Hotel

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For other uses, see Hotel (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with hostel.

"Hotel Woerthersee" in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria

Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal, Budapest, Hungary

St. Regis Hotel & Residences, Mexico City

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short-term basis. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as a restaurant, a swimming pool or childcare. Some hotels have conference services and meeting rooms and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location.^{[citation needed]}

In Australia or Canada, the word may also refer to a pub or bar. In India, the word may also refer to a restaurant since the best restaurants were always situated next to a good hotel.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Origins of the term 2 Services and facilities 3 Classification 4 Boutique hotels 5 Motels 6 Historic hotels 7 Unusual hotels 7.1 Treehouse hotels 7.2 Cave hotels 7.3 Capsule hotels 7.4 Ice and snow hotels 7.5 Garden hotels 7.6 Underwater hotels 7.7 Other unusual hotels 8 World-record setting hotels 8.1 Tallest 8.2 Largest 8.3 Oldest 9 Hotel occupations 9.1 Owner 9.2 Employees 9.3 Accounting 9.4 Management 10 Hotel chains 11 Living in hotels 12 See also 13 References

Origins of the term

The word hotel derives from the French hôtel (coming from "hôte" meaning "guest"), which referred to a French version of a townhouse or any other building seeing frequent visitors, not a place offering accommodation (in contemporary usage, hôtel has the meaning of "hotel", and hôtel particulier is used for the old meaning). The French spelling (with the circumflex) was once also used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the \'s\' once preceding the \'t\' in the earlier hostel spelling, which over time received a new, but closely related meaning.

Services and facilities

Basic accommodation of a room with only a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with en-suite bathrooms and, more commonly in the United States than elsewhere, climate control.

Other features found may be a telephone, an alarm clock, a TV, and broadband Internet connectivity. Food and drink may be supplied by a mini-bar (which often includes a small refrigerator) containing snacks and drinks (to be paid for on departure), and tea and coffee making facilities (cups, spoons, an electric kettle and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer or milk).

Some hotels offer various combinations of meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all comers within certain stated hours; to avoid this requirement it is not uncommon to come across "private hotels" which are not subject to this requirement.^{[citation needed]}

However, in Japan, capsule hotels offer minimal facilities and room space.

Classification

The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of services available. Due to the enormous increase in tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards, especially those of smaller establishments, have improved considerably. For the sake of greater comparability, rating systems have been introduced, with the one to five stars classification being most common.^{[citation needed]}

The star classification system is a common one for rating hotels. Higher star ratings indicate more luxury.

The AAA and their affiliated bodies use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel and restaurant ratings levels.

Hotels are independently assessed in traditional systems and rest heavily on the facilities provided. Some consider this disadvantageous to smaller hotels whose quality of accommodation could fall into one class but the lack of an item such as an elevator would prevent it from reaching a higher categorization.^{[citation needed]}

In some countries, there is an official body with standard criteria for classifying hotels, but in many others there is none. There have been attempts at unifying the classification system so that it becomes an internationally recognized and reliable standard but large differences exist in the quality of the accommodation and the food within one category of hotel, sometimes even in the same country.

Boutique hotels

The 110-room Madison Hotel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee is a typical high-end boutique hotel.

"Boutique Hotel" is a term originating in North America to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain or branded hotels by providing an exceptional and personalized level of accommodation, services and facilities. Because of their financial successes in the most recent past, there have been attempts to create chains have adopted the "boutique" look and feel. In the US this trend was started by the "W" hotel chain in the 1990s and most recently this trend can be observed in chains as "aloft", "NYLO","Hyatt Place" and others. Through this corporate adaptation of the concept the term "boutique" also changed and more recently hoteliers prefer to use the term "lifestyle hotels" to get away from the above mentioned quirky image.^{[citation needed]}

