Whats the difference between them, anyway?

I looked up online the definition of both:

Hotel:a commercial establishment offering lodging to travelers and sometimes to permanent residents, and often having restaurants, meeting rooms, stores, etc., that are available to the general public.

Motel:a hotel providing travelers with lodging and free parking facilities, typically a roadside hotel having rooms adjacent to an outside parking area or an urban hotel offering parking within the building.

The big difference as far as I see is free parking in a motel, with easy access to your room from the parking lot..

Motels were first called Motor Hotels. Most were small, one storey buildings, often with individual units. I think they first appeared in the 1920s or 30s, and they mushroomed along Route 66. Many were small, Mom & Pop operations, which grew as usage or 66 increased. This may be why single units were seen so often. Units were built as profits allowed.

A building is considered a Motel when the access to units is from the exterior - each unit has a separate door that can generally be accessed directly from the parking lot.

Motels are very cheap to build and most are built very rapidly. Hotels have interior corridors and generally will take a more vertical configuration than a motel. Hotels are frequently seen where land value is higher than construction cost related to vertical construction.

quote:

Originally posted by DorianGreyed:
Motels were first called Motor Hotels.

That's what I've always heard as well. And apparently the term has never really went away. (or it's making a comeback)?

Wikipedia

Wow, I had no idea

Interesting question and one I have had to do research on. In the yellow pages business we have an internet heading of hotels and and internet heading of motels. The guidelines were originally stated that a motel was an off the the road establishment where the rooms were accessible from a parking lot. Usually found along highways. A hotel was usually found further in a city, not necessarily off a highway, and units were accessible via a lobby - not from a parking lot. But now things have changed. What used to be classified as a motel, i.e. Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn, Best Western are now considering themselves as hotels. *The National Board of Hotels and Motels now identify a Hotel as an establishment with a restaurant that offers special immenities such as fax service, work out room, cable, internet, laundry service, etc. However, even the national board now states that there really is not longer much differentiation between hotels and motels.

*Not sure the exact name of the organization. I have the name and website at the office but the information is correct.

I couldn't go back and edit my previous response but what I wanted to add was this - because there is no longer a distinct definition of a difference between the two, for internet advertising we are changing the heading to "Hotels, Motels, & Inns" and I believe the name of the association that states lodging guidelines is The American Association of Hotels & Motels.

quote:

Ignored post by Georgia85 posted 06-17-07 10:55 PM Show Post
Georgia85
Diamond Enthusiast

Picture of Georgia85

Posted 06-17-07 11:16 PM Hide Post

If I remember correctly - and sometimes I do - before they were called motor hotels they were known as tourist courts.

Some of that last post appears by accident. Ignorance is not all it's cracked up to be. . . .