What BYHOURS does

BYHOURS is a Barcelona-based microstay hotel booking platform founded in 2012 that allows travelers to reserve hotel rooms in fixed-duration packages of 3, 6, or 24 hours with customer-selected check-in times. The platform addresses a gap in the traditional hotel industry, where standard 12pm-to-12pm overnight stays are ill-suited to travelers with long layovers, business professionals needing daytime workspace, or leisure consumers seeking access to hotel amenities without a full overnight commitment. The company's technology stack centers on a proprietary hourly booking engine exposed via a consumer web platform, native iOS and Android applications, an embeddable hotel website widget, a dedicated Hoteliers Extranet, and a Travel Agency Portal, collectively enabling distribution across B2C, B2B, and white-label channels.

The business operates as a two-sided marketplace: on the supply side, BYHOURS contracts with 4,000+ hotel partners across 24 markets and 600+ destinations in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the US, with no minimum allotment requirements to participate; on the demand side, the platform serves business travelers, stopover passengers, lifestyle/leisure users, and event attendees through a product-led, self-serve booking flow with social login and a 10% mobile-app first-booking discount. Revenue is generated through a combination of a transaction/management fee charged at booking and commission from hotel partners on completed stays, with the remaining balance paid directly to the hotel at check-in.

The company reports cumulative turnover of €20M as of November 2023, has processed 300,000+ bookings for 250,000+ customers, and has generated €15M+ in cumulative revenue for partner hotels. It has raised approximately $18M across multiple funding rounds (2013–2023), including an undisclosed investment from Velocity Ventures in November 2023 specifically to support expansion into Asian markets. The leadership team comprises founders Guillermo Gaspart (CEO) and Christian Rodriguez, with Mario Herrera Pérez as CMO and Lorena Rios as finance manager. The company operates with a lean team (11–50 employees) and a registered legal entity, BYHOURS Travel S.L., headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.

Name

BYHOURS

Legal name

BYHOURS Travel S.L.

Website

https://byhours.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BYHOURS is a Barcelona-founded microstay hotel booking platform operating since 2012, enabling travelers to book 3-, 6-, or 24-hour hotel stays with flexible check-in times across 4,000+ partner hotels in 24 markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Travel Marketplace

NAICS

Travel Agencies (56151), Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (5615)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Booking Engines & Direct Web Booking (THALACAD)

Keywords

• Microstay hotel booking
• Hourly hotel reservations
• Online travel marketplace
• Hotel booking platform
• Short-stay accommodation

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Transaction/Booking Fees: BYHOURS charges a management fee at the time of reservation, with the remaining amount paid directly at the hotel. This hybrid payment model allows customers to secure bookings with a small upfront fee while paying the bulk at check-in.
2. Commission from Hotel Partners: Revenue share or commission from partner hotels that generate bookings through the BYHOURS platform. Hotels benefit from monetizing empty rooms during low-occupancy periods.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BYHOURS operates a microstay booking platform that allows travelers to reserve hotel rooms in packs of 3, 6, or 24 hours with customer-selected check-in times across 4,000+ hotels in 600+ destinations. The platform includes a consumer-facing website and mobile app, a hotelier extranet for inventory management, an embeddable booking widget for hotel websites, and a dedicated travel agency portal. Revenue is generated through transaction fees at booking plus commissions paid by partner hotels on completed stays.

