There are many compelling reasons why travelers would opt to book hotel rooms for short stays during the day as opposed to overnight.
Now, online hotel booking sites are helping travelers identify day-use hotels.
Interestingly, the majority of these last-minute, short-stay users are women.
They include:
- Tourists who want to take a break and recharge their cellphones when sightseeing in large, busy cities like New York, London, or Paris.
- Shoppers who want to put their feet up, catch a snooze, or take a bubble bath after walking for hours on the hard pavement. It's nice to have a home base to stow belongings and freshen up.
- Travelers whose flight schedules include long layovers who may want a private place outside the airline terminal to read, work, or make phone calls. (Many airports have hotels on their grounds that offer day-use rates).
- Executives visiting a city for the day, who may require impromptu office space to conduct meetings or to finish work between appointments.
This trend is economically advantageous to hotels because day-use generates additional income during the hours when hotel vacancies are typically high, as a result of early checkouts or late check-ins. Guests benefit because they can get savings of up to 70 percent off of nightly rates for day stays.
One of these popular hotel booking sites, Dayuse-hotels.com, was launched in France in November, 2010. Currently, it offers stays at more than 350 participating hotels in in nine countries. The average cost for a four-hour stay at a hotel listed on the site is estimated at $100. The booking site also has a free mobile app, downloadable in the iTunes store. Some of the hotels inviting day-use are upscale properties in prime locations.
If you want a day-use check-in and a nearby hotel isn't listed on this site or another, just ask. Even non-participating hotels independently run special day-use promotions from time to time. For example, just before and after Valentine's Day last year, the posh Le Parker Meridien in Manhattan offered a four-hour stay with views overlooking Central Park for $250. The package included movies on demand, a Champagne split, and strawberries with whipped cream. It was a sell-out success.
The Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale currently offers a unique day package for up to six people for $400 that includes a private oceanfront cabana, individual flat screen TV, three appetizers, and a cooler filled with 24 beers, domestic or imported. The package is perfectly suited for a group waiting for their cruise ship to embark from the port.
Would you consider paying a day rate when visiting a city for a long day?