Take the Day Away

Meet Martha Weslen , fashion, style, technology leader, and founder/CEO of the latest B2B2C digital platform that’s revolutionising the hospitality industry: DayAway.

WORDS AIMÉE RALFINI

Based in Singapore with her young family, Martha Waslen has a business background in luxury fashion and beauty. She started her career at Ralph Lauren’s New York headquarters. Before shaking up the hotel industry, Waslen’s expertise was building luxury brands in the digital sphere and she was instrumental in the success of the beauty platform Luxola, subsequently acquired by LVMH-owned Sephora.

As a female entrepreneur with a thirst for seamless digital technology, it wasn’t long before Waslen was working on ways to elevate her expertise in a new luxury lifestyle SaaS* product**. In 2021 DayAway was launched in Singapore, a new digital platform giving members access to curated daytime experiences at their favourite hotels. A winner for the hotel industry who was looking to optimise underutilised ancillary spaces, and a winner of a 2021 Skift IDEA Award for Tech & Innovation.

* Software as a Service. **Product is the term for a SaaS digital platform.

Mid-2022, DayAway launched in Australia, offering exclusive curated daytime hotel experiences to a growing community of lux-seekers looking to relax, recharge and reconnect with friends, family or valued colleagues.

“Our mission at DayAway is to elevate the everyday, whether it’s for work, leisure or something in between," says Martha.

“We are defining a new era of luxury experiences that we hope will provide our community with opportunities to experience their favourite hotels in exciting and meaningful ways.”

DayAway has continued to grow in popularity and now offers experiences in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, with plans to expand further in additional international locales including the US, the UK and Europe.

Into 2023 and DayAway shows no signs of slowing down, with its latest o ering of a Founders Key – an NFT Key that can be purchased instead of/as well as membership – unlocking even more exclusive experiences and benefits than previously available worldwide, tapping into the luxury beauty and fashion industries and premium drinks brands, in addition to the travel and hospitality industries.

The first drop of the Founders Key is called the DayAway Genesis Collection and has additional global partnerships with Little Emperors, the elite London-based travel membership platform offering luxury benefits, experiences and incentives at over 4,000 hotels worldwide, and with Heli, the ultra-curated adventure company based in New York City. With only 500 available and a buy-back guarantee, this offering has one of the best value propositions currently available on OpenSea (opensea.io/DayAway).

What’s your one of your favourite experience packages in Australia?

As a working parent dealing with never-ending decision fatigue, I love DayAway experiences where every detail of the day has been meticulously curated by the hotel – like the exceptional experiences at Jackalope Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, that include a blissful spa package, a wine tasting of their superb cool climate chardonnay and pinot noir, and a delicious lunch at Rare Hare restaurant overlooking their beautiful Willow Creek Vineyard. At this stunning contemporary property you also have the chance to view artworks by acclaimed artists such as Emily Floyd, Rick Owens, Tracey Emin, Tatsuo Miyajima and Random International’s incredible Rain Room. Can you imagine a better day?

How would you like to see DayAway grow in 2023?

DayAway plans to grow in so many ways! We’ll be expanding our international footprint with new partnerships and experiences in Europe, the UK, and North America, while simultaneously integrating our proprietary token gate technology and NFT-enabled membership into a wide range of hospitality, travel, retail, and wellness platforms worldwide. What do you love most about your home of Singapore?

The vibrance of everyday life here! The delicious food, the beautiful colours of the island and the warmth of the very diverse community that lives here. It’s an incredibly unique place where people from all over the world, and from all backgrounds, can feel very much at home.

What inspired the idea of DayAway?

It was the perfect mix of my love for luxury hotels and a desire to get out of the house during the lockdowns. The DayAway platform has greatly evolved since our launch, but the original inspiration was to create one centralised platform that would connect the growing demand from guests looking for daytime escapes to relax and recharge – including me – to the supply of underutilised spaces at luxury hotels.

DayAway is the perfect go-to for unique, engaging, and restorative daytime experiences, with the Founders Key offering expanded benefits that can be booked at the touch of a button, with immediate confirmation. An obvious choice for anyone wanting to enjoy some tactile advantages of NFT ownership. Find out more at mydayaway.com and opensea.io/DayAway