The world’s first luxury dog hotel is here to pamper your pooch 24/7. It’s where every pet is allowed to sleep on a bed.
The following written content by Mark Ellwood
It’s the latest five-star hotel to open in London. Custom beds, handcrafted by a local workshop, with room service on-demand and staff on call 24/7. Its day club features LED mood lighting and walls covered in a bespoke street art mural; the onsite spa offers everything from quick wash’n’go to nail treatments. Staff are trained in acupuncture, massage and reiki, plus there’s a squad of trainers who work in situ or outdoors in nearby parks and streets.
The only difference between this and any posh perch on Park Lane? The clientele. Urban Mutts is the first luxury dog hotel in the world, handily located a short walk (or walkies) from London’s West End.
This canine private-members’ club—think Soho House for man’s best friend—is the brainchild of Barry Karacostas, a.k.a. @thedogjogger. He’s been tasked with keeping premium pets fit and healthy for more than 15 years, working with everyone from Guy Ritchie to Elle Macpherson, who flew him out to Miami to caretake her pooches when a relationship took her there.
Conventional kennels, Karacostas explains, fundamentally misunderstand what elite, urban dogs need as R&R (ruff & roaming). “Dogs going for care in the countryside is fine if you’re with them, [if] the family goes together, but a dog that predominantly lives in the city needs to stay there,” he tells Robb Report. “They need consistency, as they don’t understand why they’re going from one place to the other.”
To offer that kind Karacostas has devised Urban Mutts to cater both to local, London-based dogs and jet-setting canines. All owners pay a £150 (about $207) initiation fee for membership, which covers the lifetime of any dog, and then can choose how to use the services there. Daycare, of course, is a central focus, as are boot camps and fitness classes, plus grooming. Read more from Robb Report.
