Entrepreneur sees value in pet hotel

By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Saq Nadeem recalls loving pets as a young boy growing up in Pakistan. A class project while in business school took his passion for animals and a unique model to real-life execution.

“There’s a picture of me where I am surrounded by street dogs,” Nadeem recalls. “My mother said I tried to adopt the dogs, but that was not going to happen.”

Nadeem attended graduate school at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. One of his projects involved coming up with a unique business idea. Nadeem’s proposal was premised on his personal experience as a traveling business consultant before attending graduate school.

A cat owner, Nadeem saw issues with different places to board his pet. For instance, the hours for dropping off pets meant that he had to drop off his cat a day before and pick them up a day after he returned home. “The service should work around the customer, not the other way around.” His passion project from business school was still something he thought about and he went back to consult with his professors at Kellogg about it.

Looking for a frank assessment of his business plan, his professors provided him with something more: seed money to start the business. The support for the business provided positive assurance that his dream was a possibility. “It was about how to mix my passion with making money,” he said.

A strategic part of the plan was to place the luxury hotel near the airport. This would entice families traveling on vacation and business people leaving on trips. The efficiency of dropping off your pet on your way to catch your plane is an accommodation for the busy traveler.

Nadeem believes that pet owners are actually, “pet parents.” As a result, they will not skimp on their fur babies when they leave on trips. The business, as Nadeem sees it, is recession-proof. From a business perspective, in economic down times, pet owners would not rule out certain amenities (i.e. trips), but scale them down. “Amenites are not eliminated, just reduced.”

Photo from Noble Pet Resort

In order to learn more about the pet business in the beginning, Nadeem took part-time shifts at doggie daycares to discover the ins and outs of the industry. This included cleaning up poop. “Never ask someone to do something that you aren’t willing to do,” were words his mom reminded him of when starting the business. “I wanted to deal with the hard part of what we do,” Nadeem said. In addition to working at various doggie daycares, he became a certified dog-trainer. While he does not actively train dogs, he wanted to understand how to work with them.

The first pet luxury hotel, “Paws in Paradise,” in Chicago was near O’Hare Airport in May 2008. Nadeem recalls being “young and naive” as his “Paradise for Paws” business was always meant to expand. They opened multiple franchises in three years. The business expanded near airports in Dallas and Denver and other locations around Chicago. In total, there were 20 locations with over 500 team members across the country. In addition to the pet hotels, his company purchased canine training and animal behavior companies.

Nadeem eventually sold the “Paws in Paradise” franchise in 2022 seeking to do something else.

Nadeem and his family moved to the Seattle area so that he could be close to his mother. His family also enjoys the outdoor activities that the Pacific Northwest provides.

Although he had sold the “Paws in Paradise” franchise, he saw another opportunity to build a luxury pet hotel. He found a family-owned, dog boarding business seeking to sell near the airport. It was too good to pass up.

Noble Pet Resort offers 24-hour service, meaning an employee is available around the clock. The business offers the convenience of customers parking their car in the lot and taking Noble Pet Resort’s shuttle to SeaTac.

It offers two dog suites, which include a full bed, flat screen television, and 24/7 web cam. Other boarding units have dog beds or couches so that they can rest after a day of play. The 40,000-square-foot facility has ample indoor and outdoor play for guests, which include trees and a dog pool for those warm days. There are even special services for senior dogs that give them extra comfort for their stays.

Photo from Noble Pet Resort

Not only does it have unique services for dogs, it has a separate section for cats. The cat section includes two luxury suites for felines, including bungalows, ledges, hideouts, and playgrounds.