HotelsByDay

With this app you can grab a hotel stay during the middle of the day for lower rates.

» Available for: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 7 or later. Also available for Android on Google Play.

» Cost: Free

» What it does: The app reveals a variety of options for the traveler when it comes to hotel stays. Discover hotels that will let you book a room for the day (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) instead of overnight. Available in 11 cities, including Los Angeles; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; New York; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia; Atlanta; Chicago; Palm Springs, Calif.; Miami; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

» What’s hot: I love the opportunities this opens up: day dates for busy parents, pool and spa access for afternoon meet-ups, a workspace for business people. Travelers can search for rooms for “Today,” “Tomorrow” or by picking a date on a calendar. I found the Serrano Hotel in San Francisco available on a Sunday in May for $68 (plus taxes and fees that brought it to $89); it was $193 with taxes on the hotel’s website. When I searched New York, I had several options between $65 and $299 (pretax).

» What’s not: I tested the app on my iPhone 6 Plus, and the Location box was a bit deceiving. There was a prompt to search your “Current Location.” However, because it services a limited number of destinations, I wasn’t going to get any hotels if I was off-list. I’d prefer to see a drop-down menu to prompt me to choose one of the cities from those available.

Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times­