Now you can book luxury hotels by the minute

A new app is allowing luxury hotels to be booked out by the minute.

Recharge allows users to rent out rooms at luxury hotels for flexible periods of time: you simply tap to book a participating hotel and the room is instantly ready for you to check in.

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You then check in at the front desk within half an hour of booking, and your room time begins from the moment you are given your key.

You check out on the same app, and housekeeping is immediately notified to come and clean the room (but if you are still in the room when housekeeping arrives, you are charged an overstay fee).

The app launched in San Francisco in 2015 and has now been expanded to include 16 hotels in New York City, where rooms range from $0.83 to $2 per minute.

Recharge plans to expand into Los Angeles and London next.