Why hotel day passes are ruining it for ‘proper’ guests

For Antonella Lazzeri, 58, a writer based in Bournemouth, a recent experience at a five-star resort in Abu Dhabi made her think twice about booking a hotel in 2024 without conducting detailed research first. The hotel’s cabana-style beach club was, she recalls, “gorgeous: all bubbling hot tubs and beachy barefoot restaurants”.

Yet it was, she laments, “completely inundated” with 18- to 20-year-olds who had accessed the resort facilities on £26 day passes. “They were steaming drunk,” Lazzeri says of the youngsters, who dive-bombed into the swimming pool, shouted and sang (out of tune). She says she “snapped” when one of this bellicose bunch started bellowing racist rap lyrics in front of a family with young children in tow. “They quietened down a bit after I stormed over, and the manager offered me a free drink,” Lazzeri adds, “however, they were not thrown out and my stay was ruined.”

Sian Downes, 34, an event planner based in Hawick, holds a similarly dim view of a cohort you might spot on your travels this summer, known in American hotel parlance as the “passers”. On a family break in Key West, Florida last month, she says she couldn’t locate a sunbed next to her hotel swimming pool owing to the hotel’s unfettered sale of day passes through booking site ResortPass, which has more than 1,500 luxury hotels signed up, including luxury brands such as Waldorf-Astoria, JW Marriott and Hilton.

“We had no choice but to head to the beach, despite paying $300 (£232) a night for our room, which was extremely annoying.

“I will check to see if any fancy hotel I’m booking is on ResortPass in future and avoid it if so,” she adds.

Pool passes have long been a feature in regions with tandem luxury hotel and backpacker scenes, such as Goa in India and parts of Thailand.

Now passes that offer access to a range of amenities including poolside loungers, business centres and air-conditioned lobbies (and in some cases even daytime access to a hotel room) for considerably less than the cost of an overnight stay are becoming a global norm.

It’s not surprising that hotels are attempting to bridge the gap between penny-pinching travellers and pricey room rates. According to aggregate data from luxury travel company Virtuoso, high-end room rates for July are up 85 per cent compared to the same month in 2019, while British travellers’ purchasing power has dipped 26 per cent since before the pandemic.

United States-based ResortPass claims to hold a 95 per cent share of the day-guest trade and offers access to hotels in 27 countries from $25 (£19) a day. However, it’s not the only third-party player on the scene.

Dayuse, based in France, offers day access from a few hours’ duration at a roster of hotels across Europe costing from £42 for two people; DayPass, which is mainly accessed by app, hones in on favoured fly-and-flop spots such as Bali, Tenerife and Bodrum.

Elsewhere, daybreakhotels.com sells day access to amenities including hotel spas and pools alongside day use of hotel rooms across 15 countries, including the UK, UAE, Italy and Spain, from £30, with an emphasis on spa-goers and business travellers keen to “WfH” (work from hotel).

Specialist resortforaday.com targets cruise passengers, offering pool and beach access near to popular cruise ports. For July it offers a deal on resort pool and beach access, with drinks and snacks in Cozumel, the Caribbean cruise port, from $65 (£50). Meanwhile, brands including Accor allow direct day bookings.

Poolside splurging

For hoteliers, the appeal of populating their hotels with day-passers is clear. ResortPass told Telegraph Travel that the average day-pass customer buys all-day access at a cost of about $165 (£128) from its site, with these customers often splurging more on poolside or other hotel amenities than overnight guests.

Will Ashworth, the founder of chic Cornish resort Watergate Bay, began offering day passes in 2012. He says that the stream of visitors paying from £65 a day to access Watergate Bay’s Atlantic-view infinity pool, Finnish sauna and cliff terrace hot tub allows the resort to retain its staff through the winter months.

“It works really well for us, allowing locals and non-resident guests to experience the hotel [...],” Ashworth explains, adding that day pass guests are, in his experience, “as well-behaved” as overnighters. Watergate Bay caps the number of day passes in the tens per day, Ashworth adds, “to maintain the guest experience”.

