A lot of people feel boredom and loneliness when they travel alone, even if the hotels they check into have different amenities and things to do. A hotel located in Mississippi had a brilliant idea to banish their guests loneliness when they stay at the hotel. Their idea turned their business into a more personal space that is a “home away from home.”
Last October 2018, Home2 Suites by Hilton Biloxi North/D’Iberville started a program that was called Fostering Hope. They bring shelter dogs from the Humane Society of South Mississippi to hang out in the lobby of the hotel where the guests will have the option of adopting their own pup in their hotel rooms for the duration of their stay.
Aside from giving their guests the opportunity to have a dog companion during their stay, the hotel guests also have the option to fully adopt the dogs when they check out. Not only does this idea give more opportunities for the dogs to find a new home and be seen by willing new owners, it also frees up space in the shelter.
The Humane Society shelters about 8,000 dogs every year and among them, around 80% eventually end up getting adopted. Since the hotel specializes in longer term visits with many guests checked in for months straight, it became an ideal venue to host the shelter dogs here.
The hotel’s sales director, Teresa Johnston was the person behind the brilliant idea.
“We’re an extended-stay Hilton branded property. We have a lot of extended-stay guests with Keesler Air Force Base, Ingalls Shipbuilding and other supporting industries. I could see that our guests were lonely, and I wanted to fill a void for them and at the same time help our community. People love animals and we have many guest that decide to stay at the Home2 Suites by Hilton Biloxi North/D’Iberville because of this program,” she said.
The hotel takes in one foster dog at a time. The guests have the freedom to keep them overnight, feed them and take them out on walks. With a long staying guest, a strong bond is often formed with the animal. If the guests wants to adopt the dog at the end of their stay, they simply just need to fill up an application form for adoption and pay the $50 fee.
Even if there are a lot of freedoms within the program, the Humane Society of South Mississippi still assured the public that they have every right to deny adoption if any concerns come to surface. If this happens, the interested guest may have an option to pay the shelter a visit and find another dog that would fit better with them.
So far, there have been over 60 dogs that were successfully adopted by hotel guests, and even by the hotel staff.
Johnston added: “We keep doing what we’re doing, our families during the summer love the program and our servicemen and women love the program all year long. It takes a property cheerleader, a strong operations team and a commitment to the local shelter to find homes for all these animals one at a time. Love what you do!”
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