We’ve all been there. The endless doom scrolling of various home rental sites, booking companies, and even campground reservations trying to find the perfect place to stay for a vacation or temporary PCS assignment.
Lucky for us – Crewdogs has taken that burden and created a community unlike any other. As they say, “Stick Together. Stay Military.” Crewdogs allows you to find a home, room, or space owned by a member of the military community. They have done all of the behind-the-scenes vetting for you.
So, how did an idea like this come to be? Meet Adam Hill.
Adam is an Air Force Reserve C-17 pilot who wanted to focus on solving a problem and helping the military community. Crewdogs was born from seeing a need during his military service and finding the solution.
What’s your Air Force career been like?
A: “I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, in an all boy household. I played baseball around the clock with my two older brothers and my dad retired from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant. I never saw a traditional Air Force experience though. My grandpa was career Army and met my grandma in a German commissary. My mom’s father marched across Normandy and met his wife in France. My upbringing was filled with stories of my grandparents and I knew I had a heart for service.
I wanted to go to college for aviation and baseball. Lucky for me, I got to do both at the Air Force Academy. I met my beautiful wife Junior year of high school, we dated through USAFA, and married when she graduated from nursing school. I hit the jackpot with C-17s to Charleston following pilot training in Del Rio, Texas, and spent 10 years in Charleston.
I left active duty in the Fall of 2023 to be able to focus on Crewdogs full time.”
What sparked the idea for Crewdogs?
A: “Being an active duty C-17 pilot, I was able to travel the world. Sometimes we would land somewhere for 12-hours and other times it was a few weeks. No matter where we landed, I would try to find a local gym. I loved the community spirit behind local gyms and they almost always let me get a workout in for free due to how short my visit was. I would buy a t-shirt from each gym I went to as a thank you.
I realized during these travels that we were always looking for places to stay and reviews of areas we were exploring. It sparked a thought wondering what it would be like if all of this information existed in one place.”
What need did you fill for military in the short-term rental space?
A: “I realized there was a need for room and home sharing. We launched a website called Crew Dogs Connect and it was basically Yelp for a specific area. You could tag a home or business in that zip code and learn about the surrounding area.
Outside of active duty, I realized how much of the Veteran and retiree community travels, and how many homes we all own. I wanted to create a Space-A network between all of us. Early 2023, we started working on a mobile app that could connect the military community using the places we own or manage. We started to get a ton of demand from short term rental owners.
Almost immediately we realized how much of a need for this network there really was and how hard it is to find and support those you can trust.”
How is Crewdogs different from other short-term rental sites?
A: “First, every guest on Crewdogs is fully vetted and associated with the military either through their military email or ID.me. Hosts can be verified as well, letting our community find and support each other. Currently, more than 13% of hosts on Airbnb are military, but there has been a rise in trust issues. People are worried about trusting their host for a good experience. With Crewdogs, you don’t have to worry about that. Crewdogs eliminates any fears of fraud, scams, and let’s you offer a military discount without high service fees.
I also want money spent being put back into the military community. Everyone on Crewdogs donates money back into a foundation of their choice which can be used as a travel credit to offset lodging expenses or towards and initiative of the foundation’s choice.
You can find a home, vacation rental, roommate, common spaces… or even a Space-available free stay for any type of travel in truly military friendly places. We also know the ins and outs of the Joint Travel Regulation and we’ve made booking a short-term rental compliant with a flexible cancellation policy, per diem matching option, and itemized receipting without the fees. ”
What struggles have you faced along the way?
A: “Really understanding the need and trying to get as close to the need as possible. As someone on active duty, the short term rental market isn’t necessarily the industry you are used to being in. It was hard making cold connections at first with people I did not work with everyday. Trying to get connected into the who and why without being positioned to do that was tough in the beginning.
How can people host a room or house on Crewdogs?
A: “The easiest way is by visiting our website www.crewdogs.com/listings/addplace where you can instantly import your Airbnb or create a new listing.
There are no fees to add a place, and we can make hosting each other easier with an all Veteran team.
More questions and answers can be found in our Help Center.”
What’s the future of Crewdogs?
A: “We just want to keep building trust and transparency. We want to create a platform that supports each other and the causes that support us. We will continue to find ways to support the Veteran foundations who have dedicated their time to our community.
At the end of year, we want to see our community rally around each other and hear the stories of how Crewdogs has made an impact.”
To learn more about Crewdogs, you can visit our website at www.crewdogs.com, or download the app on the Apple App Store or Google Play. You can also connect with them on Instagram and Facebook at @staycrewdogs, or on LinkedIn.
