A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refrigerator, and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a television, and en-suite bathrooms. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, a business center with computers, printers, and other office equipment, childcare, conference and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, gymnasium, restaurants, day spa, and social function services. Hotel rooms are usually numbered (or named in some smaller hotels and B&Bs) to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In Japan, capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities.
The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travelers. Inns began to cater to wealthier clients in the mid-18th century. One of the first hotels in a modern sense was opened in Exeter in 1768. Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the early 19th century, and luxury hotels began to spring up in the later part of the 19th century, particularly in the United States.
Hotel operations vary in size, function, complexity, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set industry standards to classify hotel types. An upscale full-service hotel facility offers luxury amenities, full-service accommodations, an on-site restaurant, and the highest level of personalized service, such as a concierge, room service, and clothes-ironing staff. Full-service hotels often contain upscale full-service facilities with many full-service accommodations, an on-site full-service restaurant, and a variety of on-site amenities. Boutique hotels are smaller independent, non-branded hotels that often contain upscale facilities. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments offer a limited amount of on-site amenities. Economy hotels are small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer basic accommodations with little to no services. Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer longer-term full-service accommodations compared to a traditional hotel.
Timeshare and destination clubs are a form of property ownership involving ownership of an individual unit of accommodation for seasonal usage. A motel is a small-sized low-rise lodging with direct access to individual rooms from the car parking area. Boutique hotels are typically hotels with a unique environment or intimate setting. A number of hotels and motels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture. Some hotels are built specifically as destinations in themselves, for example casinos and holiday resorts.
Most hotel establishments are run by a general manager who serves as the head executive (often referred to as the "hotel manager"), department heads who oversee various departments within a hotel (e.g., food service), middle managers, administrative staff, and line-level supervisors. The organizational chart and volume of job positions and hierarchy varies by hotel size, function and class, and is often determined by hotel ownership and managing companies.
Etymology
The word is derived from the French (coming from the same origin as hospital), which referred to a French version of a building seeing frequent visitors, and providing care, rather than a place offering accommodation. In contemporary French usage, now has the same meaning as the English term, and is used for the old meaning, as well as in some place names such as Hôtel-Dieu (in Paris), which has been a hospital since the Middle Ages. The French spelling, with the circumflex, was also used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the 's' found in the earlier spelling, which over time took on a new, but closely related meaning.
Grammatically, hotels usually take the definite article – hence "The Astoria Hotel" or simply "The Astoria".
History
Facilities offering hospitality to travellers featured in early civilizations. In Greco-Roman culture and in ancient Persia, hospitals for recuperation and rest were built at thermal baths. Guinness World Records officially recognised Japan's Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, founded in 705, as the oldest hotel in the world. During the Middle Ages, various religious orders at monasteries and abbeys would offer accommodation for travellers on the road.
The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe, possibly dating back to the rule of Ancient Rome. These would provide for the needs of travellers, including foodCompare: and lodging, stabling and fodder for the traveller's horses and fresh horses for mail coaches. Famous London examples of inns include the George and the Tabard. A typical layout of an inn featured an inner court with bedrooms on the two sides, with the kitchen and parlour at the front and the stables at the back.
For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travellers (in other words, a roadhouse). Coaching inns stabled teams of horses for stagecoaches and mail coaches and replaced tired teams with fresh teams. Traditionally they were seven miles apart, but this depended very much on the terrain.
Some English towns had as many as ten such inns and rivalry between them became intense, not only for the income from the stagecoach operators but for the revenue from the food and drink supplied to the wealthy passengers. By the end of the century, coaching inns were being run more professionally, with a regular timetable being followed and fixed menus for food.Coaching Era, The: Stage and Mail Coach Travel in and Around Bath, Bristol and Somerset, Roy Gallop, Fiducia (2003),
Inns began to cater to richer clients in the mid-18th century, and consequently grew in grandeur and in the level of service provided. Sudhir Andrews traces "the birth of an organised hotel industry" to Europe's chalets and small hotels which catered primarily to aristocrats. One of the first hotels in a modern sense, the Royal Clarence, opened in Exeter in 1768, although the idea only really caught on in the early-19th century. In 1812 Mivart's Hotel opened its doors in London, later changing its name to Claridge's.
Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the 19th century. Luxury hotels, including the 1829 Tremont House in Boston, the 1836 Astor House in New York City, the 1889 Savoy Hotel in London, and the Ritz chain of hotels in London and Paris in the late 1890s, catered to an ever more-wealthy clientele.
The luxury hotels of the 1900's were referred to as palace hotels in the United States, and as grand hotels in Europe. While there were differences between these two types of hotels -- a palace hotel was always large, while a grand hotel could have as few as 50 guest rooms -- they both featured dining, facilities for social activities, and a high standard of personalized service in addition to rooms for sleeping. Many were located downtown in cities, and this type of hotel spread globally to provide European and American travelers with familiar accommodations. Luxury hotels of this period frequently offered long-term accommodations in addition to short-term stays.
In the United States, the majority of hotels in the 19th through the mid-20th centuries contained both rooms intended for short-term stays and rooms or suites intended for more permanent residence. People of all social classes lived in hotels during this time period.
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is part of a United States law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin in places of public accommodation. Hotels are included as types of public accommodation in the Act.
International scale Hotels cater to travelers from many countries and languages, since no one country dominates the travel industry.
Country Hotel rooms in 2011–12 Average rooms per hotel Overnight tourists traveling from each country, annual United States 4,900,000 93 58,000,000 China 1,500,000 132 83,000,000 Japan 1,370,000 27 18,000,000 Italy 1,100,000 32 29,000,000 Germany 950,000 27 72,000,000 Spain 900,000 47 12,000,000 Mexico 660,000 37 16,000,000 United Kingdom 650,000 17 57,000,000 France 620,000 36 26,000,000 Thailand 530,000 NA 6,000,000 Indonesia 410,000 25 7,000,000 Greece 400,000 41 5,000,000 Brazil 400,000 40 8,000,000 Turkey 330,000 117 16,000,000 Austria 290,000 22 11,000,000 Russia 260,000 33 44,000,000 Global total 21,000,000 41 876,000,000
Facilities
Across different price categories, locations, and purposes, the facilities of hotels vary considerably. The facilities of a hotel can be divided into those located inside the guest room, and those located outside of the guest room.
Guest rooms All hotels feature a private room for the guest (or group of guests staying together), and offer a sleeping accommodation. In Western-style hotels, there will be a bed in the room, but hotels such as the Japanese ryokan and some Korean ondol rooms feature futons or mats which can be moved out of the way during the daytime. Most hotel rooms have locking doors for privacy, and guests typically receive either a physical key or an electronic key for their room. In some hotels, several rooms will share a single bathroom, whereas many hotel rooms feature a private bathroom.
Hotels typically provide bedding and towels, which are washed between guests, and are replaced periodically during a customer's stay at the hotel, either automatically or on request. The hotel staff also usually performs daily cleaning of the guest room. Some hotels offer an additional daily service in the room, known as turndown service, which occurs before bedtime.
Many additional hotel amenities are frequently found in guest rooms, such as television sets, hair dryers, desks, chairs, Wi-Fi, and complimentary personal care products.
Additional facilities
Hotel facilities outside of the guest room often include a reception desk, where hotel guests may check in and check out for their stay at the hotel, as well as ask questions and request additional services. Many hotels also feature restaurants and bars, and it may be possible to obtain food via room service.
Fitness and wellness offerings frequently include swimming pools and fitness rooms. Saunas, spas, and other facilities are also offered at some hotels.
Hotels designed to host events, such as conferences and meetings, will typically have meeting rooms of various sizes, ranging from those suitable for small groups to large banquet halls or exhibit halls.
Types
Hotels are classified in a number of different ways, based on criteria such as their quality, size, location, and type of customer.
Hotel rating systems are focused on quality, which includes criteria such as the amenities offered by the hotel and the level of service available. For example, a hotel with a higher rating may be expected to offer a spa, while a hotel with a lower rating may be expected to have a television in every guest room. There is no global standard for hotel ratings, meaning that amenities at a given rating level will vary from one market to another.