Hotels By Day: Solves a Problem, Gives Readers Free Day Rooms!

by Gary Leff

A new app and website has publicly launched today which solves a real travel problem.

Hotels By Day lets you book hotel day-use rooms online.

The problem:

  • Day rooms are really hard to book.
  • You usually can’t book them online. I’ve booked them occasionally — the Sofitel Heathrow has day space on its website, but people often get confused and book those rates either for the wrong day or in place of overnight’s which are what they really want.
  • Sometimes you call the chain to book them, sometimes you have to call the hotel directly.

Hotels By Day — website, and both iPhone and Android app — brings the inventory online.

The app uses geolocation to show the day rooms closest to you for booking same-day easily. But it also lets you book them in advance.

These can be really useful off of a long overnight flight, take a shower, take a nap.

Sometimes I wind up with super long layovers, especially connecting internationally on separate tickets, and a hotel is going to be much nicer than a contract airport lounge.

They suggest it’s great for working remotely while on a business trip (a competitor to Regus offices and Starbucks?) or to enjoy a daycation.

Their initial markets, available today, are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and DC. Next month they will add day rooms at hotels in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale. Following in the queue are Boston, Charlotte and San Francisco.

They estimate that 11% of rooms that are occupied two nights in a row are available for intra-day bookings due to early check-outs/late check-ins. And that’s the occupied rooms which have this inventory possibility. I love the business model, like Priceline and Uber it takes an underutilized resource and brings revenue to hotels while making a service available to travelers. And it solves a market failure, because it’s hard to book these kinds of rooms now.

And they’re giving away 5 free day rooms in the market of your choice.

  • 3 nights drawn at random from comments on this post
  • 2 nights selected by me from tweets that mention both @garyleff and @HotelsByDay

For avoidance of doubt, I receive no compensation for running this giveaway, I’m just passing along free day rooms to readers.

Enter to win on this blog.

  • Answer the question in the comments to this post: What would you use a hotel day room for?
  • Since three day rooms are being given away out of the comments, you may enter up to three times if yo have different uses for a day room.
  • Contest is open until Noon eastern time on Friday, February 13.
  • Winners (1 day room each) will be drawn with the help of random.org

Enter to win on Twitter.

  • Follow @garyleff and @HotelsByDay
  • Tweet what you would do with a day room booked through the site/app. Your tweet must mention both @garyleff and @HotelsByDay to be eligible.
  • You may enter twice if you wish, because two day rooms are being given away in this fashion.
  • Contest is open until Noon eastern time on Friday, February 13.
  • I will select the winners (1 day room each) from tweets that (in my sole opinion) express great uses for the rooms/app.

Check out Hotels By Day and their Android and iPhone apps. I’ve download the Android app, it’s something I want handy on my phone for my travels. Readers get free day rooms. I’ll pay for mine. 🙂 Getting commenting and tweeting!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. The problem is the primary users of these rooms will be pimps, prostitutes and other people looking for a short interlude. Doesn’t exactly seem like the cleanest environment, so I would prefer to stay at hotels that don’t offer this service.

  2. Day-room would be ideal for the WAY_TOO_EARLY arrival of overnight flights to shower and catch a nap before flying on.

  3. When I have a positioning flight for international travel, a day room makes it easier to factor in a long layover in case of irrops.

  4. Makes it easier to plan to leave plenty of room for a connection you don’t want to miss, by flying a red-eye the night before and having a private place to sleep and work before catching the important plane or ship.

  7. Driving 6 hours to JFK for a flight to Milan – would like to get there by 4 pm, take a nap and a shower before our 10 pm flight. Thanks for the info and opportunity!

  8. I book day rooms all the time. Most airport hotels have day rooms but good luck finding out about them without doing a lot of work. Even when I call the hotel direct I get incorrect info. I often fly into a city in the am and have a pm flight, especially flying overseas.

  12. Would love a layover shower and a nap after an international flight. Depending on the costs, I can see making this work to my financial advantage. Many times I’ve paid more for a flight to avoid a long layover because I didn’t want to sit in the airport for hours.

  13. One thing I’d LOVE to see from chain hotels is bonus points for vacating a room by 7am or 8am or something to that effect which would allow them to book day rates.

