Dayton hotel sends a symbol of love to the community

A beacon of love - a message during the coronavirus pandemic -  is beaming from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton. LISA POWELL / STAFF

A beacon of love - a message during the coronavirus pandemic -  is beaming from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton. LISA POWELL / STAFF

A beacon of love – a message to the community during the coronavirus pandemic – is beaming from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton.

The curtains have been pulled back in 17 illuminated hotel room windows creating the shape of a heart.

“We have been through so much in the last year and now we’re going through something we could not even have fathomed,” Kris Davis, the general manager of the hotel said. “We wanted to send some love.”

A beacon of love - a message during the coronavirus pandemic - is beaming from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton. LISA POWELL / STAFF

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Davis said the Crowne Plaza’s parent company, IHG, began using the heart symbol in its hotel windows as the coronavirus spread through Europe.

The illuminated rooms in Dayton are on the south side of the hotel. Guest rooms on that side are not being used so additional room lights won’t interfere with the pattern.

The heart, designed on the top seven floors of the building, also offer the more than 6,500 employees at Miami Valley Hospital’s campus on Main Street a hopeful view.

A beacon of love - a message during the coronavirus pandemic - is beaming from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton. LISA POWELL / STAFF

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Hospital employees have posted photos and tagged the Crowne Plaza on Facebook thanking the hotel for the inspiration.

When staff at the hospital saw the illuminated heart, they realized “our community loves us,” said Christie Gray, chief nursing officer at Miami Valley Hospital.

“It’s always nice to see that what you’re doing makes a difference and that people recognize it,” Gray said. “It helps to fill back up your own bucket to give back to yourself, so you can continue to give to others.”

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