Types of Hotel Accomodation

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Introduction

There are many different types of accommodation on offer, with each providing various facilities and a different experience. In this work, I will explain what Hotels are like, and the types of facilities you may get at each.

What is hotel?

A hotel is an establishment providing paid accommodation. Hotels used to offer basic accommodation in the past, but nowadays they mostly provide rooms with modern facilities, en-suite bathrooms, air-conditioning, a telephone, a TV set, an Internet connection; a mini-bar including a small refrigerator with drinks and snacks; often there is a facility for making hot drinks in the room (an electric kettle, cups, spoons, instant coffee and tea bags, sugar, milk). Hotels usually have at least one restaurant and a swimming pool and they provide childcare and conference services.

The quality of the hotel and its services is usually marked by stars according to the five stars classification. There have been attempts at unifying the classification system to become a reliable standard, but still large differences exist in the quality of accommodation, food and service. Most countries have an official body to set criteria for classifying hotels; unfortunately, to some degree, the criteria differ from one country to another. Generally, hotels without a restaurant are named "garni hotels".

Types of hotels

The hotels can be categorized depending upon their size, location, target market, and ownership.

Hotel Types by Size

Hotels are categorized by the number of rooms to which service is provided. For example −

• Below 200 rooms – Very Small
• Up to 200 rooms – Small
• 200 to 399 rooms – Medium
• 400 to 700 rooms – Large
• More than 700 rooms – Mega

This category is useful if the management needs to compare different hotels within the same size.

Hotel Types by Location

They are categorized by considering their location with respect to city.

• Airport Hotels − They are located near airport. The guests in transit use them for short stay.
• Boatels − They are on the houseboats such as Shikara in Kashmir. The word is an abbreviation of boat – hotel.
• City Center − Located in the heart of the city near commercial area.
• Motel − They are small hotels usually located on highways. Transit guests use them. The word is an abbreviation of motor – hotel and the concept originates from the USA. Motels differ from hotels in their location: they are mostly situated along highways. Usually they are in a shape of connected rooms with their doors facing the parking lot. Sometimes they are a series of small cabins with a common parking. They have small reception rooms and not much attention is paid to the interior of the buildings. Some motels also have restaurants and dining rooms or even swimming pools.
• Suburb Hotels − They are located near urban area. Budget guests use them.
• Floating Hotels − They are on the cruise ships, large lakes, or rivers.
• Resorts − They are on the beaches, mountains, islands, or on the river banks. Resorts tend to be self-contained and come with all the facilities you need and can often be great for family holidays. They can sometimes be located in central places such as close to the local towns or maybe in more rural isolated locations, which can be perfect to just get away from everything and for honeymoons.

Padma Hotel Resort, Ubud

• Rotels − They are hotels on wheels such as Deccan Odyssey train.
• Self-Catering Hotels − They are located at the same premises where the owner stays.

Hotel Types by Target Market

Here, the hotels are categorized depending upon the target market they serve.

• Airport Hotels − They target the business clientele, airline passengers, or any guests with cancelled or delayed flights.
• Business Hotels − They primarily cater for the guests who are on business travel.
• Bed and Breakfast (B&B) − They are small hotels who target guests in transit or on leisure tour. The owner of B&B usually stays in the same premises and is responsible for serving breakfast to the guests.
• Casino Hotels − They target the guests interested in gambling. Their functions of housekeeping is primary but food and beverage functions are just supportive.
• Resorts − They target high-income busy professionals who wish to spend time away from city, noise, and crowd. They offer facilities such as spa, tennis court, fitness and center, sailing, snorkeling, and swimming.
• Self-Catering Hotels − They target long stayers who prefer to cook themselves. They offer a small kitchen and kitchen amenities with the guest room.
• Service Apartments − They are located in residential colonies. They provide long-term accommodation for guests. They need to execute an agreement with the guests for the stay of at least one month. All basic amenities such as kitchen, washing machine, dish washer, and beds are provided with once a week housekeeping service.
• Suite Hotels − These hotels offer a living room and an en suite bedroom. The professionals who need to interact with their clients/customers find these hotels a good choice because they can interact with their guests in small meetings without any interruption and sacrificing privacy.

Hotel Types by Ownership

B&B and Self Catering hotels are generally family owned hotels and are not governed or run by corporate policies and procedures.

A chain of hotels or group of hotels such as Taj, Ramada, can have management affiliation with their other properties in the same group. They strictly are governed by predetermined policies.

