Hotels & Lodging

A hotel is a place of business that provides lodging in exchange for money. In the past, accommodations were simply a room with a bed, a bureau, a small table and a wash stand. Today rooms have en suite bathrooms, air conditioning, phones, televisions and mini bars with snack food. Luxury products are often available to guests. Bathrobes, Jacuzzi tubs, and specialty bath products are just a few.

Many hotels provide facilities such as state of the art fitness rooms, pools, a business center, meeting rooms restaurants and function halls.

There are many types of hotels including luxury hotels such as the Ritz Carleton and Four Seasons. Full service hotels include places like the Hilton, Marriott and the Doubletree. Select service hotels include hotels such as the Marriott Courtyard and the Hilton Garden hotel. The Days Inn and the Hampton Inn are examples of a limited service hotel.

Extended stay hotels provide longer term living arrangements. Examples of extended stay hotels include the Homewood suites and the Residence Inn.

Some hotels have gained recognition by hosting important events or by hosting famous people. Others gain their renown through a particular beverage or meal offered by the hotel. Examples include the Hotel de Paris where the crepe suzette was invented or the Raffles hotel in Singapore where the Singapore Sling was created.

Many hotels have achieved acclaim through pop culture. The London Ritz is associated with the Irving Berlin tune, “Puttin on the Ritz”.

Destination hotels offer a unique quality that sets them apart from other hotels. Examples of destination hotels are the tree house hotels in Costa Rica and in the Amazon, bunker hotels (former nuclear bunkers converted into hotels) in Switzerland and Albania, and cave hotels in Turkey known for being built into natural cave formations with rooms underground, and underwater hotels that often require scuba diving to access the rooms.