And apparently, that now exists. Not coffee, not room service, not even a polite phone call — a fluffy lion cub casually walking into your hotel room to wake you.
Welcome to 2025, I guess. Before you picture a wacky safari scene in a hallway: No, guests aren’t completely alone with a wild animal.
Every interaction is supervised by a professional handler and guests are also required to sign a long, official-sounding document called the “Asiatic Lion Wake-Up Service Agreement.”
Where is this happening, anyway?
This bizarre thing is at the Countryside Resort in Niujiao Village in Jiangsu Province, eastern China.
This went viral after a video showed up on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) when a hotel staff member walked into a guest room carrying a lion cub — like it was room service just bringing a towel.
In the video, a child is playing with the small lion, while the handler is close by to ensure things don’t turn into a National Geographic scene.
Pricing and Regulations
This is a service only available to guests booked into one of 20 documented rooms.
What will it cost? 628 yuan per night, or approximately $90+ USD (give or take, exchange rate based on the daily rate).
The timeline was rigid:
- Available daily, 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
- Each segment allowed only 7 minutes
Seven minutes. Just enough time for excitement, chaos, and hopefully at least ten shots for Instagram.
The Hotel’s Side of the Equation
Some commenters, notably online, had a mixture of confusion, shock, curiosity – or all three. But the hotel was adamantly claiming everything was fully regulated. And a female employee stated to reporters:
“We are legal. We can raise lions and registered the experience”
And yes… for those wondering…the guests have a disclaimer if needed about being careful. Because, the lion is still a lion, with claws, instincts, and anything we couldn’t predict even in its small cute state.
If you’d asked folks last year,
What’s the weirdest luxury hotel benefit you could imagine?
Most people would have said: floating breakfast trays. Rooms in aquariums. Probably even some private butler. But a lion alarm clock? Nobody would have said that. And here we are — Living in a time when waking up to a wild animal is an experience you can book and a saleable experience.
Would you?
Some travelers call it cute.
Some travelers call it dangerous.
Some travelers call it the cutest way to wake up in the morning.
One thing is for sure, though:
This hotel has just found one of the wildest, audacious tourism concepts of the decade — and the internet won’t stop having conversations about it.
