Stamford’s K9 Resorts calls itself a ‘5-star luxury hotel’ for dogs
STAMFORD — The dog days of summer may be over, but not at one particular location in Stamford.
K9 Resorts, at 65 Harvard Ave., is a high-end pet hotel designed specifically for dogs. The business offers four-legged customers luxury, 64-square-foot suites for $129 a night. The rooms each have two beds — a Kuranda brand elevated dog bed and another couch-shaped cushion — as well as a flat-screen television always tuned to Dog TV.
Other amenities offered at the posh accommodations include baths with Les Poochs dog shampoo imported from France, gourmet doggie ice cream, treats and extra playtime sessions.
K9 Resorts first opened in Fanwood, N.J. in 2005, the brainchild of brothers Jason and Steven Peters. The siblings started a dog-walking business in high school that eventually expanded into a brick-and-mortar dog daycare and boarding service. The canine boarding and daycare center has now opened over 30 centers throughout the country.
Owner Matt Healy shows the reception area at K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel in Stamford, Conn. Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. The luxury dog boarding and day care facility features state-of-the-art amenities, hands-on care, and more than 2,000 square feet of outdoor space.
Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut MediaFor Matt Healy, the new Stamford location in the West Side neighborhood is his first foray into pet hotels. The Long Island, N.Y. resident, who previously worked in software and consulting, has long wanted to work with his father, Daniel.
“My dad and I, we’ve always wanted to do something together, but we never knew exactly what it was going to be,” he said.
One day, a friend introduced him to the K9 franchise and both of the Healys eventually toured one of the chain’s centers in Long Island.
“We were blown away,” Matt Healy said. “We fell in love with it.”
The father-son duo decided they wanted to open their own location. When searching for a place, Matt Healy thought of Stamford, where his wife and her family are from. Opening it in Fairfield County would also be K9 Resorts’ first Connecticut location.
“It was a no-brainer to bring it here,” he said.
The Stamford outpost of K9 Resorts is set to open next week, after its grand opening event on Saturday.
In addition to the luxury suites, the hotel also touts 52 “executive rooms,” which measure about 35 square feet and include a Kuranda bed, at a price of $99 a night.
The hotel offers more modest accommodations, in the form of smaller enclosures for dogs up to 35 pounds for a price of $69 per night and larger ones for dogs up to 100 pounds for $79 a night.
A framed poster by the center’s entrance tells the story of K9 Resorts’ history, from its inception in New Jersey in 2005, and includes the phrase, “If there are 5-star luxury hotels for people, why cant there be a 5-star luxury hotel for dogs?”
Pet care technicians Jada Jennings, left, and Christina Dibiase hold dogs Cocoa and Chestnut in the small dog indoor play area at K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel in Stamford, Conn. Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. The luxury dog boarding and day care facility features state-of-the-art amenities, hands-on care, and more than 2,000 square feet of outdoor space.
Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut MediaOn Thursday, staff worked with their own dogs to practice for the hotel’s official opening this Monday. Employees also went over the center’s extensive cleaning protocols.
Healy said the business prides itself on cleanliness. The hotel has antimicrobial flooring and a hospital-grade air purification system. The synthetic grass in the roughly 2,000-square-foot outdoor play area is sanitized multiple times a day, he said.
Right now, 21 staff members work at the hotel and daycare, and Healy said he hopes that number will rise to 28 to 30 in the next few weeks once the center opens and begins accepting reservations.
So far, he said interest in the business has been high.
“I have been overwhelmed by how welcoming the Stamford community has been to us,” Healy said.
K9 Resorts will join Spot On Veterinary Hospital & Hotel — which opened in 2017 — as another high-end luxury boarding option for dog owners in the city. Unlike that business, however, K9 does not offer veterinary services or full grooming. Healy said staff can administer medications but will not do injections.
The center does include various “doggie daycare” packages, at a cost of $46 per full day and $37 for half of a day.
Operations manager Jessica Reitemeyer chats at K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel in Stamford, Conn. Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. The luxury dog boarding and day care facility features state-of-the-art amenities, hands-on care, and more than 2,000 square feet of outdoor space.
Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut MediaJessica Reitemeyer is the operations manager for the K9 Resorts chain, but she started working with the Peters brothers in high school before the business was even in existence. Once the brothers opened their first location, Reitemeyer followed along.
She’s been with them ever since and now is in charge of helping the business open new locations.
On Thursday, she was at the new Stamford franchise conducting training with employees. She said K9 Resorts sets itself apart from other such businesses in various ways.
“For starters, just the quality of care that the dogs get, the quality of the training that the staff gets, our support I think is definitely a level above a lot of what other companies and other franchises have in my experience,” she said. “And our customer service is definitely second to none.”