Brits are reserving inns for three-hour intercourse periods in new ‘microstay’ craze

French trend takes off over here as Guests are checking in for everything from spa sessions and Zoom calls to secret affairs as hotels offer rooms for in short blocks

Randy Brits are booking hotel rooms for just three hours as the craze for daytime “microstays” crosses the Channel. Guests are checking in for everything from spa sessions and Zoom calls to secret affairs as the French trend takes off over here.

Booking platform Dayuse says 860 British hotels now offer rooms for short daytime blocks, compared with 1,500 in France. The website states it will always “prioritise your privacy”, adding: “Check-in is discreet and professional.

“Hotels understand that guests booking rooms for a few hours value confidentiality, and staff are trained accordingly.”

It promises “premium properties” and says many hotels also provide “special romantic touches like champagne packages, rose petals, or couples’ spa treatments”.

Prices range from around £40 for a budget slot to £300 for a luxury option, with travellers also using rooms to shower and change before late flights or get ready for weddings and parties.

Around 40% of bookings are for leisure, another 40% are made while travelling and the remaining fifth are for work.

Make-up artist Joyce Connor, 62, from Reading, uses hotel rooms to see clients and film promotional videos.

She even checked in to enjoy the air conditioning during the summer heatwaves. She said: “The hotel room gave me the option to do my client’s make-up in peace and not be hot and flustered.”

Dayuse executive Barbara Steinert said demand was growing every year, with bookings increasing fivefold in five years as the way people “travel, work and live” changes.

She said daytime slots have become a “sustainable and complementary source of revenue” for hotels rather than a passing trend.