Can You Rent A Hotel Room For A Few Hours? (Day Rates Explained) [2024]

Do you need a hotel room but only for a few hours and not for an entire night?

Perhaps you have a business meeting or a conference at a particular hotel and you are interested in staying there just for the afternoon. Or perhaps you are up to no good….

Either way, you are in luck because a lot of hotels don’t require you to make a full booking and pay the full nightly rate.

Below, I will provide some insight into how to book day rates (which some call hourly rates) and what to expect. I’ll also give you a lot of data points on various hotels across the country and show you the prices and how much properties discount day rates.

Can you rent a hotel room for a few hours?

Yes, you can book hotels for a few hours or just an afternoon instead a full night. Typically, this is booking the “day rate” of a hotel which is cheaper than a normal stay. After reviewing over 100 properties, we found that the day rate is usually discounted about 45% from the standard nightly rate.

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Things to consider

Booking day rates comes with some limitations versus booking a standard nightly rate. Here are a few factors to keep in mind when making your booking.

Hotel amenity access

When booking an hourly rate, you may not get access to all of the hotel amenities during your stay. Typically, if you are limited in access it will be to something like the hotel pool. Also, you may or may not get access to the free breakfast if you were entitled to one (a lot of breakfast times will end at your time of check-in).

Related: What Hotels Have Free Breakfast?

Booking through partner sites

One of the most common ways to book a hotel for a day rate or hourly rate is to go through certain third-party websites like Day Use.

These can be great because they make it very easy to find hotels that offer hourly rates and they can provide you with specific time windows for a booking.

The thing is, you don’t always have to go through these websites. Sometimes you can call the hotel directly and book an hourly or day rate directly with them over the phone.

A couple of things about doing this though:

First, you may not have all the options that a partner site would provide. For example, if you book directly you may only be able to choose from 8am to 5pm. Meanwhile if you went through a partner site you might be able to choose from several different time slots.

Second, when calling about these rates, it seemed like some hotel agents didn’t want to bother with this type of “special booking” and simply referred us to partner sites.

So sometimes if you want to book directly you may have to push the agent to take action or call back and speak to another one later on.

Earning points for these stays

When we reached out to several hotels we got mixed answers on whether or not hotels will offer points for these stays.

Some stated that they would not offer points while others stated that they would. A few properties even mentioned that you would earn a reduced rate on your point earnings.

And of course, several properties reiterated that guests do not earn points when booking through third-party websites which is one reason why you might want to book directly.

So if you are really concerned about earning points or elite credits for your stay, your best bet is to contact the individual hotel and see what the policy is.

Elite benefits

Many hotels made it sound like you would receive the same type of elite benefits as you would for a standard night stay. For example, if you had Hilton Diamond status you would still get lounge access. Also, you still might be able to score an upgrade in some cases.

Things do seem to get a bit tricky with early check-in and late check-out since you are dealing with a completely different set of times.

But my guess is that if you were to (politely) press for it and there were no capacity issues, you could still get in a little early or out a little late with your elite status.

Specific room types

Some hotels may limit you to specific room times but others may allow you to book hourly rates for any room that is available, including rooms like junior suites and suites. Most hotels seemed to offer their full inventory available for these day rates.

Customizing your time slot

When contacting many properties we struggled to find properties that would allow a customized time slot for a day booking. For example, booking a hotel room for just one hour or two hours did not seem like an option.

Typically, hotels would offer a standard hourly range from something like 8am to 6pm. However, there were a couple of properties that sounded like they would be more lax about this.

So if you have a specific time that you need the room that is not the standard business hour range you might struggle to find a hotel that will allow you to do that unless you really plead your case or book through a partner.

Some hotels block out time

During certain times of the year, some properties will block out availability for hourly rates and day rates. For example, during the busy holiday season a hotel may not allow you to book a day rate. This could also be the case during large events and conventions.

Hotel hourly rates

Below you can find all of the data points we obtained during our research. We focused on 15 of the largest cities in the US and tried to incorporate a variety of different brands and chains.

