Hotels

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This article is a travel topic.

See also the Travel accommodation article.

Hotels provide private serviced rooms for guests. They range from very basic budget-style to extremely luxurious accommodation.

[edit] Room types

A typical twin hotel room.

• Single rooms are for single travellers. In many hotels, a single room is actually the same as a double room.
• Double rooms are for two travellers sleeping in the same bed.
• Twin rooms have two separate single beds.
• Triple rooms have either three separate bed, or a double bed plus a single bed.
• Quads rooms are designed for 4 people or more.
• Suites are complete apartments with multiple rooms, intended for long stays — or just people with money to burn.

There is considerable variation and many frills within these basic types, the rule of thumb being that the more you pay, the larger your room becomes. Some business-oriented hotels offer an executive level, where a steep premium gets you access into an airline-style lounge and typically some perks like "free" Internet access or pay-per-view movies. Naming for these rooms varies, with eg. the Kuala Lumpur Hilton dubbing even its cheapest rooms as "Deluxe" and the next category up being "Executive" — but you need to upgrade one more step to an "Executive Suite" if you want to actually get the executive level perks. Some hotels are now taking an active stance on being smoke free; one example is the Marriot International Hotel Chain. [1]

Hotels may additionally offer meal service included in the price. Common terms include:

• Bed and breakfast (B&B). The morning meal is included. This may range considerably from a simple roll and coffee to an elaborate spread.
• Half board (aka half pension, demi-pension, modified American plan). A hotel rate that includes breakfast and one additional meal, typically dinner. Also called Modified American Plan and demi-pension.
• Full board (aka full pension, full American plan). A hotel rate in which three meals a day are included in the price.
• All inclusive. All meals and drinks are included. The list of "free" drinks is usually limited though: house wine is probably OK, champagne probably isn't.

[edit] Star ratings

The supposed "Seven Star" Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai.

The guide below is by necessity a generalization, as star ratings are awarded by each country according to their own rules, and the difference between a 3-star and a 4-star may be something as obscure as having a minibar in each room. It's also worth noting that star ratings are often 'sticky', in the sense that once awarded they're rarely taken away: a four-star built last year is probably still pretty good, but a four-star opened in 1962 and never renovated since may well have turned into a dump.

Note also that the ratings are weakening as marketers misuse them. The original Michelin star scale for restaurants only went up to three stars, which meant restaurants worth making a special trip for. Two stars were worth a detour, one a stop. The Mobil Travel Guide, which covers all of North America, awarded the Five Star rating to only 32 hotels in 2006, but that does not prevent dozens of hotels from claiming to be "five star". Most are more like Mobil's defintion [2] of three star "Well-appointed establishment, with full services and amenities" or four star "Outstanding-worth a special trip".

See also Rating systems.

[edit] Six and seven-star hotels

The notion is that a hotel can be six or seven stars is a joke among travel professionals since most respectable hotel rating systems do not give out a rating higher than five stars. The consensus is since so few hotels really can achieve the five star rating then there shouldn't be a rating higher than five stars.

An example of a popularly known "seven star" hotel is Dubai's Burj al-Arab. It's certainly one of the most luxurious hotels in the world (as awarded earlier by Conde Nast Traveller magazine), and is also officially the tallest hotel in the world. In reality, it is a 5 star deluxe property (the popular seven star status is not often corrected in the media, though).

[edit] Five-star hotels

The five-star hotels is the quintessential luxury hotel, offering frills above and beyond the actual needs of the travel. They have restaurants and night spots that are world class, with food and entertainment that draw non-guests to sample it too.

Five-star hotels also tend to have opulent and expensive decorations; fancy gyms, swimming pools and spas. Major five-star chains compete to offer the most ludicrous frills imaginable: Loews offers dog-walking services, while Conrad will let you order from a menu of pillows. Needless to say, all this comes at a steep price, and you're unlikely to be able to justify the expense of a five-star for ordinary business travel. The other downside to five-stardom is that hotels that can jump through all the hoops to achieve the rating are likely to be large and impersonal.

Major chains: Conrad (Hilton), St. Regis, Le Meridien and W (Starwood), Intercontinental, JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton (Marriott), Shangri-La, Mandarin Oriental, Sofitel, Four Seasons, Langham International

[edit] Four-star hotels

The four-star hotel is a good business hotel. Everything works smoothly, there's Internet in every room, a well-equipped business center, they'll arrange your airport transfer and room service is palatable and only somewhat expensive. And your boss will probably not faint when they see the bill.

Major chains: Hilton, Marriott, Novotel, Crowne Plaza (Intercontinental)

[edit] Three-star hotels

Three-star hotels are solid but dull. Your room will have an attached bathroom and there's probably a restaurant downstairs and 24-hour reception service.

Major chains: Ibis, Mercure (two Accor hotels brands), Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn

[edit] Two-star hotels

Two stars means no-frills hotel. In most countries two stars means that your room probably has its own bathroom and there's probably a TV and telephone in your room, but rooms are bare-bones and you're unlikely to want to spend any more time than strictly necessary inside.