Hotel Types by Star Rating

The general five star classification system for hotels determines the following objective criteria, satisfactory cleaning and maintenance being a basic requirement for all five categories:

One star hotels – (tourist hotels - low budget hotels)

★

Hotels are mostly small and privately owned, services may be provided by the owner and the family. Meals may be fairly simple. Rooms are small (single 8m2, double 12 m2). All rooms have a shower and a toilet in the room (German standard). / Some rooms may not have en suite bathrooms. All rooms have a hand-basin with hot and cold running water (English, Danish standard) and heating. Telephone is available. Breakfast is available. Drinks are offered. Guests can enter or leave any time of the day or night.

Two star hotels – (standard hotels - budget hotels)

★★

Hotels are small to medium sized (single rooms 12 m2, double 16 m2). They are well equipped, offering comfortable accommodation with en-suite bath/shower rooms. Reception staff is professional, food and drinks are offered. (German standards require buffet breakfast). Cashless payment is possible.

Three star hotels – (middle class hotels – comfort hotels)

★★★

Usually hotels of a size to support higher staffing levels (single rooms 14 m2 and double 18 m2). They have spacious reception with seats and other public rooms. Their employees speak at least one foreign language. Their restaurants normally also cater for non-residents. All rooms have en suite bath and shower rooms with toiletries and good equipment, such as a TV set, a hair dryer, direct dial telephone. They usually offer room service and some business services. If the hotel has more than two floors, it has a lift. Access to the net is available. Credit cards are accepted.

Four-star hotels – (first class hotels)

★★★★

They maintain a high quality of furnishings, decorations and equipment. Bedrooms are spacious (single 16 m2, double 22 m2) and well designed, with en-suite bathrooms with a bath and shower. There is enough staff to provide all necessary service; there is a 24-hour room service, laundry and dry-cleaning; a lobby, an a la carte restaurant and a bar. All rooms are equipped with mini-bars and access to internet. There are armchairs or couches in the room. Shoe polish implements can be expected in the rooms.

Five-star hotels – (luxury hotels)

★★★★★

Accommodation is spacious (single 18 m2, double 26 m2) and luxurious, matching the best international standards. There are safe-boxes, access to internet and air conditioning in every room. Personalized guest welcome with flowers/sweets can be expected. Suites are available. The hotels have special interior design and elegant furnishings. Service is formal and flawless, round-the-clock rooms service is available. These hotels have a lift if there is more than one floor. Their restaurants offer high quality cuisine. The staff is very efficient, courteous and helpful. An indoor swimming pool is available, as well as porter service, laundry, dry-cleaning, ironing and sale of gifts.

Many 3-, 4- and 5-star hotels offer conference facilities, which can also be classified. The classification of conference facilities is carried out according to a special set of criteria.

Super Luxury Hotel

In the hotel world, term “luxury” has a lot of definitions; it could be unique, personage, special service, elite customer, impressive settings and decorations, impeccable service, and elegant architecture. This hotel provides a private world of rare and refined beauty where the art of personalize service is conducted with efficiency and assurance. The super luxury hotel reputations and qualities are depending on the management style of the hotel owner and its staff. Security and privacy are the essential features of super-luxury hotels and also an advanced technology will produce ever more sophisticated systems, high technology systems as electronic door locks, surveillance cameras and window sensors would add guest’s peace of mind.

Most of the super-luxury hotels derive their luxurious character from the superb historical buildings the occupied, The Lanesborough, London, England is one of the hotels that became a national landmark, and formerly the building of this hotel was a hospital.

The entrance lobbies from most of super luxury hotels are elegant and definitely shows the residential character. The Four Seasons Hotel New York, the first major chain hotel that achieved super-luxury status, gives an exception to the rule with regard the scale of the lobby. Three separate desks were designed for the lobby; reception, concierge and cashier.

Meanwhile, the guestrooms and suites of the super-luxury hotels are fully detail design and furnishings. Each room were equipped with bedside controls that allows guest to open or close drapes, turn on a discreet privacy sign or call a maid service. The bathrooms of a super-luxury hotels now exceed one-third of the overall room size, with a multiple head showers with ten-button controls and automatic temperature settings, marble vanity with two porcelain basins and brass fittings, heated fog-free mirror and heated towel bars. Specialty suites offer deep whirlpool baths with windows facing the spectacular view.

The Four Seasons Hotel New York

Conclusion

The accommodation sector, and the hotel sector in particular, encompasses multiple business models.

As broader societal trends continue and morph, they will continue to impact the accommodations marketplace and consumer. Owners and operators must stay abreast of these trends, continually altering their business models and services to remain relevant and competitive.