Britons are being encouraged to embrace the ‘daycation’ to give hotels a boost this winter.
The idea is to spend a day enjoying hotel rooms, spas and leisure facilities in your local area rather than staying overnight, to help hotels maximise revenues at the times when rooms typically sit empty.
The campaign is being led by travel platform DayBreakHotels using the hashtag #StayForTheDay, and comes as the hospitality industry continues to find its feet in a post-lockdown world.
Britons are being encouraged by DayBreakHotels to embrace the ‘daycation’ to give hotels a boost this winter. The platform’s daycation listing includes the five-star LaLit London, pictured
In March of this year, 55 per cent of hospitality businesses had temporarily paused trading, with one in five expressing ‘low confidence’ that their business would survive the next three months.
From this low, hotels started to bounce back earlier this year. However, according to Deloitte, 90 per cent of hotel leaders in the UK believe performance will not return to pre-Covid levels until at least 2023.
DayBreakHotels – a platform that enables customers to book rooms and facilities for day use at hundreds of hotels across the UK – believes the ‘daycay’ will help drive ongoing demand across the winter months.
It adds that hotel rooms and meeting rooms can also be booked as plush remote offices, with over 150 hotels in DayBreakHotels’ network offering users bespoke ‘smart working’ packages.
Booking a room for the day can be up to 75 per cent cheaper than the cost of an overnight stay.
The Mercure Sheffield Kenwood Hall Hotel & Spa, pictured, is available for a daycation via DayBreakHotels, which is using the #StayForTheDay hashtag to encourage Britons to embark upon ‘daycays’
DayBreakHotels said it ‘brings up to £10,000 incremental revenue to its partner hotels each month through the sale of daytime access to rooms and services’.
Using the DayBreakHotels app or website, customers can book rooms and other hotel perks – such as pool or spa access, restaurants or meeting rooms – for up to 75 per cent less than the usual nightly rate.
DayBreakHotels said its bookings grew almost 130 per cent between June and September 2021, as more hotels started to reopen their doors.
Hotels in the network include the five-star LaLit London near Tower Bridge, Pestana Chelsea Bridge in Battersea, Kenwood Hall Hotel & Spa in Sheffield and Mercure Holland House in Cardiff. The Capital Hotel next to Hyde Park is the most recent addition to the platform’s UK offering.
Pictured is the pool at the Mercure Sheffield Kenwood Hall Hotel & Spa. DayBreakHotels said it ‘brings up to £10,000 incremental revenue to its partner hotels each month through the sale of daytime access to rooms and services’
Simon Botto, founder and CEO of DayBreakHotels, said: ‘It has been an unimaginably tough 20 months for the hotel trade. The sector is showing strong signs of recovery, but we’re not completely out of the woods yet, especially seeing as many hotels are facing staff shortages on top of fewer bookings from international guests.
‘We want to encourage people to “stay for the day” this winter to help them discover the lovely hotels on their doorstep whilst also supporting the industry. Booking a room for daytime use is a fun and affordable way of relaxing and enjoying a hotel’s facilities for less, or it can provide a calm and luxurious space in which to work after a difficult few months.
‘And it also extends a lifeline to a hotel industry keen for trade, helping hotels make money from rooms and services that would otherwise remain empty.
‘We have over 600 hotels in our network up and down the UK, so there’s something for everyone and lots of lovely places for couples, friends and families to hang out in. Whether you’re after a daycation – using the room as a base whilst you enjoy the spa, gym, pool and room service – or whether you want to switch up your remote work routine and enjoy a change of scenery, your local hotels can put the facilities you need at your fingertips. After a difficult few months, your local hotels need you.’
Daycations can also be booked through www.hotelsbyday.com, www.dayuse.co.uk and www.dayrooms.com.