Boutique hotels are sometimes furnished in a themed, stylish and/or aspirational manner. Although usually considerably smaller than a mainstream hotel (ranging from 3 to 100 guest rooms) boutique hotels are generally fitted with telephone and wi-fi Internet connections, honesty bars and often cable/pay TV. Guest services are attended to by 24 hour hotel staff. Many of the boutique hotels have on site dining facilities, and the majority offer attractive bars as well as lounges which may also be open to the general public.^{[citation needed]}

Of the total travel market a small percentage are discerning travelers, who place a high importance on privacy, luxury and service delivery. This market is typically price insensitive (made up of both high end leisure and corporate travelers), non-seasonal, high-yielding and repeat, and therefore one which boutique hotel and other high-end operators target as their primary source of income.^{[citation needed]}

Motels

There is no hard and fast rule differentiating motels from other hotels, although the word motel suggests that it is aimed at motorists. This may simply mean that it is a hotel with good access to the road network (on a motorway or ring road) so that a long car journey need not be interrupted for long by town-centre traffic. In other cases the designation is simply an attempt to make the most of a poor location inconvenient for town-centre services and attractions. Classically, though, a motel is a hotel which is made convenient for people who, for whatever personal reason, wish to be able to have quick access from the outside world (especially from their parked car) to the hotel room - without passing the scrutiny of a receptionist or fellow guests. This is usually arranged by having rooms (sometimes in individual chalets or even trailers) arranged around the car park with room doors opening directly to the outside rather than to an internal corridor.^{[citation needed]}

Historic hotels

Hotel Astoria and a statue of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia in front, in Saint Petersburg

Some hotels have gained their renown through tradition, by hosting significant events or persons, such as Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam, Germany, which derives its fame from the so-called Potsdam Conference of the World War II allies Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin in 1945. The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai is one of India\'s most famous and historic hotels because of its association with the Indian independence movement. Other establishments have given name to a particular meal or beverage, as is the case with the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, USA, known for its Waldorf Salad or the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, where the drink Singapore Sling was invented. Another example is the Hotel Sacher in Vienna Austria, home of the Sachertorte or even the Hotel de Paris where the crèpe Suzette was invented.

Hôtel Ritz in Paris

There are also hotels which became much more popular through films like the Grand Hotel Europe in Saint Petersburg, Russia when James Bond stayed there in the blockbuster Goldeneye. Cannes hotels such as the Carlton or the Martinez become the center of the world during Cannes Film Festival (France).

A number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, such as the Ritz Hotel in London, UK (\'Putting on The Ritz\'), the Algonquin Hotel in New York City with its famed Algonquin Round Table and Hotel Chelsea, also in New York City, subject of a number of songs and also the scene of the stabbing of Nancy Spungen (allegedly by her boyfriend Sid Vicious). Hotels that enter folklore like these two are also often frequented by celebrities, as is the case both with the Ritz and the Chelsea.

Unusual hotels

Many hotels can be considered destinations in themselves, by dint of unusual features of the lodging and/or its immediate environment:

Treehouse hotels

Some hotels, such as the Costa Rica Tree House in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, or Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park, Kenya, are built with living trees as structural elements, making them treehouses.

The Ariau Towers near Manaus, Brazil is in the middle of the Amazon, on the Rio Negro. Bill Gates even invested and had a suite built there with satellite internet/phone.

Another hotel with treehouse units is Bayram\'s Tree Houses in Olympos, Turkey [1].

Another ecological treehouse hotel is in the natural reserve at Rio Claro , Antioquia, (Colombia).

Cave hotels

Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, South Australia and the Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (named after the author) in Guadix, Spain, as well as several hotels in Cappadocia, Turkey, are notable for being built into natural cave formations, some with rooms underground.

Capsule hotels

Capsule hotels are a type of economical hotels that are quite common in Japan. Recently there has been a gain in popularity of these types of hotels in Europe as well, although more space and luxury have been allocated. Examples are citizenM hotels, Qbic Hotels, StayOrange, and Yotel.

Ice and snow hotels

Main article: Ice hotel

Ice and snow hotels, such as the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, melt every spring and are rebuilt each winter.

