Hotels with day or hourly rates?

JClishe · Jul 17, 2013

Anyone aware of any hotel chains that offer day or hourly rates, which would be more economical for a boudoir shoot than a full nightly rate? I've talked to a hotel manager at a local hotel and he said day rates were pretty common in the industry about 15 years ago but many chains have moved away from that. Curious if anyone knows of any chains that might still offer these.

Thanks.

ronlane · Jul 17, 2013

No help from me, other than a question for thought. Do you really want to shoot in an hourly rate hotel?? YMMV.

squirrels · Jul 17, 2013

Ooo! You should try some of the local bed and breakfast type places.

runnah · Jul 17, 2013

It is going to be a very hard sell to get a hotel to agree to "rent a room for a few hours to take photos of scantily clad women".

Sounds very "porno-ish".

12sndsgood · Jul 17, 2013

yeah but likely the chains that are still doing hourly rates are right up the porno-ish alley.

Big Mike · Jul 17, 2013

I think you would have more luck by just asking the manager directly. The 'official' policy is probably that they don't...but if you can show that you're not some sleazy porno director, then they might work something out with you.

Another option would be to include other photographers/models/MUA or stylists and share the cost.

tirediron · Jul 17, 2013

I think Squirrels' suggestion of the B&B is an excellent one; they're much more likely to have nicely decorated rooms without the mandatory under-window AC unit and industrial carpeting.

squirrels · Jul 17, 2013

I mean, look at this: Romantic Cabins in Ohio, Cabin in Ohio Southern, Cabin Luxury Ohio

Plus you'd be more likely to explain what you are up to to the folks in charge.

imagemaker46 · Jul 17, 2013

Some hotels do have day rates, just call around. The ones that generally offer hourly are the seedy ones usually in parts of town that more than likely will have you telling the police what kind of gear you used to own, and what the guy looked like that was running away with it.

ronlane · Jul 17, 2013

imagemaker46 said:
Some hotels do have day rates, just call around. The ones that generally offer hourly are the seedy ones usually in parts of town that more than likely will have you telling the police what kind of gear you used to own, and what the guy looked like that was running away with it.

Then you would switch to journalist mode and shoot pictures of them running away. "Honestly Officer, I was just renting the room to shoot photos of this lovely lady and then this guy right here took off with my gear."

JClishe · Jul 17, 2013

squirrels said:
I mean, look at this: Romantic Cabins in Ohio, Cabin in Ohio Southern, Cabin Luxury Ohio

Plus you'd be more likely to explain what you are up to to the folks in charge.

Yeah that really is a good idea that I hadn't thought of, thanks for the suggestion!

PinkDoor · Jul 17, 2013

Another thought, and what I used to do pre-studio. . . I would stack my boudoir sessions, 3 - 5 during one weekend and rent a room for two nights. If the B&B works out, then that's great, but if not, I would imagine that the nicer hotels would make you purchase the full night. Important to remember that your background and lighting will play a key role in the outcome of your sessions.

Robin_Usagani · Jul 17, 2013

You know.. if someone rent the room for 1-2 hour for boudoir... they still use the bed. This bed needs to be clean. IMO nobody wants to stay at hotel with hourly rate. Will they really clean the room if you rent it for 1 hr?

bratkinson · Jul 18, 2013

Years ago, I briefly had an acquaintance that owned a by-the-hour motel with 22 rooms. She kept 2 night maids on duty and would turn the same room 2-3 times per night! I never asked how many times the place was raided, or had other problems requiring police assistance.

Steve5D · Jul 18, 2013

When I was driving cross country, I stayed in a Best Western that was $49.00 a night. It was clean, comfortable and fairly well appointed. It may have needed some tweaking for a nice boudoir shoot, but such a thing could've been easily pulled off.

And did I mention it was only $49.00 a night? How much cheaper do you hope to get?

These days, hotel don't rent hourly because they don't have to. That's the bottom line. If you want a really nice hotel room for a few hours bad enough, you'll pay for the night. The upshot to that is that the time limit factor is hardly a factor at all.

Seriously, how much would you expect to pay, per hour, at some place like a Hilton or Marriott?