The founder of the Singapore-based travel start-up believes the daycation revolution is just beginning
Holidays just aren’t what they used to be. Instead of heading for a quick break in Phuket or Bali, most of us spend our weekends ensconced in hotels or exploring outlying islands on a yacht, desperately trying to scratch that travel itch.
The pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we work and play and shaped how we view our city as a place of leisure. Over the last year, “daycations”—daytime experiences within hotels—have grown in popularity responding to the essential need for a change of scenery. It was something that Martha Waslen, founder of travel start-up DayAway, noticed herself as she and her family were grounded in Singapore.
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“We live in the Orchard area surrounded by so many beautiful hotels. When circuit breaker lifted, the one we kept visiting over and over was the Shangri-La. The facilities there are just so beautiful—they have a gorgeous pool, a fantastic kids club called Buds, a new gym that I know they were selling membership for. There were so many of us with kids who wanted to see something different from our homes and I was wondering why there wasn’t any way to use the hotel facilities without going on a staycation,” shared Waslen who previously worked in lifestyle and tech roles at beauty platform Luxola and Ralph Lauren.