Day Passes: How to Rent a Hotel Room for a Long Layover

Did you know you can rent a hotel room just for a day?

Welcome to the magic of day passes, which give weary travelers a room to use during obscene layovers. (You might also see this offer billed as day rates.)

The setup is simple. Travelers who have a day-long layover and no energy to explore a city pay a small fee for a day pass at a hotel near the airport. In exchange, hotels earn on their unbooked rooms.

It’s a win-win… but how does it work? Do you just show up to a hotel and ask for a day rate? Is there a list somewhere that ranks the best hotels that offer day passes?

Let’s dig in.

How do hotel day passes work?

The goal of a hotel day pass is to allow travelers to escape an airport during an extra-long layover.

Unsurprisingly, airport hotels are the first option at your disposal. (Some even offer free shuttles to and from the airport, though that’s not the case across the board.) But you can also find day passes at hotels much farther from the airport.

Day passes are usually available first thing in the morning, letting you step off a red-eye, and then get some more downtime in a private room. Most hotel day passes end around 6 pm.

Every hotel has its own day pass check-in and check-out times—so be sure to ask for details.

Some day passes give guests the chance to use a hotel’s amenities, from pools to spas to workout rooms. However, certain day passes might be more limited or expensive—especially at four-star and five-star locations. Once again, read the fine print.

How can you find hotels that offer day passes?

The easiest way to find day passes is to use daypass, a platform that lists the best hotel day passes near airports around the world.

Hotels sign up for daypass, then showcase their unique deals. That means the list is always updated with the latest daypass offers.

On top of that, daypass curates lists that focus on offers that appeal to different types of travelers.

Fitness buffs, for example, are probably on the hunt for a deal that gives them access to a state-of-the-art gym. On the other hand, families might be after a more kid-friendly hotel with amenities like playgrounds or playrooms.

But daypass isn’t the only provider helping you find day rates at hotels.

There are also platforms like daycation. Daycation’s shtick is hotel passes in exclusive five-star locations that offer pretty insane amenities, from private beach access to world-class spa access.

Tips to find the best day rates

If you have a long layover and want to find a day pass, you need to answer one simple question.

Are you looking for a place to relax or an awesome place for a day-trip experience?

If you’re looking for a hotel to unwind, I suggest exploring daypass’s latest deals.

If you’d rather not bother with the platform, you can also learn more about hotel day passes by simply calling the front desk. This lets you find day passes that might not be offered online.

Once you know which airport your layover is in, you can look up hotels nearby, select your favorite, and call to ask about its day pass policies.

But if you want to unwind and enjoy your day pass, then I suggest using the daycation platform. Like the name suggests, the idea is to provide travelers with long layovers and unforgettable daytime adventures.

The more exotic the location of the airport, the cooler those daycations are.