The Barkmont LLC — Attraction in Berkeley

Update 4/30/24... I was called to fly to Beverly Hills first thing in the morning. I called after hours to set up boarding for Willie and was approved immediately. Shout out to Amanda and Kirk for their steadiness in accomodaring Willie when I travel on business. Another plus, is he has a best friend that's on the same boarding schedule, named Charlie. Every time I drop him off he is super excited to run into the FUN room to play with him, and all the staff talk about how their friendship is so cute. I recommend The Barkmont to everyone I know who has a pet. Forget about wag, rover, and all the other places, Barkmont is the best boarding facility in the bay, hands down.

Update 11/23/22... I had a late notice work schedule change on 11/22/22 and needed a place for my dog to stay overnight. With Thanksgiving around the corner, The Barkmont was full and had no available reservations. Shout out to Kirk for making an exception and boarding Willie for me. I picked him up moments ago and he was all wags; I could tell he had an amazing visit at his hoke away from home.

5 stars all the way. I had to get my middle aged dog neutered and spent a week before his surgery looking for a dog sitter or pet hotel to watch him while I was at work. I work 70 hrs per week and couldn't find anyone who could commit that type of time, and furthermore had the ability to take care of a dog post surgery. I tried Rover, Wag, and various dog hotels... set up multiple meet and greets and wasn't happy with the customer service, vibe, ability, availability etc... Finally, the day before Willie's surgery, I found The Barkmont. I called to inquire, and was given an email address for Kirk, the owner. He responded late that night. He genuinely cared about my dogs situation, and put alot of energy into finding a pet sitter to come to my house, but wasn't able to find one. He offered to set me up with a special space onsite, with reliable staff to watch, walk, give meds, and care for my special little guy Willie. Furthermore, this place operates 24/7, amd allowed me to pick up and drop off any time day or night. I noticed Willie was happy every time I picked him up. The greetings I received when I came inside were always pleasant from every staff member, and sensed that everyone who works at The Barkmont feels a special connection with animals... they treated Willie like a member of their pack, and I am forever grateful for the experience they offered. Willie will be allowed to take his cone off tomorrow after his post surgery checkup, and I am excited to make regular reservations in the future so he can play with the happy dogs that stay at the luxurious Barkmont Hotel, Spa, and Day Care on a regular basis when I am at work amd out of town. Big props to Dre, Kirk, Amanda, and the rest of the staff for running the most reputable and capable dog hotel in the bay area. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU ❤️...

This place had a lot of positive reviews, so we tried it, but didn’t think it was a good fit. Our dog was definitely not happy here compared to his other sitters and returned covered in urine and we believe he caught some kind of cold while there.

I think it’s pretty strange that they only have the cameras on in specific hours, and that the cameras are only in the play areas, not where the dogs are actually held. On the cameras off-hours, we saw the staff (who seem to be very friendly and good with the dogs!) bring the dogs out from some back area, take photos of them, then bring them back into the back area. We weren’t allowed to see the back area because of covid, so it’s kind of a mystery where the dogs are during the day and what conditions they’re in. No reason to think it’s nefarious, but why not have a camera where the dogs actually are, instead of just providing a short window of view time in specific play areas?

At any rate, our dog came back covered in urine, hopefully his own, and seemed to have caught some kind of puppy cold while he was there, so obviously we won’t be returning. It wasn’t serious, he was fine, the staff is friendly and I’m sure they do their best considering all the positive reviews. But we won’t be going back, especially when there are so many sitters on apps who have more capacity for...

My dogs have been coming to the Barkmont for a couple of years. They are always happy and excited to go there for both daycare and overnight boarding when we are out of town. During Fairbanks (my pitbull) and Frye's (my Frechie) recent stay, it was brought to our attention that there was some concern for Fairbanks looking skinny. He had recently (like days before his stay) been to the vet, and the vet didn't question his weight at all.

After the Barkmont staff member talked with me upon picking them up, I made another appointment and brought him back in to our vet for a full blood panel and testing. It turns out that Fairbanks has thyroid issues. The canine equivalent to hyperthyroidism. He is now taking a daily pill and is already filling out and looks hardier.

I really wish I would have gotten the name of the girl that I spoke to, but I didn't. I do want to thank her, though, as it is clear thet Fairbanks wasn't feeling the best, and by bringing it to my attention, I was able to advocate for him in having a closer look taken at his overall health panel by his vet.

Barkmont is the best. It always makes me happy to see, when tuning into the cameras that staff is usually giving the dogs proper attention and care. Thanks to everyone...