The Mammut Snow Hotel in Finland is located within the walls of the Kemi snow castle, which is the biggest in the world. It includes The Mammut Snow Hotel, The Castle Courtyard, The Snow Restaurant and a chapel for weddings, etc. Its furnishings and decorations, such as sculptures, are all made of snow and ice.

A hotel which offers similar accommodation is the Lainio Snow Hotel in Lapland, near Ylläs, Finland.

Garden hotels

Garden hotels, famous for their gardens before they became hotels, includes Gravetye Manor, the home of William Robinson and Cliveden, designed by Charles Barry with a rose garden by Geoffrey Jellicoe.

Underwater hotels

As of 2005, the only hotel with an underwater room that can be reached without Scuba diving is Utter Inn in Lake Mälaren, Sweden.^{[citation needed]} It only has one room, however, and Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, which requires Scuba diving, is not much bigger.

Hydropolis is an ambitious project to build a luxury hotel in Dubai, UAE, with 220 suites, all on the bottom of the Persian Gulf, 20 meters (66 ft) below the surface. Its architecture will feature two domes that break the surface and an underwater train tunnel, all made of transparent materials such as glass and acrylic.^{[citation needed]}

Other unusual hotels

• The Library Hotel in New York City is unique in that each of its ten floors are assigned one category from the Dewey Decimal System. Mr & Mrs Smith – The Library Hotel, New York
• The Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, in Toronto, Canada was the first sports stadium to have a hotel connected to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field.{[fact}} West Ham United F.C. in the UK now has a hotel with rooms that overlook the pitch and sometimes double as executive boxes for important games, as does Coventry City\'s Ricoh Arena.
• The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, built on an artificial island, is structured in the shape of a sail of a boat.
• The RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California is the only 1930s ocean liner still in existence.^{[citation needed]} Its elegant first-class staterooms are now used as a hotel.
• The Jailhotel Löwengraben in Lucerne, Switzerland is a converted prison now used as a hotel.

World-record setting hotels

Tallest

The tallest hotel in the world is thought to be the Burj al-Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 280 metres, which however will soon be surpassed by the nearby Rose Rotana Suites at 333 meters (1,091 ft). The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang was intended to reach 330 meters (1,083 ft), but is unlikely to be completed; it has been under construction since 1987 and was abandoned in 1992. The Baiyoke Sky Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand has a building height of 309 meters, but rooms do not go all the way to the top.

The highest hotel rooms are in the Grand Hyatt in the Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, the highest floor being at around 350 m.

Largest

The largest hotel in the world is the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with a total of 6,276 rooms[2] as of December 20, 2006. On December 18, 2006 Guinness World Records listed the First World Hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia Genting\'s First World Recognized As World\'s Largest Hotel as the world\'s largest hotel. It has a total of 6,118 rooms and is part of the Genting Highlands Resort and Casino. The First World Plaza which is joined to the two hotel towers boasts 500,000 square feet (50,000 m²) of indoor theme park, shopping centres, casino gaming areas, and eateries. Previously, Guinness had listed the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with 5,005 rooms as the largest hotel in the world.MGM Grand (2007-10-29). "MGM Grand Fact Sheet". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-24.

In the past, other hotels have held the title of largest hotel in the world, in terms of the number of rooms. Some of these include the Rossiya Hotel (3,200 rooms) near Moscow\'s Red Square, and the Ambassador City Jomtien (4,210 rooms) in Pattaya, Thailand. Other large hotels being considered for development that may one day take the title are in Penang, Malaysia and Macau.

On December 20, 2007, with the opening of The Palazzo, The Venetian hotel complex in Las Vegas claimed to be the largest in the world with 7,025 rooms spread over three towers.^{[citation needed]}

Oldest

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest hotel still in operation is the Hoshi Ryokan, in the "Awazu Onsen" area of Komatsu, Japan. It opened in 717, and features hot springs.

Hotel occupations

Owner

The owner, chairman, or CEO of a hotel or hotel group is known as a hotelier.

