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In the past decade there has been a burgeoning trend toward the development of luxury hotels. Since 1998, the proportion of hotels that belong to the category of "luxury" has doubled and continues to increase. Throughout the wild vacillations of the investment and real estate markets, the rich, as it goes, have gotten richer. This natural progression has created the necessary demand for more extravagant and luxurious properties which meet the requirements of the "rich and famous." Brands such as Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons have thrived and continue to develop new properties as well as overseeing expansion and renovation of existing sites. With a continued economic recovery, these elite brands will increasingly flourish and extend the limits of the tourists' imagination and budgets. Meanwhile, facilities such as spas, showrooms, fine dining restaurants, and elegant suites have extended into the lower hotel classifications and have, thereby, become part of the hospitality mainstream. Hilton, Marriott, and Sheraton among others have developed many pseudo-luxury hotels containing these amenities. Selected upscale facets of a 5 star hotel available to family and business travelers at 3 and 4 star rates. This movement toward luxury is delighting the high-end guest and bringing affluence to the masses while raising the latitude of the entire hotel industry. Steve Rodoquino

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A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms and air conditioning or climate control. Additional common features found in hotel rooms are a telephone, an alarm clock, a television, a safe, a mini-bar with snack foods and drinks, and facilities for making tea and coffee. Luxury features include bathrobes and slippers, a pillow menu, twin-sink vanities, and jacuzzi bathtubs. Larger hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a restaurant, swimming pool, fitness center, business center, childcare, conference facilities 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 hotels offer 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 guests within certain stated hours. In Japan, capsule hotels provide a minimized amount of room space and shared facilities.

Contents [hide] 1 Etymology 2 Types 3 Management 4 Historic hotels 5 Unusual hotels 5.1 Boutique hotels 5.2 Treehouse hotels 5.3 Straw Bale Hotels 5.4 Bunker hotels 5.5 Shoe hotels 5.6 Cave hotels 5.7 Capsule hotels 5.8 Ice and snow hotels 5.9 Garden hotels 5.10 Underwater hotels 5.11 Other unusual hotels 5.12 Resort hotels 5.13 Railway hotels 6 Motels 7 World record setting hotels 7.1 Largest 7.2 Oldest 7.3 Tallest 8 Hotel rooms as an investment 9 Living in hotels 10 Fictitious hotels 11 See also 11.1 Industry and careers 11.2 Human habitation types 12 References 13 Further reading [edit] EtymologyThe word hotel is derived from the French hôtel (coming from hôte meaning host), which referred to a French version of a townhouse or any other building seeing frequent visitors, rather than a place offering accommodation. In contemporary French usage, hôtel now has the same meaning as the English term, and hôtel particulier is used for the old meaning. The French spelling, with the circumflex, was also used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the 's' found in the earlier hostel 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."

[edit] TypesHotel operations vary in size, function, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies that operate hotels have set widely accepted industry standards to classify hotel types. General categories include the following;

Upscale Luxury Examples include Conrad Hotels, InterContinental Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Dorchester Collection,and JW Marriott Hotels Full Service Examples include Hilton, Marriott, Hotel Indigo, Doubletree, and Hyatt Select Service Examples include Holiday Inn, Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn Limited Service Examples include Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield Inn, Days Inn, and La Quinta Inns & Suites Extended Stay Examples include Staybridge Suites, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Residence Inn by Marriott, and Extended Stay Hotels Timeshare Examples include Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Marriott Vacation Club International, Westgate Resorts, and Disney Vacation Club Destination Club [edit] ManagementMain article: Hotel management Hotel management is a significant career. Larger hotels may operate with an extensive management structure consisting of a General Manager which serves as the head executive, department heads that oversee various departments, middle managers, administrative staff, and line-level supervisors. Degree programs such as hospitality management studies, a business degree, and/or certification programs prepare hotel managers for industry practice.