Product overview

BYHOURS operates as a unified hotel microstay booking platform with multiple access points: the core BYHOURS platform (web and mobile app) for consumers to book hotels by the hour in packs of 3, 6, or 24 hours; a dedicated Hoteliers Extranet for property partners to manage listings; an embeddable Hourly Booking Widget for hotel websites; a Travel Agencies portal for B2B distribution; and BYHOURS Direct for hotel direct sales. The platform spans 24 markets across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East with over 4,000 partner hotels, offering flexible check-in times and pay-per-use hotel stays.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BYHOURS Core Booking Platform (website) Primary consumer-facing online booking platform (byhours.com) that allows travelers to search, select, and reserve hotel rooms in 3, 6, or 24-hour packs with flexible check-in times. Designed for individual travelers needing microstays for business, layovers, leisure day-use, or events across 4,000+ hotels in 24 markets.
• BYHOURS Mobile App (iOS & Android) Native iOS and Android applications enabling travelers to book hotel microstays on demand, manage favorites and bookings, and access personalized offers. Includes social login (Google and Facebook) and offers a 10% discount on first booking for new app users.
• BYHOURS for Hoteliers (Extranet) B2B hotel partner portal that allows properties to manage their microstay listings, availability, rates, and commercial strategy. Includes onboarding, listing management, and revenue analytics for hoteliers monetizing empty rooms via BYHOURS.
• Hourly Booking Widget Embeddable widget that hotels can add to their own websites with a single line of code, allowing guests to book microstays directly on the hotel's own site without leaving the environment. Supports custom branding and mobile/desktop configurations.
• BYHOURS for Travel Agencies Dedicated B2B portal for travel agencies to access, sell, and manage microstay bookings on behalf of their clients, with agency-specific access and management features.
• BYHOURS Direct Direct sales platform that enables hotels to sell microstays through their own websites using BYHOURS-powered booking functionality, supporting hotel-owned direct distribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hotels generate up to €700K additional annual revenue through microstay bookings
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Hilton BarcelonaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHilton Barcelona participates as a partner hotel, utilizing BYHOURS to offer microstay bookings. The hotel has reported positive outcomes including improved ADR (Average Daily Rate) in previously empty time slots.
• Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona DiagonalflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal is highlighted as a flagship partner, utilizing BYHOURS to attract new guest segments who need flexible hourly booking options. The property benefits from easy-to-use platform controls and flexibility.
• GHC HotelscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGHC Hotels operates multiple properties using BYHOURS for channel management and microstay inventory. Reports significant revenue increase, intuitive interface, total flexibility, and exceptional customer support from the BYHOURS team.
• Hotel Partner Network (4,000+ hotels)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 4,000 hotels worldwide partner with BYHOURS to offer microstay bookings, including major international chains and independent boutique hotels. Partners include Hilton, Marriott, NH Hotels, IHG properties, and independent hotels across 600 destinations in 24 markets.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dayuse.com: Dayuse.com is the closest direct competitor to BYHOURS — a Paris-based platform offering daytime hotel room bookings by the hour across a global network. Both target business travelers, stopover passengers, and leisure daycation users with similar 3/6-hour stay packs.
• HotelsByDay: HotelsByDay is a US-based microstay hotel booking platform acquired by Dayuse, offering hourly room reservations in hotels across North America and Europe. Operates the same microstay-by-the-hour concept as BYHOURS for travelers needing short daytime stays.

Emerging players

• Recharge (by Dayuse): Recharge is a sibling brand within the Dayuse ecosystem focused on short-rest hotel bookings near airports and transportation hubs. Directly comparable to BYHOURS' stopover use case and competes in the same layover/lay-flat positioning.
• Daybreak Hotrooms: Daybreak Hotrooms is a smaller microstay/hotel-by-day platform offering flexible check-in and short-stay hotel rooms. Operates in a similar microstay niche to BYHOURS with overlapping product functionality.

Broad incumbents

• Booking.com: Booking.com is the world's largest online travel agency with a massive hotel inventory and could trivially add a microstay/hourly booking feature to its platform. Represents the dominant incumbent threat to BYHOURS in the broader hotel booking space.
• Expedia: Expedia is a global online travel agency with extensive hotel inventory and could add microstay offerings to its platform. Represents a major broad-incumbent competitor with significantly greater scale and resources than BYHOURS.
• Hotels.com: Hotels.com is a major global hotel booking platform owned by Expedia Group with broad hotel inventory across BYHOURS' target markets. A potential competitor in microstays given its scale and existing hotelier relationships.
• Airbnb: Airbnb dominates alternative accommodation globally and has expanded into flexible-length stays. While primarily short-term rentals, its push into flexible check-in times and experiences overlaps with BYHOURS' flexible-stay use cases.
• Trip.com: Trip.com is a major Asian-headquartered OTA with significant presence in the Asia-Pacific travel market — directly relevant to BYHOURS' planned Asian expansion as both a potential competitor and distribution partner for microstay offerings.

Regional players

• Mr & Mrs Smith: Mr & Mrs Smith is a curated luxury and boutique hotel booking platform with strong European presence. Comparable to BYHOURS in the curated-hotel space and in offering premium hotel experiences for short stays.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BYHOURS
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ByHoursTv
• Facebookfacebook.com/byhours
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/byhours-com
• Instagraminstagram.com/byhours
• TikToktiktok.com/@byhourstravel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors18 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BYHOURS