Mirah Marhaendra, a director at Raffles Doha, a luxury haunt with attractions including an “aqua urban deck” and “acoustic music penthouse”, which offers £58 a day access (12-8pm) booked directly, says that juggling day passes alongside overnight bookings requires “careful orchestration” on hoteliers’ parts.

Raffles closes day passes during peak seasons and in some poolside areas. Other day deals explicitly target locals: the “all-inclusive daycation” at Rixos the Palm Dubai Hotel & Suites (with unlimited house alcoholic drinks, pool, beach, gym and kids’ club access, from £84) offers “the opportunity to spend the day unwinding in a premium luxury setting, perhaps with visiting family,” says Ali Ozbay, the hotel’s vice president of marketing.

Jenna Brown, 34, a food safety expert from Kent, is a typical day-pass customer. Brown has spent $100 (£77) on resort access for her family at a hotel near Miami airport for the day they dock from a week-long cruise on a Royal Caribbean liner through the Bahamas and the Florida Keys. Booking a day pass was a “no-brainer”, Brown says. “It was either be stuck with a four- and nine-year-old and our bags for a full day at the airport, or book a resort with a pool on ResortPass and hope to relax a bit,” she explains.

What’s the experience of using a day pass like for those of us who have more to achieve than padding about in fluffy slippers, or placating children with poolside churros? Well, your correspondent is writing this from the Diptyque-scented foyer of the Londoner in Leicester Square, fuelled by second-flush Assam tea and surrounded by a morning melée of business meetings and well-groomed women sipping champagne before lunch. I’m here on a 10am to 6pm dayuse.com pass, which costs £340 (a 35 per cent discount on the overnight rate) and includes access to a corner suite with a king-size bed, use of the Residence lounge space, and access to the Londoner’s subterranean spa and gym.

Pros so far include excellent people-spotting and crisp air-conditioning; with cons including the real risk of shelling out £150 on a few flutes of Dom Pérignon Brut (limited guest beverages and nibbles are included in standard day-use deals). Still, in today’s strained climate for both hotel-goers and hotels, the day-pass revolution is a democratic innovation many will embrace.

Five of the best hotel day passes

‘Leisurely Londoner day package’ at the Londoner

With pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna access, plus the keycard to a corner suite with king-size bed, the Londoner’s day pass isn’t a snip, but is a tempting option for the well-heeled or hard-working looking to escape the Soho tumult. Day-use bookings elsewhere in London can be had from £42.

Details: £340; dayuse.co.uk

Summer day membership at Swim Club, Watergate Bay Hotel, Newquay

Access to the boutique’s 25m sea-view swimming pool, cliff terrace hot tub and Finnish sauna, with complimentary drinks, a meal at seafood specialist Zacry’s and a 60-minute spa treatment, come in a good-value £120 deal. Or nab day access to swim and dine for £65 per person.

Details: From £65 a day; watergatebay.co.uk

Day pass at Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa, Costa Rica

This luxury spa resort offers a limited number of passes each day for visitors to experience its “natural river fed by volcanic and mineral springs in a tropical rainforest” with 18 pools, plus outdoor hydromassage experience pool, restaurants and bars, from 10am to 10pm.

Details: From £68; tabacon.com

Day Pass at Hilton Orlando, Florida

A classic offering from ResortPass, giving you 10am to 11pm access to a series of resort pools, including a zero-entry swimming pool with winding waterslide, 2,500 square-foot pool deck and lazy river, and an 892ft-long winding river “with complimentary inner tubes, waterfalls, fountains and water cannons”. Poolside food and drink service is included.

Details: From £30 per adult and £17 per child; resortpass.com

Classic Day Pass at Club Med Bodrum, Turkey

The Classic Day Pass at Club Med Bodrum is ideal for those wanting a slice of all-inclusive action in Bodrum. The pass comes with access to the pool and private beach, a buffet lunch and all-inclusive drinks.

Details: From £90 an adult and £20 per child; DayPass