For each property, you will see the nightly rate which is the standard rate you would pay for one night at the hotel and the day rate which applies to the hours in the adjacent column.

Finally, we also listed the discount rate which shows you how much cheaper the day rate is versus the nightly rate. Overall, we found that the average discount was 45% off the nightly rate.

New York, NY

Average hourly rate discount 57%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Holiday Inn Express Chelsea	$257	$89	8AM – 6PM	66%
Hampton Inn Chelsea	$283	$89	8AM – 4PM	69%
Aliz Hotel Times Square	$283	$89	8AM – 4PM	69%
Hotel 48LEX New York	$338	$135	8AM – 4PM	61%
Holiday Inn Express Times Square	$150	$89	8AM – 6PM	41%
Holiday Inn Express Times Square South	$179	$84	9AM – 5PM	54%
Hampton Inn by Hilton Madison Square Garden	$257	$89	8AM – 4PM	66%
Gild Hall, a Thompson Hotel	$135	$99	8AM – 6PM	27%
NOMO SOHO	$299	$159	10AM – 6PM	47%
Holiday Inn Wall Street	$257	$79	8AM – 6PM	70%

Los Angeles, CA

Average hourly rate discount 51%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles	$179	$105	8AM – 2PM	42%
Ramada Los Angeles/Downtown West	$159	$75	9:30AM – 3:30PM	53%
Hotel Normandie	$199	$99	10AM – 4PM	51%
Comfort Inn Near Old Town Pasadena in Eagle Rock	$149	$70	9AM – 12PM	54%
Sheraton Universal Hotel	$329	$115	10AM – 4PM	66%
Hilton Garden Inn Burbank Downtown	$309	$129	10AM – 7PM	59%
Andaz West Hollywood	$259	$175	8:30AM – 5:30PM	33%
Embassy Suites by Hilton Los Angeles Int. Airport North	$189	$99	9AM – 5PM	48%
Holiday Inn Los Angeles – LAX Airport	$199	$82	8AM – 5PM	59%
Hampton Inn & Suites Los Angeles/Hollywood	$199	$119	10AM – 4PM	41%

Chicago, IL

Average hourly rate discount 55%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Chicago Club Inn Suites	$107	$75	8AM – 5PM	30%
Hyatt Regency Chicago	$219	$115	9AM – 5PM	48%
Courtyard by Marriott Chicago Midway Airport	$219	$89	9AM – 5PM	60%
InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile	$239	$110	9AM – 6PM	54%
Virgin Hotels Chicago	$199	$109	10AM – 5PM	46%
The Talbott Hotel	$209	$75	9AM – 5PM	65%
Park Hyatt Chicago	$335	$149	8AM – 3PM	56%
Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport	$349	$109	9AM – 6PM	69%
Swissotel Chicago	$199	$90	9AM – 5PM	55%
Hyatt Regency McCormick Place	$299	$90	8AM – 6PM	70%

Houston, TX

Average hourly rate discount 42%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Courtyard by Marriott Houston Heights/I-10	$179	$109	10AM – 4PM	40%
JW Marriott Houston Downtown	$250	$119	9AM – 6PM	53%
Hotel Derek	$169	$104	9AM – 5PM	39%
Sheraton Houston Brookhollow Hotel	$139	$79	9AM – 5PM	44%
Hyatt Regency Houston	$239	$119	9AM – 5PM	51%
Springhill Suites Houston Downtown Convention Center	$159	$99	9AM – 5PM	38%
Hampton Inn Houston-Near The Galleria	$149	$90	9AM – 5PM	40%
Courtyard by Houston by The Galleria	$129	$79	9AM – 5PM	39%
Hotel Ylem	$139	$89	9:30AM – 4:30PM	36%
Residence Inn Houston by The Galleria	$149	$89	9AM – 4PM	41%

