Suite Paws Pet Resort & Spa Raleigh — Local services in Raleigh

I visited suite paws on Tuesday for the first time. The staff was appropriate however they were not engaging and customer-friendly. I asked questions about daycare services and boarding, the cost, drop off time, pick up time and other basic questions. On Wednesday I went back and had a tour of the facility from a very sweet young lady Daniela. Daniela went over the cost and showed me the different size suites and villas. After the tour I completed the application for my two-year-old American lab. I informed Daniela that I would be bringing my pup the next day on Thursday for daycare. When I entered the facility on Thursday morning with my pup, there were three people, (2 females and one male) dressed in scrubs battling with a dog on the floor. this poor dog was hitting his head, pulling away, fighting trying to get away from the people holding him down on the floor. I was in shock to see this and the way it was being handled. The male employee was clearly Fed up with trying to hold the dog. The dog got away from the three people and ran to my dog. I'm still standing in the waiting area waiting for someone to say can I help you because I needed to go to work. The male employee was heated!!! I felt sorry for the dog..... I remember saying to myself thank God that's not my dog. They got the dog back on the leash and continued to try to hold this dog down on the floor by putting their knee in his hip and wrapping their arms around his neck while the dog's head is just hitting the wall trying to pull away. I finally asked the person at the front desk what was going on and why was this dog being handled so roughly? I was scared to leave my dog after this experience. If dogs are being handled like this in the front lobby where people are coming in what do the staff do when there's nobody watching? I was informed the dog needed a bordetella in his nose. The male staff walked away after they let the dog go and said he will never do that again 😡😡. the male staff was clearly angry and did not care who knew. I left my dog for the day very hesitantly only because I had not enough time to take him back home. I watched on the cameras most of the day to see how the dogs were interacting with one another. When I picked my dog up in the afternoon it was very busy in the lobby, dogs being dropped off for boarding and dogs being picked up. The young lady at the front desk was clearly overwhelmed with answering the phone trying to respond to everybody at the front. There was only one person in the front. Again not very friendly read me a 5 second report saying my dog had a great day. When I got home I saw a cut or a puncture not sure if it was a bite on his leg. It is clear and I'm going to try to post a picture of it. No staff said anything to me about my dog being injured. Nothing was reported to me. I will not be using this facility again. I'm really disappointed because it is close to my home. My dog is socialized he's been going to daycare since he turned a year old. the facility I take him to is an excellent facility and I'm very pleased with it but it is far for me to travel. I will continue to travel and take my baby where I know he's being watched closely...

This was our first time attempting to officially board our 7 month old mini schnauzer. She had only been boarded before with the breeder. I felt really comfortable and excited for the experience my puppy would have boarding here after I called to make the reservation and the person I spoke to was super nice and empathetic to my uneasiness boarding our puppy so much so my mind was at complete ease, that was until we actually went to the facility the day of check in. As Heather was checking us in I explained to her that this was our first time boarding Ellie and Heather could have cared less, the vibe she gave was as if she did not want to be there or even assisting us... I was shocked because of the reception we had received over the phone. My husband and I requested a tour which she did grant before 12pm(11:52) after she first made it VERY clear that tours are from 12pm - 1pm however Heather walked over to the young lady that was going to give the tour turned her back to us and whispered something to the tour guide....that action gave us a bad feeling. So we proceed with the tour and as soon as we went in the back we were hit with a strong urine smell. We were showed the type of villa Ellie would be in which we liked so I asked to see Ellie before we left and the tour guide said she didn't know where she was currently so I asked her what she meant since she was the one that put the name collar on her and took her to the back, her response was she didn't know where Ellie would be placed yet. Why I couldn't see my puppy I didn't understand. My husband and I go to the car to leave and my eyes are filled with tears and he says something just doesn't feel right and I was feeling the same way but thought it was just my emotions because it was our first experience leaving her with people we didnt know. We both agreed to go back and get our Ellie which we did. The young lady that greeted us when we walked back in was really nice, we told her we wanted to take Ellie even though we had just checked in the young lady said she would have to get assistance to help us so we waited for the not so pleasant Heather to get off the phone. When Heather came to assist, the young lady told her what we needed Heather looked at the computer screen and said " just check her out" and walked off, no questions were asked no thank you...nothing!! We felt really let down by this facility because of what the website portrays and the accolades it has received. This was a bad experience for newbies. I hope Heather is having a better day and can get training in customer service and being empathetic to first time fur parents.

May I also suggest that if your villas with Webcams are always booked as I was told please add more villas with that amenity since it seems to be in...

We really like Suite Paws. Having one dog that is reactive, I've researched all of the local boarding options, talked to many of them, and have tried several over the past few years. Suite Paws is our go-to option and I gladly will recommend it to anyone who asks. They make it easy to set up reservations and are usually excellent in their communications, which is appreciated for someone like me who has anxious dogs. I know that they treat my dogs well because we get fairly detailed notes about their interactions with the staff, which isn't something you get from all other boarding places.

Adding a note: we had an almost-issue recently because we were apparently waitlisted for boarding, but the website distinctly showed that we had a boarding reservation. The staff was extremely kind and helpful when we showed up, not knowing there was a problem, and they made it work for us. However, it could have put us in a very big predicament. It was partially my fault because we did receive an email, but this was a last minute reservation made for a family emergency so I wasn't staying on top of my emails. This is why I removed half of a star. The other half of a star is removed because my more easy-going dog does not seem to love Suite Paws as much as the place we previously used, though I'm confident he isn't treated badly and he gets plenty of plays and loving there. We do add on playtime and treats and the our dogs usually get extra staff attention free of charge. One of my dogs clearly loved the past boarding/daycare facility we used, but the other absolutely hated it. They both seem generally ambivalent towards Suite Paws, but I will take...