Day Use Hotels – The Best Way to Spend a Long Layover?

Have you ever had a long layover in a city during the day? Sure, you could pay to store your luggage at the airport while you go explore the city. But what if all you really wanted was a nap, a shower and to binge on Netflix until your next flight? Or what if you really need a workout and a swim to recover from the flight? Not every airport in like Changi in Singapore with a theatre, butterfly garden, and a pool and airport hotels generally have a 2pm or later check-in time. So what’s a poor traveller to do?

Enter the day use hotel.

Some hotels have recognized the need for travellers to have personal space with peace and quiet when they’re only in town for the day and are making rooms available for a block of daytime hours for a reduced rate. Brands like Marriott, Accor, and Hilton have realized it’s good for everyone involved.

This works out especially well for the hotel if timed correctly. In theory, they could check out an early guest, clean the room and then rent it to a day user, before cleaning it again and renting it to a late check-in that night. With the rise of AirBnB, offering rooms during the day is a way that hotels can differentiate themselves and recoup some lost revenue. Win-win.

How to Find a Day Use Hotel

There are a couple of search engines to help you find these hotels: DayUse.com, HotelsByDay.com, and Between9and5.com for example. Rates are often less than half of regular nightly rates and you typically have use a room from 11am – 5pm, though each hotel has it’s own policy so it may be longer or shorter. A day use booking gives you full access to a hotel’s amenities, such as pools, spas, and fitness rooms as well.

While most hotels available are no-nonsense hotels near airports, there are also luxury properties in cities like New York, London, and Dubai where you can live the high life for moderate cost.

Day use hotels can also be good for business travellers who either don’t have lounge access or just want to get out of the airport. Not everyone works well at a Starbucks.

I suspect this is going to become more popular as people catch on to the concept. How many times have you had a long daytime layover and just couldn’t stand being in the airport?

Would you ever book a day use hotel during a layover?