    Sooner than that is rolled out, though, it also allows them to have all their rooms ready earlier. If I’m entitled to stay til 4pm and they want to give someone else my room the next day, they have to compensate him for his room not being ready at check in time. They could offer me *less* to vacate the room in time for his check in, and in doing so they save themselves money and have 2 happy customers instead of just 1.

    I do think some hotels are wary of a day rate because they don’t want to be thought of as an “hourly” hotel — which is what you think of for hookers and drug deals.

  15. Those long international flights with layovers would be more bearable with a nap and shower.

  22. What a great app! I’d use a day room to let my toddler nap, a necessity if anyone wants to enjoy vacation.

  23. Like Nick, the illegal usages of the rooms came to mind, except around this area one could rent by the hour. Actually, one should be more concern with long stay motel. Management of some places take a blind eye to what guests are doing or the character of those who show up at all hours to visit a room and quickly leave.

  26. A day room is a great option for local weddings with lots of time between the ceremony and the reception.

  28. If one is traveling and feeling somewhat ‘under the weather’, go place to rest and refresh, before meetings, etc.

  31. The best use of this is with overnight layovers with an early flight the next day. I’ve had a couple of layovers in London where I ended up only using 6 hours of the hotel so this would be perfect for that!

  34. Hi Nick. Yannis, co-founder of HotelsByDay here to assure you that the service will not be used by nefarious characters. HotelsByDay and our hotel partners are aware of the negative stigma and the company’s messaging and marketing are intentionally honed to steer away from romance market (professional and amateur). How, you wonder?

    1. Checks and balances in place: should a hotel flag a guest as inappropriate, that account, credit card, and name are flagged and blacklisted and therefore prevented from booking through HotelsByDay.

    2. Messaging: as you can see from the press release and the messaging on the website, is targeting the business traveler with an expense account and the high end leisure traveler and suburban daytripper. We do not encourage romance in any way on the website or in marketing.

  42. I would use a hotel day room for a hot shower and hot tea (hopefully the room has a coffee maker). A nap sounds too risky. I would save that for the plane.

  46. On my first (and only) overseas flight in October, I got thrown up on my the man behind me. Because our flight was delayed from DFW by 2 hours, we missed our connecting AMS-ORK flight and had an unexpected 8 hr layover in AMS. With no luggage (all checked), Not anticipating id be thrown up on, and the airline wasn’t helping out. We ended up purchasing a couple of hours in the hotel in Airport. It was pricey, but allowed us to clean up, recharge, and enjoy AMS for a few hours.

  51. A day room would be super awesome when I’m traveling and have a long layover. Just being able to nap and shower would make all the difference.

  57. I would use a dayroom for when I book a red-eye from the California to the East Coast and I’m making my kids go to school the next morning!

  58. A place to rest and freshen up after a long international flight if my actual destination is well outside the area, ie before a long car/train ride.

  62. I could see using this as an alternative to Starbucks or Regus. Easier because I won’t have to worry about locking up my laptop when I need to use the loo.

  67. Looks great. Too bad that the app is not available for download at Google Play outside the USA.

  76. Intriguing, depending on the cost compared with other options and the check-in and check-out time. Possible work place.

  77. I often book red-eye flights to the east coast or early morning arrivals for west coast dinner meetings (to counter delays or travel interruptions) and it would be much nicer to have a day room over showering at the lounge and napping in the car 🙂

  79. As above, the app is not available in non-us iTunes Store. This means that most international visitors will not be able to use it. However a search on the name does show some websites that offer this service much more widely than this app.

  81. I use day rooms all the time as I connect internationally plenty and end up with loooong connections. 🙂 Sounds like a useful service.

  90. I could see using this for a long layover in a different time zone where I don’t want to get off of my home timezone.

  95. I would use it on international layovers, rather than dozing in an uncomfortable airport chair and washing up in public restrooms.

  96. I would use one after an all-night event (party) when I wanted to sleep for a few hours and have a shower before traveling/driving again.

  97. I would use one as an arrival suite when I planned to stay some distance from the airport – fly in on a red eye, nap and shower, then do a long drive/train trip to my destination. Break up the over-long travel day.

  98. I would use a hotel day room to take a quick nap and change into heels and a dress before a fancy party in NYC

  99. I would use one if I was being silly enough to attempt a same-day turn on a mile (status) run. I’ve considered itineraries with back-to-back redeyes. I know I shouldn’t do them but, if I did, having a real bed in between would be golden.

