The facilities not only offer free accommodation but also serve as a repository of the relief goods
Free accommodation and transport
Only a little time after one or two hotels expressed their support plan to organizations and individuals coming to Hue to do the relief work, dozens of establishments in Hue city have merged in to "activate" the mode of offering free but quality sleeping spaces for relief teams who are heading to the flood-hit areas.
Ms. Ho Thi Dieu Hang, Manager of the Sapphire Hotel (65 Vo Thi Sau, Hue City) said that because of the pandemic and floods, her hotel had not received many guests. The hotel was open every day, but many rooms were left blank. When seeing many groups coming to Hue to do such meaningful relief activities, she thought of offering them free stay at her place.
Then, the hotel announced the free bedroom offer to relief teams starting from October 15. Since then, every day the hotel has received several groups and has been always full up. Whether they booked in advance or suddenly showed up at midnight, the hotel still welcomed and served them with no charge. The hotel will continue to accept guests until the end of October and depending on the situation, the offer may be extended.
The Provincial Department of Tourism said that there have been many tourism businesses in the area deploying practical activities to assist the communities in flood prevention and recovery. Currently, more than 15 establishments are offering free accommodation for relief teams, including Truong Giang Hotel, Alba Hotel, Hue Corner Hostel, Hue Classic Hotel, DMZ Hotel, Dong Loi Hotel, Sunrise Hotel, Sapphire Hotel, Shark Homestay, Deja Vu Homestay, Sweet House, Hue Lotus Homestay, etc.
Some other hotels, such as Senna Hue, Thanh Lich Hotel, Moonlight Hotel or Rosaleen Hotel have deep discount policies, in parallel with service incentives.
Over the past few days, Hue Classic Hotel (142 Nguyen Sinh Cung, Hue City) has been crowded with relief teams from Ho Chi Minh city. The hotel owner, Le Thi Tu Trinh, has waived all expenses for the teams.
Ms. Trinh said that, in the past few days, witnessing Hue being severely flooded and the people lacking many things and many teams rushing to Hue for relief but had struggles finding places to stay. “I have a hotel, why not aiding these groups by offering part of the accommodation cost?” Then she took action immediately.
The relief teams and volunteers are served at no cost at Không Gian Xua Restaurant
"With that thought, I posted the announcement on social networks. In just less than an hour, it went viral with a lot of shares from my friends and the social network community. Many teams have contacted to come to stay at our place,” shared Ms. Trinh.
Not only getting free stay, but relief teams to Hue can also enjoy free meals served by Khong Gian Xua Restaurant (Dien Bien Phu street). The restaurant offers “Thank-you meals", with vegetarian and non-vegetarian menus and a capacity of up to 300 guests. For smoother arrangements and better preparation, the restaurant posted its phone number for the groups to book in advance.
Another support initiative is to provide free means of transportation for the teams and their goodies to the sites. Vehicles from 4 seats to 29 seats and all kinds of trucks are available to serve to deliver relief goods as quickly as possible to people in need. When Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces were heavily flooded and people needed to be evacuated urgently, Lang Co Bien Xanh Company also sent many canoes of its own, which are normally the touring means for its customers to see the coral around Ngoc island (Lang Co), to these provinces to join the assistance.
Sharing in their own way
For those who work in the tourism sector, providing accommodation and transportation for relief groups is a way to contribute to helping the impacted people overcome this time of hardship, which has become a practical and compassionate movement…
Ms. Ho Thi Dieu Hang says generously that she does not have much money to support people with physical gifts like those from the charity teams. So, she does her part by giving free stay to organizations and individuals who come to Hue for charity. Therefore, during the past week, although she has been working as a receptionist, room-maker and cleaner by her self at the same time, she is still very happy and has not felt tired at all.
A representative from a volunteer group from Ho Chi Minh City shared that he was surprised when a friend introduced to the group a free, clean and comfortable hotel locating right in the city center. That boosts up the motivation and determination for the group to return to Hue and the central region.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Tourism, said that despite the COVID-19-caused difficulties, the businesses and establishments still join hand to voluntarily deliver their monetary contribution and efforts to either provide their support directly or mobilize businesses and other individuals within their networks to donate essential goods and rescue means to the people.
“Thua Thien Hue’s Department of Tourism is partnering with Quang Binh’s Department of Tourism and Quang Tri’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the tourism association of the three provinces to mobilize and call for tourism enterprises to back up relief teams by providing rooms and meals for free or at discounted costs. At the same time, we are appealing a number of tourism service businesses and volunteer groups in some provinces to donate resources and circulate the information of these free accommodation offers to assistance groups for their reference and choice. In addition, the department also puts the information together in a list and publishes it on its website and fan page so that relief teams can easily check it out,” Mr. Phuc shared.
Story and photos: Duc Quang & Phuoc Ngo