Book Luxury Hotels by the Hour w/ Recharge App

[+ Lance_Navarro]

So, here is a new start-up, that's only available in SF right now, but they plan to expand to other major cities. There are other sites out there that offer similar options, but I like that this one doesn't require you to commit to a length of stay. Once you're ready to check out you just end the stay with your phone (only available on iPhone for now), and it will only charge for the hours and minutes you use. It's $40/hr or 66 cents a minute. Thoughts?

 

http://www.techinsider.io/recharge-app-for-short-hotel-room-rentals-2016-6

[+ WmClarke]

I really like the idea. Ideal for a session, obviously.

[jimboivyo]

true luxury hotels won't buy into this for fear of exactly what ya'll are talking about

[corndog]

I doubt if many people are willing to pay $40/hr for a quiet place to send some emails or take a shower. But, this seems like a reasonable system for the kind of activity we're talking about here. Traditionally, high-end hotels are willing to accommodate hanky-panky as long it is discreet and doesn't draw too much attention, so I think this concept has a small chance of success.

[+ WilliamM]

"So far, Bamfo claims his app is being used mostly by business professionals and some students students, and that there's been no illegal activity."

 

 

true luxury hotels won't buy into this for fear of exactly what ya'll are talking about

 

Hey Jim, I do not think you read the article. So far, mostly "business professions and some students students [sic]" are using the app.

 

Or was this just a chance to brag about only using luxury hotels

[AndreFuture]

I know this isn't being marketed for such use, but I'd love to see proper Love Hotels stateside. Japan has a well developed industry that's far more sophisticated than the seedy hourly motels we've got right now.

[jimboivyo]

 

Or was this just a chance to brag about only using luxury hotels

 

responded to the topic headline. luxury? no.

 

brag? don't think I need to, thanks

[rvwnsd]

I LOVE this idea. When I travel, I like to tromp around on foot. When I tromp around on foot I get all sweaty and a nice shower and a quick nap would be wonderful. However, I don't always want to pay the price associated with a downtown hotel. I will sign up when I visit SF in September and let y'all know how it goes.

[jawjateck]

It would be perfect for day trips. Schedule a playmate and a morning flight to him, rent a nice room for 2 or 3 hours, have some fun, head back to the airport, and be home in time for a good night's rest.

[+ purplekow]

Let's see. 66 cents a minute.

That would be about 5 dollars for a session and a post coital shower. A bargain and a first class hotel to boot.

[RyanDean]

The other day I spent about $35 (ostensibly the drop-in registration an hour-long bootcamp workout) mostly so I could grab a nice/necessary shower halfway through a busy NYC summer day. Which is to say: I could totally see springing for a service like this, with or without a bit of companionship.

[nate_sf]

This app popped up in my Facebook as a "Suggested App" last night. hmmm I wonder why they thought I'd be interested in it... ;-)

 

I installed it and though the available hotels are limited, they are decent. In SF it offered either the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero or the Park Central Hotel. On the Peninusula it offered the Hilton near the airport. All of these are decent so I think that's encouraging. However now on a Sunday morning only the Hilton at the airport comes up as available, and nothing in San Francisco proper, so I suppose it depends on timing and luck.

 

Though I'm still surprised any hotel would go for this given the nefarious associations of "room by the hour," it seems great in concept especially for a short meetup. I've lost count of the numbers of times I've left a perfectly good room just a couple of hours after check-in, well before nightfall, thinking it seems like a waste that it would just sit there. But typically it's not possible to check out so soon after check-in, and I'd be reluctant to for concern of attracting unwanted attention, so I'd just leave the key cards on the desk with a tip and close the door behind me. I'm sure this is familiar to others here.

 

So I'll be interested to see where this goes, both in whether other hoteliers get on board and whether it can expand beyond tech startup beta test.

 

Here's their official website

[mike carey]

I suspect this is a niche requirement of which availability for hiring escorts is but a part. I suspect that this sort of arrangement near an airport or bus station would be a more likely place for it to be useful. I question whether a regular hotel would be able to give a better deal for letting their rooms for odd durations than they can for a standard overnight, it sounds more like a specific business model. Given that, @nate_sf, big hotels may have one or two rooms available for odd hours, and hence they came up on the app, but mostly they would not. I am guessing that if I'd turned up at SFO at 4.30am with a flight out at 6pm there would always have been deals available from hotels, deals that they would not be prepared to offer on-line.

