It’s the most expensive nap you’ll ever take

In New York and San Francisco, hotels offer rooms by the hour — or the minute

Most hotels already offer quick checkout. Now, a growing number are selling briefer stays, too.

Through an app called Recharge, some 50 hotels in San Francisco and New York offer rooms by the minute — at 40 cents to USD$2 per minute, depending on demand and time of day.

That means the opportunity to take an hour nap in a comfortable bed for $24 to $120 before the usual taxes and other hotel fees.

That isn’t exactly a bargain. For instance, two of the participating hotels recently were offering fullnight stays for $269, before taxes.

That works out to about $12 per hour, assuming a regular check-in and checkout time.

But it’s a savings over the fullnight rate for those who don’t need the full night.

Recharge says its app has drawn interest from travellers needing a nap after an overnight flight and from nursing mothers looking for some privacy and comfort.

Although the hotel still needs to pay for cleaning and administrative tasks, it’s extra money for a room that might otherwise be empty during the day. Recharge plans to expand to Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington this year.

Another digital service, Byhours, offers “microstays” at about 3,000 hotels worldwide, but only four are in the U.S. and none in Canada.

RECHARGE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A page from Recharge, an app that offers hotel rooms by the minute. Hotels find a way to monetize empty rooms for those in need of a room for a “microstay” of only a few hours.