The managers is always so excited to see Everest. They are another reason Wag has earned my trust and respect. She offered to keep his toys there for the night since we were coming back the following morning, making it super convenient for us. The only complaint I have, is that when I call the phone number, I have to go through a series of steps to get the Redwood City location and it’s very rare anyone answers the phone, or calls me back after leaving a voice mail. However, they make up for that when I see all their smiling faces.

Out of all the dog hotels, mine enjoyed the wag hotels the most