New App Appeals To New Segment Looking For Some Quiet During The Day

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Hotels can use the app to leverage daytime units of sale to fill vacant rooms

There is a new app called “HotelsByDay” that allows customers to book hotel rooms during the day for less than the overnight rate, and allows hotels to leverage the micro-stay trend by offering daytime units of sale to fill vacant rooms.  The company is attempting to break open a new category in lodging: hotel rooms you can book by the day, for roughly 40 percent less than the nightly rate, according to TechCrunch.

As the company explains on its blog post, “With HotelsByDay, guests can make daytime reservations at top hotels around the country. Matching day guests with available hotels, we fill the gap in daytime lodging options for travelers and help our hotel partners maximize their unused space.”

Founded by Yannis Moati, Nathan Stevenson, and Brian Dass, HotelsByDay says that it is targeting locals who want a quick getaway in their home city, as well as business people who need a quiet place to work or rest before traveling. 

The blog also explains that the benefits of the service are not exclusive to guests.  “And the arrangement benefits the hotels just as much as it benefits guests. For many hotels, their rooms remain unoccupied during the day, wasting valuable inventory space. To be able to repurpose that space to accommodate daytime guests, our partner hotels can maximize their efficiency to serve a great number of visitors,” the blog reads.

Available for iOS and Android, the app allows consumers to book rooms at approximately 40 hotels in the New York and Chicago markets.  An additional 60 hotels are committed to joining the program soon, and additional cities are also being added, including Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, and Atlanta.

So far the app has paired with around 40 hotels located primarily in New York and Chicago while 60 more are partnered to join in the near future. New cities will be added as well such as Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston and Miami by March. These are rooms in beautiful, boutique hotels that do not typically offer day rates, but have passed along their intra-day inventory to HotelsByDay.

According to TNOOZ, HotelsByDay is targeting an estimated $20 billion global market found in  the intra-day segment between early check-outs and late check-ins. According to sources, 23 percent  of rooms at three, four and five-star US hotels are empty on any given night and a further 11 percent  are available for during the day bookings.

This is the first service of its type in the United States, though several similar services operate in Europe. HotelsByDay is working on a commission-based model.