Phoenix, AZ

Average hourly rate discount 42%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
AC Hotel by Marriott Phoenix Biltmore	$199	$90	9AM – 5PM	55%
Embassy Suites by Hilton Phoenix Airport	$125	$85	9AM – 5PM	32%
Aloft Phoenix Airport	$229	$99	9AM – 5PM	57%
MOXY Phoenix Tempe	$139	$75	8AM – 5PM	47%
Greentree Hotel Phoenix West	$114	$75	9AM – 5PM	35%
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix	$329	$139	9AM – 4PM	58%
Sleep Inn Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport	$85	$65	8AM – 2PM	24%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Phoenix Tempe – University	$99	$70	9AM – 3PM	30%
Hampton Inn Phoenix-Midtown-Downtown Area	$170	$89	9AM – 3PM	48%
The Scottsdale Plaza Resort	$120	$79	9AM – 6PM	35%

Philadelphia, PA

Average hourly rate discount 46%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Wyndham Garden Philadelphia Airport	$139	$77	9AM – 4PM	45%
Hyatt Centric Center City Philadelphia	$259	$115	7AM – 1PM	56%
Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City – Convention Center	$164	$99	9AM – 5PM	40%
Hampton Inn Philadelphia-International Airport	$159	$109	9AM – 4PM	32%
Candlewood Suites Chester	$100	$80	9AM – 6PM	20%
Holiday Inn Express Philadelphia Airport	$114	$76	9AM – 5PM	34%
The Bellevue Hotel, in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt	$239	$115	9AM – 5PM	52%
Homewood Suites University City Philadelphia	$199	$105	10AM – 4PM	48%
The Inn at Penn, A Hilton Hotel	$369	$119	10AM – 4PM	68%
The Westin Philadelphia	$325	$129	10AM – 4PM	61%

San Antonio, TX

Average hourly rate discount 32%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
La Quinta Inn and Suites San Antonio Airport	$99	$69	9AM – 5PM	31%
Aloft San Antonio Airport	$159	$89	9AM – 5PM	45%
Fairfield Inn & Suites San Antonio Airport North Star Mall	$140	$89	3PM – 11PM	37%
Courtyard San Antonio Airport / North Star Mall	$110	$85	7AM – 2PM	23%
Sheraton Gunter Hotel San Antonio	$110	$89	9AM – 5PM	20%
Wyndham San Antonio Riverwalk	$159	$109	9AM – 4PM	32%
Hotel Gibbs Riverwalk Downtown San Antonio	$189	$120	10AM – 3PM	37%

San Diego, CA

Average hourly rate discount 57%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
The Westin San Diego	$329	$99	9AM – 5PM	70%
Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown	$215	$89	9AM – 4PM	59%
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego	$209	$100	9AM – 5PM	53%
Days Inn by Wyndham San Diego/Downtown/Convention Center	$189	$75	9AM – 4PM	61%
Kimpton Hotel Palomar San Diego	$309	$109	9AM – 5PM	65%
Four Points by Sheraton San Diego Downtown Little Italy	$160	$75	9AM – 5PM	54%
Baymont by Wyndham San Diego Downtown	$169	$75	10AM – 4PM	56%
Porto Vista Hotel	$180	$89	8AM – 6PM	51%
Hotel Solamar	$299	$99	9AM – 5PM	67%
The Bristol Hotel San Diego	$139	$89	9AM – 4PM	36%

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

Average hourly rate discount 43%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Hyatt Regency DFW	$249	$104	9AM – 5PM	59%
Holiday Inn Irving Las Colinas	$129	$70	9AM – 5PM	46%
Atrium Hotel & Suites	$129	$69	9AM – 4PM	47%
Aloft Las Colinas	$250	$85	9AM – 6PM	66%
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas – DFW Airport North	$199	$99	9AM – 5PM	51%
Super 8 by Wyndham Bedford DFW Airport West	$100	$68	9AM – 4PM	32%
Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott	$179	$139	9AM – 4PM	23%
Super 8 Hotel DFW Airport	$149	$99	8AM – 3PM	34%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Dallas NW – Farmers Branch	$149	$80	8AM – 4PM	47%
Hampton Inn & Suites Farmers Branch Dallas	$105	$80	8AM – 2PM	24%

