Vernon Hills to Consider Upscale Pet Hotel

The owner of an upscale pet hotel hopes to open his next facility in Vernon Hills.

ADOGO Pet Hotel would feature doggie daycare, boarding services, grooming and training services. The company seeks to open a nearly 17,000-square-foot facility in an existing one-story building at 500 N. Fairway Drive.

ADOGO would host up to 100 pets in its kennel space, said company owner John Sturgess, who already runs a facility in his home state of Minnesota.

“Families, individuals, don’t treat dogs like pets anymore,” Sturgess said. “They treat them like kids.”

Dogs would spend most of the afternoon outdoors, he said. After a 6:30 a.m. bathroom break, most dogs would be outside from noon to 4 p.m.; weather-permitting, that could be extended to 7 p.m., Sturgess said. Dogs would have a final outdoor bathroom break at 8 p.m., and staff would leave the facility a couple of hours later, leaving the building monitored by a security system until morning.

Measures would be taken to keep noise and odors to a minimum. Sturgess said limestone would be used below a turf-like surface to absorb urine, while dog poop would be picked up immediately. A one-foot-high sound barrier would help contain noise, he said.

Sturgess said that while PetSmart, which also offers boarding and daycare, would be a competitor, ADOGO offers more of a “spa-like” experience for dogs. The business' website compares its services to "four- and five-star human hotels."

“I’m not trying to equate children to pets, but what they are proposing is similar to what a daycare center would be,” John Kalmar, assistant village manager, said. 

A similar luxury pet business opened last year in Buffalo Grove.

The ADOGO proposal, which would require a special use permit from the village, next  will be reviewed by Vernon Hills’ Planning and Zoning Commission. The commission will hold a public hearing before making a recommendation to the Village Board.