FACILITY REVIEWS
- the good and also the not-so-good.

We wish to share some unsolicited reviews about our Bokhara Pet Resort & Grooming Spa, but please note that not all people think and feel the same, and most will have differing opinions on what they like or dislike whether you personally agree with them or not.   Because of these differences we are posting all of our reviews.  

THE GOOD

What a wonderful kennel for our dog
Review rating : 5 out of 5 By Stinky - Jan 7, 2010  Insider Pages

This July (09) we stayed a week in a people resort on Torch Lake and booked our puppy for a week at the Bokhara Pet Resort on Elk Lake instead of leaving her in a kennel at home. What a great facility for dogs and what nice people are working there. Everyday we were able to visit and take her to their beach for swimming and exercise. We were apprehensive about boarding her as this was Mandys first boarding stay and we felt very sad to leave her, but she surprised us and enjoyed the experience as she was so excited to return to the kennel after her swims. It was like she could not wait to leave us. We are so glad we found such a nice kennel so Mandy can come with us every year when we vacation in Michigan. We had her groomed before we picked her up to go home and the trim was much better than our groomer at home. We would certainly recommend this kennel to anyone who is visiting the area. Mary Jones, Ohio

 
Great Holiday, and thanks Traverse City
Review rating : 5 out of 5 By princess - Jan 7, 2010 Google Pages

We had a wonderful time in Traverse City this past holiday season right from our stay at Great Wolf Lodge down to the convenience of having our dog come with us. We boarded her at Bokhara near Elk Rapids and came every afternoon to take her for walks in their woods. GWL was the best as was the care our dog received at the kennel. We will be back to visit both Traverse City businesses.
 

Abbie thanks you
  Review rating : 5 out of 5           by Connie & Ward B.& Abbie too.-  Dec 2009

Thanks so much for the care you gave Abbie while we were vacationing.  I know she posed some extra challenges, and for that we apologize, but I knew through it all she was in the best hands she could be in!!!

Thank you so much
 
Review rating : 5 out of 5          By Nina & Jack P. - Oct 10, 2009

Thanks so very much for taking such good care of our "Tess" for the three weeks we were in Europe.  She probably thought that was her new home - actually it is her home when we are away!

They even smelled nice for the car ride home
Review rating : 5 out of 5          By Don & Amy M (also Gibson, Clancy & Rosie Sep 2009

Thank you for taking such good care of our three dogs.  It was a relief not to have to worry about their care while we visited family.  Special thanks to Shen & Becky for answering all of my concerned "Mom" questions.  You were patient and very assuring.  We look forward to visiting again.  PS  They even smelled nice for the car ride home.

Lovely resort
Review rating : 5 out of 5 Posted by timkay on 01/17/2009 Yellow Pages

I can't tell you how much we like Bokhara and the staff. Abbie is older now and has many special needs which were well taken care of by their staff during our stay. We will be back next summer and love this kennel.

Great Activity Camp For Pets
Review rating : 5 out of 5Posted by jamieb2008 on 01/17/2009 Yellow Pages

We found this pet resort on the internet and as we have a summer home in Yuba we took a tour. Great facility with lots of programs for our puppies - swimming, nature walks, garden romps. Runs are extremely large and our danes had lots of space. Highly recommend.

Ben & Rosie on Yahoo Local

Bokhara kennels has cared for our dogs for over 20 years. Our current dogs,Ben and Rosie are always happy to go there. They have also handled some difficult situations for us when we left them.  Review Date: 01/02/2009  YahooLocal
 

Wow - I like it.....

Review rating : 5 out of 5   patty49684 - 05/10/2008 AOL Yellow Pages

There is a great place hidden away I discovered by accident this past month on the internet. The place is called Bokhara pet resort &grooming. I loved their website and booked my dog for boarding with a groom on the day I picked her up. I have never used a kennel before but I was really impressed for their lobby was filled with people from all over michigan coming to bring their pets for the weekend. I live in Traverse City and it was a good 20 minute drive for me but the people I met while checking in my dog were from all over - Benzonia, Gaylord, Charlevoix. This told me about the facility - I was very happy to meet the owners, and others driving so far to board. This kennel is beautiful with some very expensive realestate right on elk lake. I was able to sign my "Absolut" up for some swimming and hiking. They advertise their nature hikes and walks - the kennel has a very long driveway through a forest where I had to stop my car to let a flock of 50 wild turkeys clear the drive so I could proceed- Amazing! My dog is a Kerry Blue and the groom was perfect. I will drive the distance to use this groomer again - she knows how my dog is supposed to look - not many do these days. I am telling my sister and brother about what I found - this place is a +++++++++!
 

What a wonderful find - we love this kennel 

Review rating : 5 out of 5by BelleP  Google Pages

Being new to Traverse City our vet recommended Bokhara to board our cat and dog. We toured the facility and the owners were really nice and they raise and show russian wolfhounds. Mrs. Smith is a dog show judge.

we arrived unannounced to take a look and the kennel was more than we could have dreamed of for our pets. In fact, the grounds, buildings and location are so nice we asked if we could come and stay for a week at the kennel. It was clean! and I mean really clean - not a smell anywhere. The dogs are in one large building and the cats are in a really cute victorian cottage well away from the dog areas. This building even has an old iron hand pump outside the door left over from the 1800's. Really a cute old cottage converted to private cat boarding. Oh, our cat was not in a cage - they actually have large runs just for cats and really big rooms just for cats. Minx loved the suite with floor to ceiling climbing things.