[edit] Historic hotels Hotel Astoria and a statue of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia in front, in Saint Petersburg, RussiaSome 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 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. Some establishments have given name to a particular meal or beverage, as is the case with the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, United States where the Waldorf Salad was first created or the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, Austria, home of the Sachertorte. Others have achieved fame by association with dishes or cocktails created on their premises, such as the Hotel de Paris where the crêpe Suzette was invented or the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, where the Singapore Sling cocktail was devised.

Hôtel Ritz in Paris, France Chicago's Magnificent Mile has hosted many skyscraper hotels such as the Allerton HotelA number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, such as the Ritz Hotel in London, through its association with Irving Berlin's song, 'Puttin' on the Ritz'. The Algonquin Hotel in New York City is famed as the meeting place of the literary group, the Algonquin Round Table, and Hotel Chelsea, also in New York City, has been the subject of a number of songs and the scene of the stabbing of Nancy Spungen (allegedly by her boyfriend Sid Vicious).

[edit] Unusual hotelsMany hotels can be considered destinations in themselves, by dint of unusual features of the lodging or its immediate environment:

[edit] Boutique hotelsBoutique hotels are typically hotels with a unique environment.

[edit] Treehouse hotelsSome hotels are built with living trees as structural elements, for example the Costa Rica Tree House in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica; the Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park, Kenya; the Ariau Towers near Manaus, Brazil, on the Rio Negro in the Amazon; and Bayram's Tree Houses in Olympos, Turkey. Recently, a Swedish company appropriatly named Treehotel has made several hotel rooms in the Harads. They include interesting designs, like the Cabin, The mirrorcube, the blue cone, the UFO, and the Birds Nest.

[edit] Straw Bale HotelsIn Nax Mont-Noble, a little ski resort situated on 1300 metres in the Swiss Alps, construction for the Maya Guesthouse started in October 2011. It will be the first hotel in Europe built entirely with straw bales. Due to the insulation values of the walls it will need no heating[1]

[edit] Bunker hotelsThe Null Stern Hotel in Teufen, Appenzellerland, Switzerland and the Concrete Mushrooms in Albania[2] are former nuclear bunkers transformed into hotels.

[edit] Shoe hotelsShoe hotels are hotels built into a giant shoe. The idea was inspired by the There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe nursery rhyme. The largest such hotel is currently in Hokkaido, Japan. The most popular shoe hotels are modelled after a woman's platform dancing shoe.[citation needed]

[edit] Cave hotelsThe 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. The Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, South Australia is built into the remains of an opal mine.

[edit] Capsule hotels Interior of a capsule hotel in Osaka, JapanCapsule hotels are a type of economical hotel that are found in Japan, where people sleep in stacks of rectangular containers.

[edit] Ice and snow hotelsMain article: Ice hotel The Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, and the Hotel de Glace in Duschenay, Canada, melt every spring and are rebuilt each winter; the Mammut Snow Hotel in Finland is located within the walls of the Kemi snow castle; and the Lainio Snow Hotel is part of a snow village near Ylläs, Finland.

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

[edit] Underwater hotelsSome hotels have accommodation underwater, such as Utter Inn in Lake Mälaren, Sweden. Hydropolis, project cancelled 2004 in Dubai, would have had suites on the bottom of the Persian Gulf, and Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida requires scuba diving to access its rooms.

[edit] Other unusual hotels RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, United StatesThe Library Hotel in New York City, is unique in that each of its ten floors is assigned one category from the Dewey Decimal System. The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, built on an artificial island, is structured in the shape of a boat's sail. The Jailhotel Löwengraben in Lucerne, Switzerland is a converted prison now used as a hotel. The Luxor, a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States is unusual due to its pyramidal structure. The Liberty Hotel in Boston, used to be the Charles Street Jail. Built in Scotland and completed in 1936, The former ocean liner RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, United States uses its first-class staterooms as a hotel, after retiring in 1967 from Transatlantic service. There are several hotels throughout the world built into converted airliners. [edit] Resort hotels Principe di Piemonte, Viareggio (Italy)Some hotels are built specifically to create a captive trade, example at casinos and holiday resorts. Though of course hotels have always been built in popular destinations, the defining characteristic of a resort hotel is that it exists purely to serve another attraction, the two having the same owners.