  101. I would use a hotel day room on a long layover on international connecting flights. It would be SO much nicer than an airport waiting area or lounge.

  102. A hotel day room would be a great place to rest my aching feet after touring a city like Washington, DC where walking is the best way to see the sights.

  103. I would use a hotel day room to “wash up” in a clean place rather than use a public restroom.

  104. i love to use the hotel pool during the day and need a room to shower before changing into my traveling clothes for a late flight.

  106. It would be nice to spend a day at the nice hotel to relax and escape from the daily routine. I would drop off my kids at school, go to the hotel , watch a movie and enjoy the room service lunch…swimming at the pool or enjoy a drink at the bar….Sounds amazing!

  110. I would love to use a day room for a shower, a long nap, and some peace and quiet out of the airport chaos while enroute.

  111. Really hope this app is successful and expands to many more cities. Day rooms are awesome for r&r and getting work done when traveling.

  113. Maybe the airlines will book a da room for delayed flights they’re too cheap to otherwise buy rooms for.

    Also a good substitute for the mile high club.

  115. For use when landing ~7 AM in NYC from a redeye flight & regular hotel won’t be available till 3 or 4 PM. (As for tassojunior’s question, I imagine he/she is not familiar with normal Manhattan hotel rates.)

  117. And thirdly, although I swore off mileage runs a couple of years ago, on the off chance that I do one again, it would be great to have a day room for shower, nap, relaxation, etc.

  125. We had an 8 hr layover in Vienna and another in London this year. A day room would’ve been ideal, especially preparing for driving a rental car later that day.

  127. Would use for too early in the morning overnight flight arrival or too late in the evening departure flight.

  136. A great place to leave luggage while you explore the city or go out to eat and then have a place to come back and change and shower.

  146. I love day rooms to relax and consider what I have just done – flown in a metal tube for many hours, and arrived safely in another country.

  157. Long layovers – for a nap and a shower. I hope this expands to those international destinations where overnight flights from the US are the normal schedule.

  167. I have often used day rooms near airports to have a rest, shower, etc. Been doing it for 30 years. I’ve always negotiated a rate with the hotel at the time, but this app sound great.

  174. To relax in a comforable environment, away from the noise and bustle of a busy airport, and be able to shower and nap before my next flight!

  183. Would use the hotel day reservation to freshen up on a long layover on an intercontinental flight.

  184. Would probably get a day room in a hotel that has a pool and go for a swim during a long layover

  186. Sounded good, except way overpriced.

    LGA Marriott, $140 for 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, versus $156 for 24 hours standard rate. I’ll bet you can walk in and get 1/2 that price for a 1/2 day.

  193. We’re flying from TPA to LHR on May 12, and we have a 7+ hour layover at LAX. A day room near LAX would really come in handy!

  207. @Laurent- they have not rolled out internationally yet. I arrived in Manila at 4 am Tuesday morning- could have definitely used this service then, so Yannis, please roll out internationally ASAP! Ended up booking the Tune hotel for an overnight stay, just to use the shower and lie down for a few hours before my morning meetings.

    Lance

  212. To have a safe and private place to rest instead of some open floor space somewhere in the airport since am carrying valuables like cash, cards and passport

  213. Get electronics charged without having to huddle in some corner of the airport while using computer/ipad etc

  224. I’d use it to give to a servicemember transitting through my airport, by offering it on my military social network.

  236. For a quick shower and luggage storage on a less-than 24 hour TWOV tour of a city (like Seoul) en route to my destination (like Beijing)

  237. Use it for a nap after a long leg on my international trip (usually from US to north Asia) before hopping on the next/last short leg home …

  247. Gary, I’d use it for my husband to get a nap on my go go vacations when our hotel isn’t convenient.

  253. I could use it for our Europe trip to get a room to freshen up on a long layover at Paris (8 hrs)

  264. a way to relax and rejuvenate from the big city, just pop in from your normal day and suddenly you’re on vacation!

  265. Clean up, have a safe place to relax, nap – just a good thing if you need to bridge the time gaps on a trip.

  274. With the continued devaluation of award points I have to be creative in how to travel international long-haul economically and still arrive at my destination feeling halfway human.