[Rudynate]

This app popped up in my Facebook as a "Suggested App" last night. hmmm I wonder why they thought I'd be interested in it... ;-)

 

I installed it and though the available hotels are limited, they are decent. In SF it offered either the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero or the Park Central Hotel. On the Peninusula it offered the Hilton near the airport. All of these are decent so I think that's encouraging. However now on a Sunday morning only the Hilton at the airport comes up as available, and nothing in San Francisco proper, so I suppose it depends on timing and luck.

 

Though I'm still surprised any hotel would go for this given the nefarious associations of "room by the hour," it seems great in concept especially for a short meetup. I've lost count of the numbers of times I've left a perfectly good room just a couple of hours after check-in, well before nightfall, thinking it seems like a waste that it would just sit there. But typically it's not possible to check out so soon after check-in, and I'd be reluctant to for concern of attracting unwanted attention, so I'd just leave the key cards on the desk with a tip and close the door behind me. I'm sure this is familiar to others here.

 

So I'll be interested to see where this goes, both in whether other hoteliers get on board and whether it can expand beyond tech startup beta test.

 

Here's their official website

 

 

I hardly ever check out, unless I want to discuss the bill.

[+ Italiano]

I was in San Jose Costa Rica last year and also there it is absolutely amazing the system.

They have quite a good choice of motels specifically for hunky-panky for various prices. The best ones are just in the outskirt of the city. I went to 2 quite nice motels.

You enter by car from the main gate, there are many private garages, you park the car in any empty one, you close the gate behind you, you pay ($20 to $40 for up top 2 hours generally) at a private and anonymous window, you go upstairs to your very nice big clean room with mirrors, nice lights, porn TV, bathroom with jacuzzi and you fuck until you want, you check out and you leave.

[bobchitown]

I'd love this. I'm often in the position that my work day has ended early and my flight home isn't until sometime that evening with no earlier flights. At the moment my choices are to wander around or schlep out to the airport. In some cities I can work in some "tourist" time but I'm dragging my bag around with me. The best option is to schlep out to the airport and sit in a dull lounge. The idea of getting a room for a couple hours in the afternoon, doing some work in a quiet place, taking a shower, and taking a nap (alone or otherwise!) has real appeal.

[mike carey]

The idea of getting a room for a couple hours in the afternoon, doing some work in a quiet place, taking a shower, and taking a nap (alone or otherwise!) has real appeal.

Not sure if by 'dull lounge' you are talking about the airline lounge or the 'gate lounge'. When I was still working I usually flew enough to qualify for free membership of the Qantas Club (their lounge scheme), and that is what they provided (not so much the nap, and certainly not the accompanied nap part), with free drinks, food and unlimited wifi. Before I qualified, I had paid up my membership of the Club (including a joining fee). Membership also gave you a better chance, but no certainty, of getting onto an earlier flight if one was available. American Airline lounges are the only ones I've used the in the US, and the amenity in QF lounges is better, but AA still gives you a quiet place where you can work, so lounges are worth thinking about.

[+ sniper]

The other day I spent about $35 (ostensibly the drop-in registration an hour-long bootcamp workout) mostly so I could grab a nice/necessary shower halfway through a busy NYC summer day. Which is to say: I could totally see springing for a service like this, with or without a bit of companionship.

 

Wouldn't a Blink or Planet Fitness gym membership give you the same option? Granted no towel service at those two...

[Meo]

I also could see this as a way to grab a shower and a brief nap or work email session. I'm an urban foot soldier so showers are often necessary, and cabs can easily run as high as these rooms would be. My second though is that this sounds a lot nicer than an airline lounge too.

[RyanDean]

@sniper : I'm presently exploring the gym membership angle. So far, for my needs (basically something like this 1x a month), I'm liking the bootcamp workout strategy (Barrys, OrangeTheory, etc). For one price, I get a good basic workout, a reliably nice shower facility, and towel service.