Employees

The front desk, reservations, housekeeping, security, or loss prevention, valet parking, transportation, uniformed services ( which may refer to bellmen, doormen, and even concierge) food and beverage, accounting, sales, marketing, catering, audio visual, and engineering or maintenance are common departments of a mid or large sized hotel.

Accounting

The night auditor role falls within the front desk department but also carries some of the responsibilities of the accounting department.

Management

The engineering staff takes care of building repairs and up keep of HVAC systems, plumbing, fire sprinkler systems, chillers, cooling towers, pool and spa if applicable, lights, breakers, door locks, C.P.R., laundry machines, kitchen walk ins, ice machines, building air handlers, room repairs and upkeep.

Hotel chains

A hotel chain is a collection or grouping of hotels under one recognizable brand operated by a management company. Best Western International claims to be the largest hotel chain in the world, in terms of the number of properties.

Living in hotels

The American billionaire Howard Hughes lived much of his life in hotels. He moved with his entourage from hotel to hotel and from Beverly Hills to Boston before deciding to move to Las Vegas and become a casino baron. Less than a month after his November 27, 1966 arrival, Hughes made a public offer to buy the Desert Inn. The hotel\'s 8th floor became the nerve center of his empire and the 9th floor penthouse became Hughes\' personal residence. Hughes moved to the Bahamas, Vancouver, London and several other locations — always taking up residence in the top floor penthouse of the hotel. Between 1966 and 1968, he also purchased several other hotel-casinos from the Mafia: Castaways, New Frontier, The Landmark Hotel and Casino, Sands and Silver Slipper.

Coco Chanel made the Hôtel Ritz in Paris her home for more than thirty years, until the day of her death, at 87, in a suite now named "Coco Chanel Suite".

King Peter II of Yugoslavia spent much of the Second World War at Claridge\'s, a hotel in London. His son, Aleksandar Karađorđević, was born in the hotel.

Prince Felix Yusupov lived in the Hotel Melia Vendôme Paris in Paris.

Sultan Said Bin Taimur of Muscat lived at Dorchester Hotel in London after he was deposed by Qaboos of Oman in 1970, he died in the hotel in 1972.

Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek statesman and diplomat, lived in the Hôtel Ritz Paris while he was in exile in France from 1935-1936.

Actress Elaine Stritch lives at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City.

Magician Criss Angel lives at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of late 2006 - present in the Presidential suite.

Actor Richard Harris lived at the Savoy Hotel while in London. Hotel archivist Susan Scott recounts an anecdote that when he was being taken out of the building on a stretcher shortly before his death he raised his hand and told the diners "it was the food". Home Suite Home – BBC News

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hotel

• Apartment hotel
• Hospitality services
• Hotel chain
• RevPAR (measurement of hotel performance)
• Vacation rental
• List of lodging types
  • Apartment
  • Bed and breakfast
  • Caravan parks
  • Extended stay hotel
  • Guest House
  • Hostel
  • Hostal
  • Luxury resort
  • Motel
  • Resort
  • Serviced apartment
  • Single Room Occupancy
  • Suite

The Oberoi Udaivillas in Udaipur, India was voted as the best hotel in 2007 by Travel + Leisure.2007 World\'s Best Hotels | Travel + Leisure	Dariushhotel1.jpg Dariush Grand Hotel, Kish island, Iran	A small hotel in Adams, New York which has preserved its 1890s exterior and interior	Castle.combe.hotel.arp.jpg The 4-star Manor House Hotel at Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England. Built in the fourteenth century, the hotel has 48 rooms and 365 acres (1.5 km²) of gardens
Hotel-room-renaissance-columbus-ohio.jpg An upscale hotel room in the Renaissance Hotels chain in the U.S.	A View of H.Top Calella Palace in Spain	DirkvdM cienfuegos state hotel.jpg A state hotel in Cienfuegos, Cuba	Leningradka.jpg Hotel Leningradskaya in Moscow
Oberoi Hotel, Delhi, India

References

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