A hotel is a building planned and conditioned exclusively to provide accommodation services to people for a specific time and offer services such as restaurants, swimming pools, gyms, party rooms, and nurseries.
Hotels worldwide are classified according to their level, such as the degree of comfort, gastronomy, entertainment and global positioning. Each country ranks hotels in different ways, ranging from stars to letters.
Hotel Ratings by Star
- 1 Star: It is a standard, cheap, clean, basic hotel with few or no facilities.
- 2 Stars: It is a good, clean, basic hotel with Internet access that has rooms with private bathrooms and television.
- 3 Stars:It offers comfort, style and a reasonably high standard, with room service, a restaurant, a swimming pool, an entertainment center and a meeting room.
- 4 Stars: It is an excellent hotel that offers high-quality personalized service, has several restaurants, bars and swimming pools, and offers room service, valet parking, a conference center and business services.
- 5 Stars: It is a sophisticated, exclusive hotel with high-quality service and personalized VIP attention. It has several specialized and gourmet restaurants, bars, 24-hour room service, swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, a spa, and a gym, among other amenities and attractions.
- 6 and 7 Stars: It should be noted that these categories do not exist as such, but some hotels far exceed the 5-star category to be placed at a much higher level. These hotels are exaggeratedly luxurious, elegant and expensive, with a room costing about $150,000 a night.
15 Types of Hotels
Another way to classify hotels is by type. While this classification can offer endless examples of hotels, the 15 types listed below are some of the most common.
- Boutique hotel: Smaller, independent hotels that typically offer a high-end guest experience and may cater to a more specific demographic.
- Hotel chain: National or multinational hotel companies that seek to offer a uniform experience in all their establishments.
- Resort: Destination hotels that usually have numerous facilities and are often (but only sometimes) family-oriented.
- Business hotel: Accommodation for corporate travelers, offering business services and focusing on short stays.
- Budget hotel: Cost-effective accommodation that trades luxury for simplicity and is less focused on facilities.
- Luxury hotel: High-end accommodation that aims to offer the best possible guest experience.
- Bed and breakfast (B&B):Short-term boutique accommodation aimed at couples. For example, B&Bs are often sold to particular niches as a pet-friendly hotel.
- Extended Stay Hotel: Accommodation designed for longer stays usually offers in-room cooking facilities.
- Airport Hotel: Well-located short-stay accommodation for travelers entering and leaving a destination.
- Hostel: Backpacker-focused budget accommodation that usually offers beds in a shared dormitory.
- Motel: Short-stay accommodation on the main roads catering to drivers and road travelers.
- Themed Hotel: Accommodation designed around a specific motif, which can be seen and felt in the design, facilities, and service of the staff.
- Historic hotel: An ancient hotel, or a hotel of particular relevance, that uses its history as a theme.
- Spa hotel: A hotel with a spa and a range of health and wellness services.
- Vacation rentals: Vacation homes that are often privately owned and usually cater to families and groups.