In Las Vegas there is a tradition of one-upmanship with luxurious and extravagant hotels in a concentrated area known as the Las Vegas Strip. This trend now has extended to other resorts worldwide, but the concentration in Las Vegas is still the world's highest: nineteen of the world's twenty-five largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 67,000 rooms.[3]

In Europe Center Parcs might be considered a chain of resort hotels, since the sites are largely man-made (though set in natural surroundings such as country parks) with captive trade, whereas holiday camps such as Butlins and Pontin's are probably not considered as resort hotels, since they are set at traditional holiday destinations which existed before the camps.

[edit] Railway hotelsFrequently, expanding railway companies built grand hotels at their termini, such as the Midland Hotel, Manchester next to the former Manchester Central Station and in London the ones above St Pancras railway station and Charing Cross railway station also in London is the Chiltern Court Hotel above Baker Street tube station and Canada's grand railway hotels. They are or were mostly, but not exclusively, used by those travelling by rail.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Railway hotels [edit] MotelsMain article: Motel A motel (motor hotel) is a hotel which is for a short stay, usually for a night, for motorists on long journeys. It has direct access from the room to the vehicle (for example a central parking lot around which the buildings are set), and is built conveniently close to major roads and intersections.

[edit] World record setting hotels Historical Hotel Savoy in Florence[edit] LargestIn 2006, Guinness World Records listed the First World Hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia as the world's largest hotel with a total of 6,118 rooms.[4] Similarly, the Venetian Palazzo Complex, in Las Vegas, has the most number of rooms. It has 7,117 rooms followed by MGM Grand Hotel, which contains 6,852 rooms.

see also List of largest hotels in the world

[edit] OldestAccording 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 which opened in 718.[5]

[edit] TallestThe Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong is claimed to be the world's highest hotel.[6] It is located in the top floors of Hong Kong's tallest building, the 488 meter tall International Commerce Centre.

[edit] Hotel rooms as an investmentSome hotels sell individual rooms to investors. Timeshare is an example of this kind of investment. The buyer is allowed to stay in the room without charge or at a reduced rate for a given number of days each year. The investor is paid a share of the takings for the room. Rooms can be sold on a leasehold basis, sometimes on a 999 year lease. Room owners are free to sell at any time.[7]

[edit] Living in hotelsA number of public figures have notably chosen to take up semi-permanent or permanent residence in hotels.

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."[8] Inventor Nikola Tesla lived the last 10 years of his life at the New Yorker Hotel until 1943 when he died in the hotel room. Millionaire Howard Hughes lived his last few years in a Las Vegas hotel. Egyptian actor Ahmed Zaki lived his last 15 years in Ramses Hilton Hotel - Cairo. Larry Fine (of the Three Stooges) and his family lived in hotels, due to his extravagant spending habits and his wife's dislike for housekeeping. They first lived in the President Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where his daughter Phyllis was raised, then the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Not until the late 1940s did Larry buy a home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, California. General Douglas McArthur lived his last 14 years in the penthouse of the Waldorf Towers, a part of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. American actress Elaine Stritch lived in the Savoy Hotel in London for over a decade.[9] Fashion designer Coco Chanel lived in the Hotel Ritz Paris on and off for more than 30 years. Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera lived in the Montreux Palace Hotel in Montreux, Switzerland from 1961 until his death in 1977. British entrepreneur Jack Lyons lived in the Hotel Mirador Kempinski in Switzerland for several years until his death in 2008. [edit] Fictitious hotels This section requires expansion.

Hotels have been used as the settings for television programmes such as the British situation comedies Fawlty Towers and I'm Alan Partridge, the British soap opera Crossroads, and in films such as the Bates Motel in Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho and The Dolphin Hotel in 1408, a short story by Stephen King which was adapted into a 2007 film.

