Way nicer than I would ever expect a scratch pad to be- it is heavy and durable, and large. My cats go nuts for scratch pads so i always have multiple throughout the house, and this one is clearly their favorite. I purchased it before my elderly cat passed recently (who LIVED all 20 of her years for her scratch pads) and she went crazy for this thing. And still, 2 months after her passing, there really is not much of a dent made into it (versus the usual cardboard ones you get where they are destroyed by now). The edges are made to look like they are wood, so it looks nice too.