San Jose, CA

Average hourly rate discount 51%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Campbell – Pruneyard Plaza	$349	$139	8AM – 2PM	61%
Courtyard by Marriott San Jose Campbell	$215	$109	8AM – 4PM	50%
Hyatt Place San Jose Downtown	$275	$99	9AM – 5PM	64%
Larkspur Landing Campbell	$128	$85	9AM – 6PM	34%
The Westin San Jose	$399	$149	9AM – 4PM	63%
The Row Hotel	$259	$129	9:30AM – 4:30PM	51%
Holiday Inn San Jose – Silicon Valley	$119	$89	9AM – 5PM	26%
Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott San Jose Airport	$279	$99	10AM – 4PM	65%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Santa Clara – Silicon Valley	$149	$85	9AM – 5PM	43%
SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Jose Airport	$224	$99	8AM – 4PM	56%

Austin, TX

Average hourly rate discount 50%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
The Driskill Hotel	$250	$99	9AM – 5PM	61%
Hyatt Regency Austin	$200	$99	9AM – 5PM	51%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Austin Downtown – University	$239	$109	10AM – 3PM	55%
Holiday Inn Austin – Town Lake	$149	$75	2PM – 10PM	50%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Austin SW – Sunset Valley	$98	$65	9AM – 4PM	34%
Austin Marriott South	$180	$109	10AM – 4PM	40%
Courtyard by Marriott Austin Northwest/Arboretum	$199	$89	10AM – 4PM	56%

Jacksonville, FL

Average hourly rate discount 35%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Ramada by Wyndham Jacksonville/Baymeadows Hotel & Conference Centre	$99	$70	7AM – 1PM	30%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Jacksonville – Town Center	$129	$80	7AM – 2PM	38%
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront	$139	$89	9AM – 5PM	36%

Columbus, OH

Average hourly rate discount 35%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Four Points by Sheraton Columbus Airport	$99	$75	9AM – 6PM	25%
Four Points by Sheraton Columbus-Polaris	$109	$69	9AM – 6PM	37%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus East – Reynoldsburg	$119	$65	9AM – 6PM	46%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Columbus – Worthington	$109	$80	9:30AM – 4:30PM	27%
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus – Polaris Parkway	$109	$65	9AM – 6PM	41%

Indianapolis, IN

Average hourly rate discount 39%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Hyatt House Indianapolis Downtown	$160	$99	9AM – 3PM	39%
Holiday Inn Express Indianapolis – Fishers	$94	$70	9AM – 5PM	26%
Residence Inn Indianapolis Carmel	$99	$65	8AM – 5PM	35%
SpringHill Suites Indianapolis Carmel	$99	$70	9AM – 6PM	30%
Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station	$189	$85	8AM – 12PM	56%
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Indianapolis Carmel	$109	$70	8AM – 5PM	36%
SpringHill Suites Indianapolis Fishers	$179	$94	10AM – 6PM	48%

Charlotte, NC

Average hourly rate discount 40%

Hotel Name	Nightly Rate	Day Rate	Hours	Discount
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Charlotte Uptown	$135	$80	7AM – 3PM	41%
Fairfield Inn Charlotte Northlake	$109	$80	9AM – 5PM	27%
Four Points by Sheraton Charlotte	$109	$75	10AM – 5PM	32%
Hyatt House Charlotte Airport	$179	$75	9AM – 5PM	59%
Hilton Charlotte Executive Park	$169	$109	9AM – 5PM	36%
Sonesta Charlotte Executive Park	$139	$80	10AM – 6PM	43%

Final word

Booking a hotel for a few hours or for the day is completely doable. You often can get a nice discount of around half the price off and so it can be worth it for a lot of people. Just be aware of some of the booking limitations and restrictions above and your stay will go a lot smoother.