How to enjoy luxury hotels with a day pass?

A day pass allows you to save money: you sleep in a lower cost accommodation. Then, with a day pass, you can enjoy the more luxurious and grandiose facilities of another hotel during the day.

What if these day passes and their variations optimized your vacation experience?

Did you stay within your budget and choose a vacation accommodation that does not offer all the services the family dreamed of? Would you like to spend a relaxing day with friends or your significant other? Or hold a business meeting in a place that will consolidate your agreements?

You should know that some luxury establishments of large hotel chains offer the opportunity to enjoy their facilities with a day pass.

• Hilton
• Marriott
• Hyatt
• IHG
• Fairmont and many others.

The day pass allows guests to use the hotel’s facilities without staying overnight.

SPA, rooftop pools, sports equipment, cabanas, waterslides or private beaches await you. Meeting rooms, valet parking and credit for cocktails and food are added in some cases. Sometimes, even all-inclusive food and drinks is included!

I did some research and found some interesting offers. They range in price from $6 to $400+/adult per day. They are mostly found in the United States and internationally.

The day pass is a great way for hoteliers to diversify their basket of services. And this, as much for travelers as for residents wishing to enjoy a respite nearby. Are you interested, snowbirds?

Here are five sites and apps that will help you buy a day pass. Here’s what to keep in mind:

ResortPass: A small goldmine to find American hotels and resorts that offer the day pass. Florida, California, Arizona, Texas and Hawaii are particularly well represented. The day pass is also found in Mexico, Costa Rica, in the Caribbean. in the Bahamas, Europe and as far away as Siem Reap. In short, a bank of 600 hotels in 150 cities.

Any examples?

• Hilton Orlando and its pools, slides, lazy river… $32/adult, $19/child.
• For $6, the indoor pool and other amenities at Gaylord Opryland in Nashville
• The JW Marriott in Costa Rica for $89, including pools, private beach and a $35 food credit.

Daycation, smaller in scope than Resortpass, covers much of the same destinations. The United States have great opportunities for day passes. Interestingly on Daycation, you can get a full refund the same day before 10:00 am if you need to cancel.

I did a search in Miami for Saturday, July 16, 2022, during the high season.

Twelve establishments emerged with offers ranging from $19 to $200. Among them is a day pass to the highly sought-after Tidal Cove Waterpark located at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. It retails for $65/person on Daycation, while buying directly on the site, it sells for $30 more.

In downtown Cartagena, Colombia, on the same date, for $35, the day pass entitles you to a day of rejuvenation including breakfast, access to the pools, a healthy lunch and a massage. What more could you want?

Finally, closer to us in New York, for $65, you can swim on the roof of the St-James or in the heart of Manhattan at the SIXTY LES. Take the opportunity to sip a few cocktails available on site.

DayPasses: the destinations grouped on this site are the same as those on Resort for a Day, which is exclusively reserved for cruise passengers. Twenty beautiful locations in Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Mexico, Puerto Rico and others offer the day pass .

Rio Jalisco Hotel, Mexico, for $89/adult and $49/child, your day pass includes all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink food and drinks. Swimming pools, beaches, Jacuzzi, saunas in addition to activity programs for adults and children 4-12 years are offered.

Fares can be paid in Canadian dollars on some day pass sites.

However, you sometimes have to pay in US dollars. We recommend no foreign transaction fee credit cards to save you 2.5% per transaction!

One of the best is the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card.

Daypass is for people who want to spend the day at an all-inclusive resort and use the facilities of an all-inclusive resort without paying overnight.

For example, the Grand Palladium on the fine white sand beach of Bavaro in the Dominican Republic. The day pass gives access, for $55, to the five pools, 22 bars, 5 buffet restaurants and 8 à la carte restaurants. And, let’s not forget the teen and kid’s club.

Other destinations limit themselves to opening their swimming pools, Jacuzzi, sauna, spa, and hammam, like Dubai and Singapore.

Very few hotels in Canada and none in Quebec are listed on the above-mentioned sites and applications. However, we found a complex in Ontario with an indoor water park. The day pass costs about 30 dollars and you can also rent cabanas.

Americana Resort & Spa has an indoor water park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. There are water slides, a wave pool, an aquaplay center and a water play area for the little ones.

However, weekends are excluded as well as certain key dates such as the Ontarian spring break …

Le Montagnais, a multi-service hotel in Chicoutimi, also allows day passes for its Aquafun park. Only $13 / person. And annual passes for residents.

I end the chapter with the discovery of the Swimply website which offers some interesting deals in Canada and elsewhere. It offers the rental of private swimming pools and landscaped grounds.

The day pass becomes an hourly rate. We can rent for example for a birthday, a family party, a day of relaxation with you significant other. The offers are numerous and I was surprised to see that consumers can, like an Airbnb, make their facilities profitable. On average, about $40 CAD/hour.

Day passes are a way to upgrade your vacation or relaxation time. They allow us to try different facilities while following our budget.

All day passes can be paid with your credit card and earn points. Even better, in some cases you can apply these points against the expense, which will then become free.

Spoil yourself!