Another is Tipton Hotel, a fictitious hotel in Disney's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." When the show later became a spinoff into "The Suite Life on Deck," the Tipton evolved into the SS Tipton, run by the same company.

[edit] See alsoList of hotels [edit] Industry and careersBellhop Concierge Front desk clerk, a type of clerk General manager Hospitality industry Hotel chains Hotel toilet-paper folding Hotels Innkeeper Night auditor Property caretaker Revenue per available room (RevPAR) Security guard Tourism Transient occupancy tax (Canada) [edit] Human habitation typesApartment hotel Bed and breakfast Boutique hotel Cruise ship Eco hotel Guest House Homestay Hospitality service Hostal Hostel Human habitats Inn Luxury resort Motel Serviced apartment Vacation rental [edit] References^ About the first straw bale hotel in europe ^ [1][dead link] ^ "The 25 Largest Hotels in the World". http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/largesthotels.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-18. ^ Genting's First World Recognized As World's Largest Hotel, Bernama.com ^ Hoshi Ryokan website, accessed 22 June 2008. Ho-shi.co.jp. Retrieved on 2011-06-12. ^ "The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong: The world's highest hotel opens". cnngo.com. 29March 2011. http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/visit/ritz-2-017129. ^ Sam Dunn; Judith Heywood (2007-09-07). "Overnight profit". The Times. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/investment/article2399656.ece. Retrieved 2009-11-04. ^ ''Home Suite Home'' -. BBC News (2007-09-12). Retrieved on 2011-06-12. ^ Elaine Stritch [edit] Further reading Wikiversity has learning materials about Internet entrepreneur#Hotel Reservations Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hotel Lundberg, Donald E., The Hotel and Restaurant Business, Boston : Cahners Books, 1974. ISBN 0843620447 [hide]v · d · e Tourism Types Accessible tourism · Adventure travel · Agritourism · Alternative tourism · Archaeological tourism · Birth tourism · Bookstore tourism · Christian tourism · Culinary tourism · Cultural tourism · Dark tourism · Dental tourism · Disaster tourism · Drug tourism · Ecotourism · Extreme tourism · Female sex tourism · Garden tourism · Geotourism · Ghetto tourism · Halal tourism · Heritage tourism · Jihadi tourism · LGBT tourism · List of adjectival tourisms · Lists of named passenger trains · Literary tourism · Medical tourism · Music tourism · Nautical tourism · Pop-culture tourism · Religious tourism · Rural tourism · Sacred travel · Safaris · Sex tourism · Slum tourism · Space tourism · Sports tourism · Sustainable tourism · Vacation · Volunteer travel · Water tourism · Wildlife tourism · Wine tourism Hospitality Bed and breakfast · Destination hotel · Destination spa · Front desk · General manager · Homestay · Hospitality industry · Hospitality management studies · Hospitality services · Hostel · Hotel · Hotel manager · Motel · Resort · Restaurant Miscellaneous Campus tour · Gift shop · Grand Tour · Holiday (vacation) · Hypermobility · Package tour · Passport · Perpetual traveler · Resort town · Road trip · Roadside attraction · Seaside resort · Ski resort · Souvenir · Staycation · Sunday drive · Tour guide · Tour operator · Tourism geography · Tourism region · Tourism Radio · Tourism technology · Tourist attraction · Tourist destination · Tourist trap · Transport · Travel · Travel advisory · Travel agency · Travel behavior · Travel document · Travel insurance · Travel journal · Travel literature · Travel magazines · Travel medicine · Travel survey · Travel technology · Travel website · Travel writing · Visa Industry organizations and rankings American Bus Association · American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute · BEST Education Network · Caribbean Tourism Organization · Destination marketing organization · European Travel Commission · Historical archive on tourism · South-East Asian Tourism Organisation · Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report · Visitor center · World Tourism Day · World Tourism Organization · World Tourism rankings · World Travel and Tourism Council · World Travel Monitor Category · Portal · WikiProject

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