As You Stay App Review: Book A Hotel By The Hour
Maybe you can relate but when it comes to travel planning, I’m not spontaneous. I’m actually the opposite. Before a trip, I try to plan as much as possible. This includes booking accommodations and creating detailed itineraries. But things don’t always go as planned. So expect the unexpected – missed flights, delays, jet lag and long layovers. The good news is that As You Stay can offset some of these frustrations by allowing travelers to book hotels by the hour.
As You Stay is shaking things up by eliminating the standard hotel check-in and check-out times. Instead, the app allows travelers to pay only for the hours they spend at a hotel. The app conveniently translates a nightly rate into a prorated and discounted hourly rate. No matter how early or how late, pre-book your stay! Why pay for a hotel room when you’re not using it?
Related: Sygic Travel App Review: The App I Use To Plan All My Trips
As You Stay
As You Stay is a free member based app available on Android and iOS.
With As You Stay you become a member by going through a verification process. No sketchy folks or funny business allowed. Through the app, you can book a hotel for as little as one hour or for as long as 24 hours. Search and book hotels within 5 days of check-in.
For example, book through As You Stay if you need a hotel room for 4 hours to freshen up during a layer. Or use the app if you need a quick rest stop during a road trip.
Locations & Hotels
You can book hotel stays in nine cities across the U.S. including New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, Newark Airport, Downtown Miami, Miami Beach and New Jersey.
The app features boutique and independently owned hotels but you can also find large hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott and Club Carlson. The app partners with hotels and utilizes their unused inventory. Win-win for everyone!
Best To Use For
- Day trips and spontaneous trips
- Flight delays
- Long layovers and more
You can get $25 off your first booking when you use promo code TRAVELLERSCHECK and sign up here.
Book A Room Anytime
I recently used As You Stay to book a spontaneous weekend trip to New York City. A friend happened to be in town for the weekend so I used the app to book an impromptu stay at Row NYC Hotel, right in the center of Times Square!
The app has a simple and elegant interface. It uses powerful, cutting-edge technology to make booking easy. With a few clicks, I confirmed my reservation.
Choose a destination, select travel dates, time frame, and the number of guests.
I found 16 hotels near Grand Central Terminal in New York City. This included hotels near Herald Square, Time Square, NoMad, Central Park, the Lower East Side, Chelsea, Long Island City, Queens, and Newark. There were even hotels available near JFK and LaGuardia International Airport!
Filter by distance, price, and TripAdvisor rating.
Select a hotel and get more details like maps and amenities.
For more exclusive features, Christopher Rudder’s instructional video tells all: As You Stay App – Anytime Hotel Booking.
Confirmation Text Message
After I booked my stay, I received a text message stating that my booking was pending. It takes up to 15 minutes to confirm your stay. Once confirmed, I was all set!
Does As You Stay Help Save?
If you aren’t planning to stay during regular hotel hours (3 p.m. to 11 a.m.), consider booking through As You Stay to save money. Since the app continuously reviews hotel prices, expect fluctuations.
The app also offers rewards. The more you book, the more free hours you earn. Apply free hours to your next stay.
Price Comparisons
When comparing four hotels in New York City (with only one hour before check-in), As You Stay offered a discount on most stays. However, the listed price doesn’t include taxes, so remember to factor that in when calculating totals.
The following compares prices for a 13-hour stay and a regular 24-hour hotel stay.
Z Hotel NYC
Lowest Price on TripAdvisor: $149
As You Stay App: $135
Savings with As You Stay App: $14 or 9% discount
Cassa Hotel Times Square
Lowest Price on TripAdvisor: $167
As You Stay App: $151
Savings with As You Stay App: $16 or 9.5% discount
Hampton Inn JFK
Lowest Price on TripAdvisor: $154
As You Stay App: $132
Savings with As You Stay App: $22 or 14.2% discount
Gatsby Hotel
Lowest Price on TripAdvisor: $119
As You Stay App: $117
Savings with As You Stay App: $2 or 1.6% discount
In this case, since the discount is minimal, you can go either way. It might be worth it to book through a booking website instead of the app.
As You Stay Pros
- Easy to use
- Includes a brief description of hotel
- Hotel amenities
- Detailed maps
- Only pay for the hours you need
- Apple Pay available
- Referral and rewards program
As You Stay Cons
- You can’t select rooms when booking
- Hotel assigns room at check-in
- Facility fees may apply
- Desktop version not available
Final Thoughts
Overall, this app is extremely useful because it focuses on last-minute travel. Specifically, it caters to travelers who are looking to pay by the hour. Although the hotel rates are usually discounted, I’d recommend comparing to other booking websites for the best rates. In the future, I’d like to see a low rate money back guarantee. For example, if you find a cheaper price somewhere else, the app credits the difference.
Nevertheless, the app is easy to use and also helps travelers discover unique boutique hotels across the country.
Don’t forget to use the promo code TRAVELLERSCHECK for $25 off your first stay by signing up here.
This a collaborative post with As You Stay, all opinions are my own.
Danielle Desir Corbett paid off $63,000 of student loan debt in 4 years, bought a house at 27, and has traveled to 27 countries, including her favorites, Iceland, China, and Bermuda. Go here to learn Danielle’s incredible story, from struggling financially and in debt to finding creative ways to earn more and live on her terms. Listen to The Thought Card Podcast, where Danielle shares how you can creatively travel more and build wealth regardless of your current financial situation. Reach out to Danielle by contacting: thethoughtcard (at) gmail (dot) com.
I can see the use for this app in a layover situation or an unexpected delay. I hope they expand the cities they cover.
I appreciate the concept, and it would definitely be useful in the event of last minute changes or cancellations (like when an Airbnb host in Lithuania canceled my family’s reservation the day before check-in last summer). I echo what others have said: it would be great if it were more widely available.
I could see this app being really useful if I had a layover in one of these cities. It would be nice to see it expand to other cities, too!
I loved the facility of booking per hour through this app. This is a great app for spontaneous travellers and the discounts also has added a bonus for everyone. Great post.
This is a nice option. Especially during road trips and layovers. I hope something similar is available in Europe too.
This sounds really convenient. So many times we have had to shell out a full days hotel charges when we have used it for a few hours to merely freshen up. An app that enables you to book hotels by the hour is nothing short of revolutionary. Will check out the app. Thanks for sharing the information.
I am continually amazed by technology and the ways the people are getting creative in the travel space. There have been so many times when I thought I could make it to a destination by driving through the night, and then gotten so tired that I just couldn’t go on. I end up paying full price for a hotel room when I only stayed from 2 am to 7 am. I think this will be awesome when it goes mainstream and covers more locations.
It was about time for this concept to appear. There are a lot of interesting apps on the market out there. Each of them brings something new and useful. Booking a hotel per hour is definitely a good option. Personally, I started not to book anymore accommodation and offer myself the flexibility to change plans overnight. I am more confident in myself and feel more free without bookings everywhere.
What a great idea! Love the price comparisons too. This would be super handy for stop overs too when you don’t need a whole night/day and just need a few hours of rest.
You’re so right – sometimes the entire day and night isn’t necessary. As You Stay offers that solution!
It makes me nervous waiting until last minute to get a hotel but this is a great solution for those times we may need a hotel last minute! We will have to check it out!
Danielle,
Glad to know about some travel hacks from your website.. Came through facebook group.. Interesting app ‘As you stay’ as many times we suffer losses in The room booking for few hours of check-in.. I would surely download the same ?