Updated 2026-09-23
If you are searching for a Hope Lodge alternative, it is usually for one of three reasons: there is no Hope Lodge where you are being treated, the patient is not in cancer treatment, or the lodge is full. Each of those has a different answer. This guide covers the main free and low-cost programs, who each one is for, how you actually get a room, and what to do on the week none of them can take you.
The programs are not interchangeable. Each has its own patients, its own rules and its own way in, and most of them start with a referral from the hospital rather than a booking you make yourself. Knowing which one fits saves a round of phone calls.
The American Cancer Society says its Hope Lodge program offers 1,100 rooms at 31 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and provides a free place to stay during treatment. It is available to cancer patients and caregivers traveling far from home for outpatient care related to the patient's cancer diagnosis, and patients staying at a Hope Lodge must be in active cancer treatment.
You do not book it like a hotel. ACS lodge pages say lodging requests for new guests begin with a referral from the patient's treatment facility near the Hope Lodge, coordinated through the treatment facility doctor or social worker, and that rooms are available on a first-referred, first-served basis. The Minneapolis lodge says each guest should be accompanied by one caregiver for the whole stay, and that more than one caregiver at a time is not permitted.
If you are being treated in a city without a Hope Lodge, ACS asks you to call 1-800-227-2345 for other possible lodging options. It also partners with Extended Stay America to connect eligible cancer patients with reduced-rate hotel stays at more than 700 locations.
Ronald McDonald House Charities says its houses serve families of pediatric patients 21 years old and younger, and that some houses accommodate families of patients up to 18 only. Families either stay at no cost or are asked for a donation that varies by house, and RMHC says payment is never expected from those who cannot afford it.
To request a room, RMHC tells families to contact the social service department at the hospital where the child will be treated, which places the family on the waiting list for the day they intend to arrive. RMHC also says most local chapters cannot confirm a reservation before arrival, because treatment schedules are unpredictable. Stays run from one night to several months or longer, and some houses set a maximum length of stay.
Fisher House Foundation says its houses are given to the military services and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and that the commander or director of each medical center sets the eligibility, priorities and selection criteria. Fisher Houses at VA medical centers do not charge a room fee, and the foundation pays room fees for guest families at Army, Navy and Air Force Fisher Houses. They are open to veterans of all eras, with eligibility varying by location, so the foundation asks families to contact the manager of the specific house.
Fisher House also has an answer for a full house. Its Hotels for Heroes program provides hotel rooms to the families of wounded, injured and ill service members being treated at authorized medical centers when a Fisher House is not available. The house manager puts the family on a waiting list and hotel lodging is provided until a room opens, at which point the family moves into the Fisher House; staying on at the hotel is at the family's own expense. Veterans are eligible only when the request comes through a Fisher House that would house them but is full.
The Healthcare Hospitality Network is the association of hospitality houses. It says most of its member houses offer lodging at little or no cost to patients and families, regardless of income, and that each house sets its own policies, so availability and eligibility vary by location. Its directory lets you search by the state, city or zip code where the patient is receiving care.
Some houses belong to one medical center. Penn Medicine's Transplant House in Philadelphia, for example, offers rooms for a small fee to patients traveling at least 40 miles from home for transplant care at Penn, first-come, first-served. UPMC describes Family House as an affordable home away from home near the hospital for lung transplant patients and their families. These are rarely advertised beyond the hospital's own pages, so ask patient services or social work whether one exists.
Joe's House says it is not an actual house but a nonprofit that helps cancer patients and their families find a place to stay when traveling for treatment. It lists cancer treatment centers and hospitals across the country with nearby lodging that offers a discount, and says that although it caters to cancer patients, any patient, regardless of diagnosis, may use the lodging listed. Its search sorts lodging by proximity to a healthcare facility.
A discounted hotel is not free, but it is often the most available option on short notice, and it sits alongside any patient rate your hospital has arranged with nearby hotels.
Every one of these programs has a fixed number of rooms, and demand does not respect it. Plan the fallback at the same time you ask for the referral, so a full house is an inconvenience rather than a crisis.
Start by asking the house how the waitlist moves, and whether it has its own overflow arrangement, as Fisher House does with Hotels for Heroes. Then ask the hospital for its patient rates at nearby hotels, and book the closest suitable hotel on a refundable rate, so you can move into the house the day a room opens without paying for nights you do not use. On a long treatment course, a hotel room with a kitchen matters more than a few extra minutes of distance.
The hospital social worker or patient navigator is the person most of these programs expect to hear from. One conversation, early, can cover all of it.
Yes. The American Cancer Society describes Hope Lodge as a free place to stay during treatment for cancer patients and caregivers traveling far from home for outpatient care. Patients must be in active cancer treatment, and a stay starts with a referral from the treatment facility.
Through your treatment team. ACS lodge pages say requests for new guests begin with a referral from the patient's treatment facility near the lodge, coordinated through the doctor or social worker, and rooms go on a first-referred, first-served basis.
Call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345, which it lists for other lodging options. Search the Healthcare Hospitality Network directory by the hospital's zip code, check Joe's House for discounted lodging near the center, and ask the hospital for its patient hotel rates.
Families of children in treatment. RMHC says its houses serve families of patients 21 and younger, with some houses limited to patients up to 18. The hospital's social service department puts the family on the waiting list for their arrival date.
Fisher House Foundation says its houses are open to veterans of all eras, with eligibility set by each medical center. Contact the manager of the house at the medical center where care is given.
Get on the waitlist, ask whether the program has an overflow arrangement, and ask the hospital for its patient hotel rates. Book the closest suitable hotel on a refundable rate so you can move when a room opens.