Dogs have their day at chain of boutique hotels

Tampa-based hotel management firm McKibbon Hospitality has gone to the dogs — but it's for a good cause. To help spur adoptions, the company launched a “foster dog” program at the Aloft chain of boutique hotels it operates in Florida and the Carolinas.

The program is the brainchild of Emma Ledbetter, director of food and beverage at Aloft Asheville, in North Carolina, who came up with the idea about five years ago. Gabriel, the first pooch to participate, was adopted after just three days of living in the hotel.