Daytime hotel rooms
 

All,

I have a 13-hour layover at LAX, arriving 7 am local time and leaving 8 pm that evening. It's booked via work so had little choice in choosing flights, this was the cheapest option by a long way.

I've tried calling various hotels but they all gave me the runaround, so ended up booking via dayuse.com for a room at the Hilton LAX. Reviews of Dayuse look OK but am still a little concerned that it might not be honored. I will be calling the actual hotel to confirm the reservation went through as I normally book directly with hotels. In the meantime, I wondered if frequent travelers here have tips for this or even better if they have used dayuse.com and have opinions. I may have more of these trips coming up.

Many thanks in advance.

I've always found hotels wary about giving day use bookings, for certain obvious reasons. Most often, I've had to make an overnight booking, although most have been sympathetic and given a good rate

They provide rooms for crew on split duty so the concept should not be alien to an experienced hotelier.
As for 'obvious reasons', a well known hotel close to Heathrow was known for guests being propositioned in its corridors so they presumably know about that too :E

As it's not all that uncommon for transiting passengers to need such an arrangement, I have found that it's not all that difficult obtaining day rates at the more up market hotels around airports. It surprises me that you had difficulty getting hold of one directly with the hotel.

Most airports I have ever been through have hotels close by that offer day rates - very surprised the US is different.

Agreed. Very common concept and never had an issue.

Thanks, all. The problem I had is I called the hotels directly (both in the Hilton chain and ones I stay at regularly) and asked about booking a room during the day. The operators I talked to said I had to talk to the front desk staff. I did that - they said I needed to call reservations. I did that and they said I had to call the hotels directly.

So I gave up and used a third-party site. Not a cheap option but better than spending 13 hours at the airport. I still haven't confirmed the booking is in the Hilton system though but will do so soon.

From one that used day rooms twice a week for four years. When you check in:

Ask for a room in the quietest area of the hotel. Far away from lifts, service areas, housekeepers stores etc.. Also worthwhile checking that none of the housekeeping staff aspire to musical theatre and consider corridors an acceptable rehearsal space. :sad:

A day rate is generally nothing to be ashamed about asking for, especially at a hotel near an airport or railway station. A manager with an eye on revenue management can make a bit extra renting out a room during the period between an early check out and a late check in. Sometimes there is a condition not to get into the beds in order to avoid a sheet change. I've seen 24 hour rates in some places, check out the following day at the same time as you checked in.

Hotels offering an hourly rate are usually a different matter however.

Willumate
Totally agree with your recommendations. Also around airports 12hr reservations are not uncommon, and at some airports you do not need to leave the terminal. Have stayed in DXB terminal hotel last year on an 9hr wait, can not say it was that great but a bed is a bed.
As for other hotels (AND RENTING BY THE HOUR !) I was told a number of years ago by the then head of Travelodge that there highest occupancy rates were on Friday afternoons with rooms vacated early evening by the couples involved, and were then obviously available to use again that evening. It was their highest occupancy time of the week and very lucrative for them.

Regards
Mr Mac

And convinced you have taken all the necessary steps, you drift peaceably and gently to sleep. Two minutes later, the phone rings. It's the reception manager checking your room is OK and wishing you a nice stay.....

:) LOL :) Yep, got the T-shirt!

The US is different. In many ways.

:D:D Ha, ha! Yes indeed, the little joke that separates long haul flying from short haul. How many times....:ok:

Literally just did this at LAX on the weekend - the information desk in the airport has a list of local hotels that do day rates. Started at the top of the list and worked my way down and ended up with the Renaissance. Comfortable and close to the airport.

On-line booking does not usually give you the option of a day rate, or indeed an early morning arrival. I find that it's best to e-mail the hotel or to call a couple of days beforehand to advise them of arrival times, especially at airport locations.
Yes make sure they mail you conformation. It helps not to have an argument at 6am on arrival with a check in clerk who insists you are arriving after 3pm as happened at LHR with myself recently. Fortunately, I had recorded the call, and it turned out that the a-hole check in clerk was the one who took my call!

So I believe!!

I seem to remember that some years ago one of the London local newspapers conducted a survey of London hotels to see which would be prepared to rent a room for the daytime or even by the hour.

The unspoken inference was that the room was required for Ugandan activities and needless to say, a number of hotels were quite sniffy about it. However, from what I can recall, most of them were quite happy to accept the booking (and of course the money).;)

Anyone who's been to Japan has probably noticed the "love" hotels there. the Japanese are very practical about these matters. But they can be used for "regular" use as well, just so long as you never leave the room until you check out. Most check-ins are done like using a vending machine. No humans involved. Less embarrassing, I guess.

Apologies for the delay in replying, but the Hilton at LAX honored the booking I made through dayuse.com. Also, when I arrived, I mentioned I was a Hilton Honors member and they treated the booking as if I had booked directly through them, so ended up earning points for the stay. I checked in at 8 am and checked out at 5 pm which was perfect for my layover and certainly made the trip a little more bearable.

Thought this might be useful for anyone finding themselves in the same situation.