Avid traveler Lora Bowler is cutting back on her vacation expenses. This doesn’t mean he will leave the facility.
The Up-to-date York resident said she spent more than she expected in 2023, including on travel, and is currently cutting back on her spending. He uses travel tricks and benefits to cut some of the costs, and is among the growing number of people who are opting for day hotel passes as a cheaper option for relaxation.
“It’s a great way to get away and feel like you’re in a five-star hotel,” Bowler said, “but you can’t afford to stay.”
Day passes at hotels and resorts give guests access to amenities without having to pay the cost of booking a room. Bowler said she reserved lounge chairs and poolside services and even found a pass that provided a room where her husband could work on his laptop.
Hotels and third-party partners are facilitating access to day passes to assist bridge the gap between travel-minded consumers and luxury prices.
According to CoStar, a global provider of real estate data, analytics and news, a typical luxury hotel room in the U.S. from January 1 to April 6 costs approximately $400 per night. These indicators are about 1% higher than in the same period a year ago.
According to luxury travel agency Virtuoso, room prices at luxury hotels in July are expected to be 85% higher than in the same month in 2019, before the Covid pandemic.
“People are getting back to thinking about travel budgets,” said Hayley Berg, chief economist at travel website Hopper. “They are prioritizing vacation spending over consumer goods.”
IN questionnaire conducted in July 2023 by Reservation.comover 60% of respondents said the cost of living would determine their travel plans in 2024, and just over half said they were likely to pay for an accommodation upgrade.
A majority of U.S. travelers said they would be willing to pay for day passes to exploit the amenities of a five-star hotel without staying there, according to a Booking.com press release about the survey. The study involved nearly 28,000 adults from 33 countries who said they planned to travel in the next 12-24 months.
Consumers who indulged in travel sprees after Covid restrictions were lifted have fueled the “revenge travel” trend, Berg said, boosting demand for luxury accommodations. Now, she said, that trend has “very much worn off” and many travelers are working on tighter budgets.
Berg said day passes “give people exactly what they want” and provide a separate revenue stream for hotels.
“Hotels get an additional revenue stream by providing exactly what they already have,” she said.
One such hotel is Virgin Hotels Up-to-date York City, in Manhattan’s Koreatown neighborhood. On May 8, the hotel opened its rooftop swimming pool for the second time, which can be used by same-day guests.
The blue-tiled pool with black-and-white loungers offers views of the Empire State Building and the city skyline.
Customers can reserve a sun lounger by the pool or choose a beach cabana and invite up to four other people. Complimentary services and drinks such as wine and fruit are offered in the cabin. Users using a pool club day pass can also receive their own personalized server, depending on their choices. A day pass to the pool club starts at $130.
“Everyone needs a little bit of escapism,” said Sarah Payton, the hotel’s director of partnerships and programming.
In May 2023, the hotel partnered with ResortPass, a website that provides day passes to luxury hotels, resorts and spas, often at discounted prices.
Launched in 2016, ResortPass has a 95% share of the same-day guest market and works with more than 1,300 luxury hotels, including Waldorf-Astoria, JW Marriott and Fontainebleau, according to the company.
The day-guest platform has served more than 3 million users and provided access to day tickets in more than 250 cities, the company says, at prices starting at $25.
“What we can really do is give people a more local way to escape without having to leave,” said ResortPass CEO Michael Wolf. “I think it complements other types of travel and could potentially replace them.”
The average ResortPass customer purchases all-day access for about $165, the company said. Customers purchasing day passes through ResortPass often prefer to exploit poolside or other hotel amenities rather than overnight guests, Wolf said.
“Our guests spent on average over $250 on-site, and often much more,” he said.
Wolf said ResortPass is currently working on a membership booster program for regular day pass customers, with an announcement expected later in 2024.