    The best method I have come up with is:
    1) fly economy comfort / premium economy
    2) bring a set of pajamas or comfortable lounge wear

    AND–

    3) design an itinerary with a longer layover. If I already have a 4, 5, or 7 hour layover, try to schedule flights so I have a minimum of 10 hours. This would allow me to utilize a HOTEL BY DAY room where I could sleep, shower, and return to feeling normal before I continue onwards with my journey.

    If, for example, I am flying from a place like Fort Myers or Rapid City, my long-haul journey to Cape Town or Singapore is going to be a long one, regardless. Really, what is the difference between a total travel time of 32 hours (with an awkward layover of 5 hours) and a travel time of 37 hours, which would give a sufficient 10-hour break midway through the trip?

    I would love to see every major city have a HOTEL BY DAY program.

    In order to discourage drug- and prostitution- traffic, the hotels could ask to see a same-day airline ticket, or set a minimum time + rate.

  295. It would be great to have a room available for changing, etc. for a day meeting in a somewhat remote city.

  298. A change of venue always helps…I’d use it to work and write in peace. Or when I arrive into a city WAY before check-in time.

  299. I’d use it for a day in PHL in May when I’m going to have something like a 12hr layover on my way to LHR.

    Thanks!

  300. I could use it for a trip I have coming up this year to get some work done instead of sitting in a lounge for 8+hrs.

  303. It would DEFINITELY be nice to have a place to set your suitcase down! Many times I’ve had a layover in a city and would love to take a tour or see a site or go to a Baseball game while waiting for my next flight, but I can’t because I’d have to lug all my suitcases & business gear with me. Airlines won’t store it for you. The lack of lockers any more is incredibly annoying. It would be nice to use the hotel as a day-base…as long as the hotel has an airport shuttle.

  304. Awesome, I love this idea so I can pop in for a shower during the day, especially in the humid NE summer.

  306. I’d also use it if I ever needed a place to put down my “stuff” before check-in time at a hotel

  307. Another great use would be to use it as a breastfeeding room for my wife away from home. E.g. we are sightseeing a bit far from the hotel or from home

  312. A day room near or on the beach would be nice so I would have a place to change, use the bathroom, and get out of the sun for a little while.

  313. A day room would be nice while touring a city so that everyone could go where they wanted and then meet back up while enjoying a place to rest, use the bathroom, and freshen up.

  314. I would use a day room to rest when flying an overnight flight internationally which connects to a later flight to my final destination. I live in a small town which only has a limited number of flights to the local airport and it is typical that I have to fly overnight to a US airport, arriving early in the morning, but don’t have a connecting flight until midafternoon.

  315. I would use a day room to comfortably wait for our flight when we arrive back from a cruise. We always arrive very early and usually schedule a late afternoon or evening flight in order to avoid an issue of missing a flight in the event the ship arrives back to port mid morning. (which sometimes does happen). This would be a great option!

  320. Hello everyone,

    We just went LIVE with Miami International Airport Hotel – get complimentary WIFI, Room Service and other great amentities just off concourse E.
    Three time plans for your flexibiltiy – midday 10am till 6pm ($95), morning 10am till 2pm ($55) and evening 2pm till 4pm ($55).

    Now there are great options while waiting for that evening flight.

    Nathan, Co-founder Hotelsbyday

  321. @Frank – thanks for looking into the app. We appreciate your interest. We are working with our hotel partners to get rates to an affordable price point – the LGA Marriot is a case in point. What is your sweet spot for price? What is your ideal time window(s)?
    We want to get this right for you and be super-responsive to our customers

  322. Very Dissatisfied!
    I booked a room for my parents through the online site and was told that the reservations would be sent immediately over to the hotel.
    To insure a hassle free check-in, I called the hotel to confirm their reservations and no one could find any information. I called HBD customer service and spoke with two representatives who both told me to have my parents call once they arrive. Really? Does this sound like hassle free to you? I explained that I would like to handle this before they arrive and I was told to book somewhere else if I wasn’t satisfied with their process. End the end, I decided to take their advice and take my business elsewhere.

  323. Not Happy! Booked nearly one month in advance, revived “confirmation” email only to learn the day of my check-in that due to a fully booked hotel (Skyline Capital, 10 I St. SW, Washington, DC) that room not available and likely not available until 12 noon. Have used HBD before and great concept when and if it works…but learned on this trip that ‘confirmation’ isn’t really confirmation… ended up booking on site at same hotel through another service for a lesser rate…would think twice about using HBD in future.

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