Campaign calls on hotels to offer Ukrainian refugees free rooms

Directory links people fleeing the war with free accommodation in countries around the world

Hotels are opening their doors to refugees (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A campaign is calling on hotels around the world to host Ukrainian refugees for free.

Hospitality for Ukraine has been set up to connect those fleeing the conflict with hospitality companies that are prepared to help.

The campaign organisers - marketing agency Stay the Night and content creator Kash Bhattacharya -have created a database where accommodation providers can sign up.

“If you are a hotel, hostel or other accommodation provider that is able to pledge your support by providing rooms for refugees, please sign up,” the website, hospitalityforukraine.com, says.

The database can then be searched by organisations: “If you are an organisation working to support refugees fleeing the way in Ukraine, please click below to see our database of hospitality partners who can support your efforts,” says Hospitality for Ukraine.

Refugees looking for somewhere to stay can contact accommodation providers directly using the contact details listed on their profiles.

Hospitality for Ukraine is not providing a booking service; users are advised to book with hospitality companies direct.

Accommodation is offered in 18 countries so far, including the UK, US, France, Austria, Greece and Turkey.

There are 20 options on offer in the UK for refugees. While several are in London, accommodation is also available in Birmingham, Derby, Cambridgeshire, Inverness and Norfolk, among others.

The campaign says it will “be carrying out a full PR campaign to promote Hospitality for Ukraine. We are also reaching out to a number of NGOs who are currently assisting Ukrainian refugees.”

Meanwhile, people have been attempting to get money to Ukrainians on the ground by booking Airbnbs in the country that they have no intention of using.

Following influencers popularising the trend last week, a spokesperson for Airbnb confirmed that more than 61,000 nights had been booked in Ukraine on Wednesday and Thursday (2 and 3 March) alone, including 8,000 nights booked by UK users.

During the booking spree, UK customers were the second-biggest bookers after Americans, with Airbnb estimating that $1.9 million (£1.4m) had been transferred to Ukrainian hosts.