Seize the day

Dayuse founder David Lebee's interest in hospitality may have been planted within a traditional luxury hotel setting, but it would soon bloom into a new business model and revenue stream for the industry.

As a child, Lebee would visit his grandparents at the Sofitel Montpellier in the south of France during his summer holidays. Those were his first encounters with the hotel world but they left a lasting impression.

Since he was not big on academia, Lebee's mother, who worked in the same building as the international hospitality school Ferrandi Paris, suggested that he study there. To give him a taste of the industry, she took him to a restaurant run by Ferrandi students. 

"The restaurant was a revelation," he said.

But the call of the hospitality trade was too strong for Lebee to ignore, and he returned to the industry after two years of being a wedding planner. He was introduced to Gilbert Coste, founder of Coste Group, who was impressed with the 24-year-old's extensive work experience.

Coste brought him into Hotel Costes K as its marketing and commercial director, where he worked for three years before becoming the general manager of Hotel Amour with Coste's son Thierry.

Working with the Coste family was a very important chapter, said Lebee, as it not only led to starting Dayuse but also gave him the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship and the value of working with family.

"I thought of creating something just for Paris, organizing 10 or 15 hotels to give the same service as the Hotel Amour."

After speaking to hotel managers around Paris and getting positive feedback, Lebee launched the Dayuse website as a side project. "The ambition for the company at the time was not to create a worldwide service, it was just to respond to the Parisians' needs."

Dayuse created a wave of media buzz and within a year, signed with 100 French hotels.

It was not easy to leave the traditional hotel setup, Lebee's "first amour," but ultimately he believed that it was an opportunity to provide a big service and Dayuse required his full attention.

"I realized that the mission was bigger than me, and it was important to take my part of it. My part is to create better services for all clients' needs around the world."

Growing the business internationally was no easy task as different regions have different working cultures and hurdles to overcome.

For example, it was initially thought that the Asian market would be difficult with its countries' different currencies.

However, within 12 years, the platform has made its mark internationally. It now serves 26 countries and 7,000 hotels worldwide from four global offices.

While people have a plethora of reasons for requiring daytime hotel stays, Lebee said that the three main categories of users are for a stay during long transfers or delays, for business and work, and for leisure.

The pandemic has been a curveball to most industries and businesses and it was no exception with Dayuse.

"The service is very interesting during the pandemic situation because we are connecting with the local consumer. The past two years have been the most turbulent for Dayuse but we withstood them pretty well because we cater to local and urbanized usages and clients. Our services were the only option to escape the routine," said Lebee.

Romantic getaways for couples and a space for remote working has also been popular under the pandemic.

The remote working is especially useful for the founder himself and his wife, as it is not easy to concentrate with their two daughters in the apartment.

Having become a successful entrepreneur, Lebee is eager to give back and is now working with other entrepreneurs as their investors and mentor - just as he himself received in his youth.

His advice to himself when he first began Dayuse, as well as that to aspiring entrepreneurs: "Don't listen to the objections, believe in yourself and continue down the road you've chosen in life."