Sandpiper Pet Hotel

I am so happy I found this place! I am new to Malibu & needed a kennel to board my Rottweiler when we travel. I felt super comfortable with Patti & Rose when I spoke to them over the phone. My dog is pretty timid & not the type to be plopped into a new place & large doggy play date they completely understood what Frida needed & assured me that they are used to all different types of dogs they don’t force dogs into a play group unless they think the dogs are compatible. They suggested I bring Frida over to meet them & that I also might want to drop her off for a few hours or an overnight before any long stays. I was very assured by these suggestions that they are really dog/​animal lovers & not just motivated by money. When we went for our meet & greet Frida was immediately very comfortable with everyone she met– she usually is very timid & will bark when she is concerned, scared, but not here, she was super comfortable with them! So I went ahead & arranged a short overnight stay. Again, all went smoothly! A few weeks later we dropped her off for a 2 week stay. Again all went smoothly! Frida had no problems while boarded. I called to check on her a few times, Patti very sweetly & very compassionately assured me that all was well. When we picked Frida up she was happy to see us, in great spirits & was her normal happy self — so assuring!!! Yay!!! (huge contrast from another place we tried where we were not comfortable with how she greeted us, & for a few days she seemed skittish & very, very tired) Besides the great care Sandpiper gives we also feel that they are very reasonable. Both times they always had her belongings neatly set aside w/​care ready for me to take when I picked her up. I personally am not looking for an overly fancy building with unnecessary frilly stuff. I want dog loving, organized people who will take good care of my fur-​baby when I am out of town! They give her multiple play sessions, talk to her when they walk by because they see she likes that attention (yes, she’s a big baby), they are not judgmental of her odd personality quirks… They keep the kennel clean, have blankets for the dogs to snuggle up with, and all the staff here are kind, down to earth. I am so grateful for the care they give our dog!!! I don’t want to tell you to ignore the non 5 star reviews but really I would Highly recommend Sandpiper to any of my friends!

I don’t know why anyone would give this place less than 5 stars. I’ve been going here for 8 years and our labradoodle is always tugging at the leash to get in as soon as we get out of the car — how many kennels can say that? The dogs get plenty of outdoor and interaction time — as opposed to dog «hotels» and other places that leave them on their own crate or room for 23 hours or more a day. Some people say its «rundown». Its a kennel for heavens sake — your not staying there; do you think your dog really cares??? What’s most important is that they are well cared for and enjoy themselves and this place has that in spades. Patti and the rest of the staff are super friendly and better yet amazing with dogs. I have no idea why anyone within driving distance would go anywhere else — and its a 20 mile drive for me, but totally worth it! If you haven’t been here go once and you, and more importantly your dog, will be a customer for life.

It’s been 4 days and I’m still so angry!!! My boyfriend and I were attending an event in Malibu last Sunday and were looking for a place to board our dog for a couple of hours. We were happy to find a place open on Sunday. We dropped off our dog and even though the building is quite dilapidated the people seemed nice. We came to pick up our dog a few hours later and he was COVERED IN FLEAS!!! It was so disgusting! The guy at the front counter just kept saying that they don’t have fleas there. Really sir? I asked him to come outside and look and how many I was picking off. My dog is about 13 lbs. and he’s just a little guy so it breaks my heart to see him helplessly being bitten everywhere. We use Sentry flea medicine, but it didn’t appear to be helping. The employee then told me that if I waited 20 minutes he could give him a bath. I told him no we live in Orange County and we didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes so he agreed to give him a flea bath right then. After the bath (which couldn’t have possibly been a flea shampoo bath because he didn’t leave the soap on to sit), he brought my dog back and continued to insist there were no fleas. Later that night I got home and my dog was laying on the couch, I went to pet him and notice MORE FLEAS. It was insane, I have been boarding him on weekends for 3 years now and he got fleas once, but after one bath they were gone. Our poor puppy was throwing up all Sunday night, because of the pesticides and chemicals in the flea bath, the flea prevention medication, and the house spray. Now it’s Thursday and we found more last night. There are so many chemicals in our house.
Don’t bring your dog here. It’s dirty and clearly the staff is irresponsible.

