Price the whole stay: nights, service tier, add-ons, holiday surcharge
The rate auto-fills with each tier's typical mid-range price — override it with a real quote any time.
Estimates from national published rates — your metro, dog size, and the facility's activity menu move the number. Most facilities also require current rabies, DHPP, and bordetella vaccinations before the stay, so budget for any overdue boosters.
| Tier | National Range / Night | Typical Mid-Range | What It Is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic kennel | $25 – $50 | $35 | Indoor/outdoor run, group or solo potty breaks |
| Standard boarding facility | $40 – $75 | $55 | Larger runs, play groups, webcams, add-on menus |
| Sitter's home (Rover/Wag) | $25 – $85 (avg ~$49) | $50 | Your dog lives in a sitter's house with their dogs |
| In-home overnight sitter | $45 – $85 | $65 | Sitter stays at your house; mail and plants covered |
| Luxury pet hotel | $85 – $185+ | $110 | Suites, webcams, pools, groomer, activity packages |
| Add-On | National Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Extra walk | $5 – $10 / day | Often bundled in packages |
| Playtime session (group or solo) | $10 – $15 / day | Solo sessions run higher than group |
| Medication administration | $5 – $10 / day | Some tier by count ($3.50 for 1-2 meds, $5.50 for 3-4); injections $10-$30 |
| Holiday surcharge | 10% – 25% of holiday nights | Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year; sometimes a flat fee |
Sources: Rover's September 2025 national booking data, CareCredit, Chewy, and published facility price lists (Tails, Priority Boarding). Major metros run higher: Seattle sitter-home boarding averages about $64 a night and Chicago about $54, per Rover's city data.
The nightly rate is the headline, but the bill is the rate times nights, plus a per-night stack of add-ons, plus a surcharge on whatever nights fall inside a holiday window. This calculator prices the whole thing.
Base = nights × nightly rate. Add-ons = nights × (walks + playtime + medication, if switched on). Holiday surcharge = holiday nights × rate × surcharge percent. Total = base + add-ons + surcharge, and all-in per night = total ÷ nights.
Enter your nights and pick a tier — the rate field auto-fills with that tier's typical mid-range price, which you can override with a real quote. Tick only the add-ons your dog actually needs; the walk and playtime lines are the ones facilities most often bundle into packages that quietly double a kennel bill. If part of the stay overlaps a holiday week, set those nights and the surcharge your facility quoted (10-25% is the industry norm).
A 7-night stay at a standard facility charging $55 a night, with daily playtime sessions at $12, daily medication at $7, and 2 nights falling in the Christmas window at a 15% surcharge.
Base: 7 × $55 = $385. Add-ons: 7 × ($12 + $7) = $133. Surcharge: 2 × $55 × 15% = $16.50. Total: $534.50 — $76.36 a night all-in, nearly 40% above the headline rate. The same stay at a $35 kennel with no add-ons would be $245; at a $110 luxury hotel with the same add-ons, $665 plus surcharge. That $400-plus spread is the real decision, and it's why the comparison tiles update live.
National ranges: a basic kennel runs $25-$50 a night, a standard boarding facility $40-$75, a sitter's-home stay through an app like Rover averages about $49, an in-home overnight sitter $45-$85, and a luxury pet hotel $85-$185+. Add-ons are billed per night on top: walks $5-$10, playtime sessions $10-$15, and medication administration $5-$10.
At the low end, kennels: a $35 kennel night undercuts almost every sitter. But sitter-home boarding through Rover averages about $49 a night nationally, which is often competitive with a mid-range facility once add-ons are counted, and the dog lives in a home with a person rather than a run. Professional in-home overnight sitters ($45-$85) cost the most but come to you. Price the full stay, not the headline rate.
Peak holiday weeks are the scarce inventory of the boarding world, and facilities charge for it: expect a surcharge of roughly 10-25% on holiday nights, sometimes a flat per-night fee instead. Book 2-3 months ahead for Thanksgiving and Christmas — good facilities fill up, and last-minute holiday slots skew to the expensive end of every tier.
Usually, if it's priced at all. Basic oral meds commonly add $5-$10 a night; some facilities tier it ($3.50 per administration for 1-2 medications, $5.50 for 3-4), others charge per pill, and some include oral medication free while charging $10-$30 for injections. Declaring the medication matters more than the fee — undisclosed meds are a common cause of a stay going wrong.
Nearly all facilities require current rabies, DHPP, and bordetella (kennel cough); many also want canine influenza, and doggy-daycare-style group play often requires them all plus a temperament test. Costs for overdue boosters land on your bill before the stay does, so check the facility's requirements a month out.
Book the off-season and avoid holiday surcharge windows when you can. Skip bundled add-on packages and pick only what your dog needs — a walk and meds instead of the full activity menu. Compare a 10-night stay across tiers: at $35 a night a kennel run is $350, while the same stay at a $110 pet hotel is $1,100, a $750 difference that buys a lot of dog walker visits.