About Gentian Hill Pet Hotel

Our History

Trust and Inspiration

Gentian Hill Boarding Kennels was established in 2004 and our Boarding Cattery in 2020.

We have customers booking up to 2 years in advance for special occasions and we have customers from hundreds of miles away, including from abroad.

Here's why...

5 Stars

5 Star Rating

We have been awarded 5 Stars by South Hams Council, which we are fit-to-burst proud of!

Our customers tell us regularly they refuse to board their pets anywhere else... quite often booking their holidays around our diary.

Beautiful sunny spring day over Gentian Hill

Gorgeous views

Breathtaking rainbows

Blue skies over a dog running on the fields at Gentian Hill

Acres of sky

Beautiful sunset photographed over Gentian Hill

Glorious sunsets

High Standards

We've been pioneers in building higher-standard pet boarding accommodation and have lost count of the people who have wanted to follow in our footsteps over the years.

Customers often ask

“Why aren’t all kennels like this?”

The Personal Touch

We set high standards in pet boarding by creating a caring, personal and homely business - achieving unprecedented demand in our beautiful rural part of the country.

We love that we inspire both pet owners and future kennel owners to seek higher standards in pet boarding and welfare.

Reception desk with pastel pink wall behind and watercolour cat canvas picture

Reception with table, flowers, books and leaflets, and paintings of a cat and a dog

Friendly

Our friendliness is what our customers comment on the most.

We are always willing to help, especially in tricky situations with pets, whether it's moving house, a stay in hospital and even those who have been threatened with eviction for having pets.

We always try our best to be helpful in any situation.

Meet Jane

Jane Cole

It all started with one woman's dream to turn a deep love of animals into a permanent lifestyle in this stunning setting.

She loves all animals, great and small, and considers them to be her best friends.

Jane Cole was living in this beautiful location with her children and animals, enjoying her house, its land and views - but knew it could be so much more.

Jane on the grass with two dogs, one nose-to-nose with her and one having a tummy rub

Close-up of Jane smiling, she has sparkling blue eyes and her red hair glows in the daylight

Jane comforting two dogs while out for exercise on the grass

Jane lying on the sofa with one of her dogs lying on top of her having a cuddle

Since creating her dream, Jane has been an inspiration and help to many - particularly regarding the need for higher standards of animal boarding.

She has a passion for protecting animals and couldn't be happier when seeing those wagging tails!

As well as waking up to such a beautiful location, Jane’s greatest satisfaction is doing something she loves every single day.

Meet Ilmarie

Dr Ilmarie Rencken Lloyd

Ilmarie and Jane have been friends for many years and when Ilmarie visited Gentian Hill and saw the passion and care for animals herself, she really wanted to be a part of developing it further.

Jane was looking for a business partner to help her take the kennels to the next level and introduce cat boarding. Ilmarie proved to be the perfect match!

Ilmarie has always been passionate about animals and, after retiring, is putting her business and animal experience and her caring, compassionate nature to great use with us.

Ilmarie had her own kennels, was a top breeder of Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs with 30 years' experience of breeding, caring for and training puppies, and was very active in rescue, fostering and rehoming dogs. She also has 2 rescue cats she adores, a PhD in Chemistry and owned a number of businesses in the chemical, food and mining industries.

Knowledge and Experience

We provide a 5-Star stay

It's vital to us that pets feel loved, cared for and safe when they are with us.

All of our staff are trained in Animal First Aid and have qualifications in Animal Care.

Meet Our Staff

We're all animal crazy here and naturally have our own pets. Staff have been personally trained by Jane to provide a high standard of care and have achieved qualifications in animal care and management.

Jane has also provided experience to NVQ students who are training to be veterinary nurses studying at Duchy College and Achievement Training.