We bring our Lab Shepard mix who is a ball of energy and loves playing with other dogs. Place is rustic, yes, but you think the dogs really care? My dog drags me out of the car when I drop her off there, ready to play and have a good time. The folks there are nice and are enthusiastic when I make a reservation to drop her off. I’m 4.5 stars just because of esthetics but again I’m not a dog. My dog would probably give the place a 5 star.

Boarded my three large German Shepherd Dogs for four nights. They are quite needy and really home bodies. When I picked them, they were not too excited to see me or my husband, very unusual. They were very happy and very clean. They had just had a bath before I picked them up. Patty and Alan are the best. Would use them again in a heartbeat, Thanks guys from us and from the «babies»

I’ve been taking both my siberians to sandpiper for a year now, and they love it. They go to day care at least 3 times a week, and every time I pull up they get nothing but excited that they are back there. They pull me down the driveway to get inside and play!
They get lots of play time, yard time, and are fed during lunch.
Patti is really amazing! She’s caring, and really takes care of everything there. Allan is another guy that works there. He’s always great and my dogs love him.
I’ve boarded my huskies there overnight a few times, and they always come home content, fed (my pups are fussy eaters and they get all their required meals), and tired (Which is a plus)
Recommend!

Have called 3 times to try and make a boarding reservation. Only the manager is allowed to make reservations, and she is never there when I call and has never returned a phone call. Poor customer service!

BEWARE. We dropped off our precious Italian Mastiff, in perfect health, energetic, and with no injuries at all, for a 24 hour stay. We returned the next day and our dog was shaking, whimpering, and unable to put weight on his right hind leg. He was obviously injured and in significant pain. When we asked how the injury occurred, the person at the counter said «I don’t know.» They acknowledged the obvious injury, and admitted that it happened in their care, but could not provide any explanation as to how it occurred. Accidents happen, even in the best of care. However, to either not know how an animal in your care becomes seriously injured, or to refuse to provide the details, demonstrates a clear lack of basic oversight, care, and responsibility. In my opinion, this is not a safe place to leave a pet. We have used Barklay Pet Hotel in Westlake, and our dog was returned in good health and good spirits. We cannot say the same for the Sandpiper. At this moment, our dog is whimpering on his bed, from the pain of the injury that he sustained while in the care of the Sandpiper. Our dog trainer warned us about this place, and I now feel terrible for not having listened to him.

I can’t decide whether this place gets 4 or 5 stars. It’s pretty rustic, but Joey comes back pretty happy, and that’s the most important. 4.5 I guess.
Today I was going up to Ventura, so I dropped him off at 9.30 in the morning. He didn’t seem too willing today, so I worried about that a little, but I think he just would have preferred to be in the car with me, as always. In the morning, there are just two sort of groggy-​looking, somewhat sloppily dressed handlers to receive the dogs. Patti doesn’t come in til the afternoon. But you can tell that everyone here really loves dogs.
Went back to pick Joey up at 5:00 pm and he seemed happy. Patti at the front desk told me that he had made pals of some of the other small dogs, and they were there in the entryway, barking to play with him. Patti only charged me $ 20 for the whole day! Wow, not bad!
All is well that ends well, and we were back on the road in a flash going home to Joey’s comfy bed.

My boyfriend and I have been taking our 2 dogs here for almost 5 years now. I can not say enough good things about them. Everyone who works there loves animals and I can honestly say that I don’t worry a bit when our pups are there. They have stayed there anywhere from a long weekend to 2 full weeks while we were away on vacation. My dog is-​to put it mildy-​very energetic, while my boyfriends dog is 15 and moving a little slower these days. Both dogs like it there and run inside without a backward look.
At one point my boyfriends dog had to stay at the vets because he was not doing that great –when I brought in just my dog everyone was concerned and wanted to know where his buddy was. They acxtually care about the dogs and will go above and beyond to make sure «the kids» are well taken care of. I dont know how helpful this review will be but Iefinantly wanted people to know how great our experiance with everybody at Sandpiper has been. Before I first took my dog there they took the time to give me a tour of the facilities –can’t think of very many other places that would be willing to do this.
They have taken the time to show me a growth that they found under my dog’s long fuzzy hair when they were grooming him (they wanted me to know so I could get it checked out)
So I guess it boils down to this
! Great people!
2. Clean Facilites
3.Reasonable prices
4 Our dogs jump out of the car and run inside without a backwards glance-​That says something to me