Becky the front desk lady was wonderful, smiling and you could tell she loves dogs - in fact she told us she has seven (a sled dog team) of huskies.  I honestly can't say enough good things about this place and the price wasn't as bad as we were paying in Detroit. I want to stay there for a week.   Posted 01/27/07 Insider Pages/Google Pages
 

You really need to see this kennel to appreciate the beauty. The grounds are lovely, the flowers and landscaping are top knotch! Our cat was boarded here this summer for two week and the cat facilities are such we have never seen before and we have boarded her many times at other facilities. They do not have cages but real indoor large suites.

Pros: Service & Facilities   Cons: A short drive from Traverse City  Citysearch
Review rating : 5 out of 5  09/25/2006  Insider Pages
 

When you are away......  

Review rating : 5 out of 5By Maggie K.

This is the place that your dogs must stay. I was apprehensive about leaving my dogs with a stranger when I went out of town. At first they were apprehensive but they took to Bokhara right away. I paid for them to go on walks and they each got a bath. When I came they were so happy to see me but you could tell they were sad to leave. I trust them like they are family and I think you should tooPosted 06/09/05  Insider Pages

 
 
AND THEN - THE NOT SO GOOD REVIEWS
 
Bad kennel experience
Rated 1.0 out of 5.0 By Jane Elizabeth - Apr 28, 2010

I found this place online and brought my dog here while we were going to be on vacation in the area. The website seemed nice. But when I arrived there with my dog, the guy at the desk seemed hesitant to take me to see where my dog would be staying when I requested that. The "kennel" area was rows of narrow kennels, where dogs were separated by chainlink fence--no solid walls and then a fence on top like I would expect. The dogs could reach each other through the fence if they wanted to bite or urinate on each other. My dog tucked his tail and had to be dragged into the kennel, where he was placed next to aggressively-barking, large German Shepherd. It did not look or smell clean (I expected some doggy odors, but not that much). I was almost crying when I left my dog there. Fortunately, as we were driving back to where we were staying, we came upon much better kennel (XXXXX-XXXXX), and we walked in, asked if they had vacancies (they did), and we turned around, and picked up my dog and brought him back to XXX--it was completely different. Clean, walls separated the dogs, they had access to the outside runs, and you didn't have to pay extra for playtime for the dogs like you do at Bokhara. My dog didn't act scared when I brought him into XXX. And the owner was much more friendly. I'm glad he only had to stay at Bokhara for 2 hours and I was fortunate enough to find a better place for him

 
If you love your pets do NOT take them here!!
Rated 1.0 out of 5.0 By colleenw114 - Jul 13, 2009

Our entire experience with Bokhara was horrible. I felt awful that I even left my dog there for one night. If it wasn't for the fact that it was the Cherry Festival and our options were slim, I never would have left her there in the first place. When I first called to inquire about Bokhara, I asked if the dogs were allowed to play together. We have been taking our puppy to XXX since we got her and she loves it there. The guy at Bokhara told me that they believe it would be too stressful for dogs to be forced to interact with other dogs. Dogs are PACK ANIMALS!!! If they are exposed to other dogs from a young age they LOVE meeting new dogs! He then continued to tell me that the dogs can see each other from their "suites" and bark at each other through the fence, as though this is fun for them to be trapped and not be able to interact! Like I said, we were sort of desperate, so we took her there anyway. When we arrived there was no one at the desk and it took at least 5 minutes for the woman to show up since apparantly she was the only one there. We asked to have a tour of the area our puppy would be staying in. On the phone I had been told the dog "suites" were very large and opened up to the outdoors. What I saw was dozens of kennels, smaller than those at the humane society. The "outdoor" area was completely enclosed so that there was only sunlight and fresh air coming in through cracks. You couldn't see anything outside!! I felt horrible, but we had no choice at that point but to leave her there. When we picked her up, I found that they hadn't fed her according to the instructions I had given and they hadn't given her the medicine I had left (I'm quite sure because the oral syringe was still clean, they didn't charge us the $2/dose fee, and the guy that brought her stuff out didn't know she had medicine in the fridge). On top of all of this, the customer service was bad to say the least, the other dogs that were brought in at the same time seemed terrified, and my fiance even overheard another owner complaining that the last time they brought their dog in it's nose had been injured on the chain link fence. Why would they bring their dog back?!? I honestly don't know how this place gets any repeat business.

 

 
 
 

 

Bokhara Pet Resort & Grooming Spa
Serving the Greater Traverse City, Williamsburg & Elk Rapids Areas
Grand Traverse County - Antrim County - Kalkaska County

Smith Family "Since 1973"
11535 S. Elk Lake Road - Williamsburg, Michigan 49690

Mailing Address:  PO Box 175, Elk Rapids, Michigan 49629
Phone - (231) 264-5855  Fax - (231) 264-6667
Email - 
er-pets@bokhara.com

 

© Copyright 2007 Bokhara Pet Resort & Spa - All rights reserved