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Videos posted on Douyin on Nov.11 showing an employee bringing a lion cub into a guest room at the Happy Countryside Resort in Niujiao Village of Jiangsu Province have gone viral.

The clips show the lion cub being carried into the room in the morning before a child guest picks it up and plays with it, according to a report by Jimu News.

The resort offers the service in 20 rooms with prices at 628 yuan (US$88) per night.

The lion-cub wake-up runs daily from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., with each session lasting up to seven minutes, the South China Morning Post reported.

To confirm an appointment, guests must sign an “Asiatic Lion Wake-up Service Agreement.”

The hotel said the cub is always accompanied by a keeper and warned guests to take care for their safety.

“It is legal for us to provide this service. We are qualified to raise lions and we have registered this service with the authorities,” a female employee told reporters.

Reactions online were mixed.

One commenter said the service was a useful way to ensure a child would wake up on time.

Another suggested adding other animals — “such as bear and tiger cubs” — to attract more tourists.

But some users expressed alarm: “Although they look cute, I would still be frightened. After all, they are wild animals.”

The service also prompted criticism from media and animal-welfare advocates.

A similar controversy occurred in June when a Chongqing hotel offered a red-panda wake-up service, prompting debates about the ethics of close encounters with wild animals in hospitality settings.