Major chains: Comfort Inn, Motel 6, Super 8 and Etap

[edit] One-star hotels

You don't see many of these, and with reason. One-stars are not just no-frills, but often downright dodgy: rooms are barely functional, shared bathrooms are somewhere down a corridor and the painted ladies from the all-hours karaoke bar next door dance the horizontal tango all night long in the room next to yours.

Major chains: Formule 1 (Accor), Premiere Classe (Louvre Hotels)

[edit] Unrated hotels

Unrated hotels are a mixed bag. Most, it is safe to say, are hotels that are either too dodgy to achieve even the meager requirements of a one-star — or, alternatively, too small and personal to be able to offer (say) 24-hour room service, although the service and amenities offered are otherwise of five-star caliber.

[edit] Grand old hotels

In many cities, there is one famous old hotel, usually going back to the Victorian era, that was historically the place to stay. Of course, the newer luxury hotels may have better facilities, but the old place has cachet. See Grand old hotels.

[edit] International brands

International brands are a popular choice with business travellers, as they generally offer standardized predictability. The downside for leisure travel is that they are rarely very exciting or exotic, and there can still be considerable variation within the brand.

The following lists major international hotel brands only, with over 500 hotels in multiple countries. Local chains can be found in individual country articles.

• Accor [3] From the luxury Sofitel brand to the basic Etap and Motel 6 brands Accor is the most varied hotel company. Accor Hotels is probably the most established company in Europe and offers great choices for the backpacker and the discerning guests. Accor's subsidiary Compagnie des Wagons-Lits [4] provides hotel services for trains.

• Best Western International [5] is the world's largest hotel brand with more than 4,200 hotels in 80 countries. In 2006, the company will celebrate 60 years of providing quality customer care and dedicated service to Best Western guests across the globe. The chain operates in growing economies (like Armenia or Eastern Europe): seriously refurbishes interior of hotels built dozens year ago, introduces western management -- and then sells it to US/Canadian/Australian travellers. This results in low rates and a good service.

• Hilton Hotels [6] were, until recently, run by two different companies -- one in North America and the other everywhere else throughout the world. They are now in the process of merging. Hotels include Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton, and Scandic Hotels.

• Hyatt [7] is a upmarket brand with many global locations. Some of the Hyatt brands include Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Resorts, and Hyatt Place. Two new additions to the Hyatt family are AmeriSuites and Hawthorn Suites.

• InterContinental [8] hotels include Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and of course InterContinental hotels.

• Marriott [9] hotels include Renaissance, J.W. Marriott, plain old Marriott, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn and SpringHill Suites. Marriott also owns Ritz Carlton [10].

• Louvre Hotels [11] brands are primarily located in Europe. The upper brand (Concorde Hotels [12]) includes Hotel de Crillon or Hotel Martinez. The economic brands include Premiere Classe [13] (1 star hotels) or Campanile [14] hotels, two very well known brands in France and Eastern Europe (more than 800 properties).

• Radisson [15] and its affiliates Country Inn, Park Plaza and Park Inn have over 1700 hotels around the world.

• Starwood Hotels [16] is one of the more upmarket brand names. Its hotels include Le Meridien, Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Westin, W Hotels.

• Wyndham [17] has 6,500 hotels, concentrated mostly in North America and the Caribbean. Its vast constellation of brands includes Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada, Super 8 and Travelodge.

[edit] Loyalty clubs

The purpose of loyalty clubs are to ensure that a hotel company retains its clients by offering its clients rewards and prizes for staying or holding conferences at their hotels. The basic idea is the same for each: every night you sleep or every dollar you spend gets you some points, which can be exchanged for rewards like hotel rooms, room upgrades and airline tickets. For larger brands, you can also get affiliated credit cards and rack up points that way.

An additional incentive is premium levels: either sleep at the company's hotels for many nights or collect a large number of stays, and you'll get a silver/gold/platinum membership card entitling you to various perks, such as point bonuses, lounge access, free upgrades, guaranteed rooms, etc. For gold level, you'll typically be looking at 25-50 nights or 10-20 stays within 12 months.

Some of the better-known loyalty clubs are:

• 1865, for Langham Hotels International. [18]

• Marriott Rewards, for Marriott owned hotels. [19]

• Priority Club, for InterContinental chain hotels (including Holiday Inn). [20]

• Hilton HHonors, at Hilton hotels. Allows guests to "double dip", earning both hotel points and airline miles for the same stay. [21]

• Starwood Preferred Guest, for all Starwood hotels and resorts. Le Meridien's Moments program has been rolled into this. [22]

• Shangri-La Hotel Golden Circle, at Shangri-La and Traders. The program is unusual for having no points of its own; instead, you can choose to credit miles into various airline programs. Nights and stays are still tracked for premium levels. [23]

• MaS Rewards, for Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts. Allows guests to earn points for their hotel stays and to get open access to exclusive special offers in solmelia.com 2 days before non-members.

• Hyatt Gold Passport, Good at all Hyatt and non Hyatt flag properties.