| | | The external database currently holds over 9000 hotel accommodations in all price categories that can be booked directly online - from the individual private hotel to the hotel chains and corporations and the top international hotels - everywhere. Hotels are offered through a external system. Price and availability are only requested individually by clicking on the hostel name and may be shown delayed. Photos are available to help you decide on your reservation, as is the latest information on hotel furnishings and decor, location / route descriptions, distances etc. | B&B, Bed and Breakfast, Guesthouse.
Generally limited service lodging facilities which:
A guesthouse is a private home which has been converted for the exclusive use of guest accommodation. The owner usually lives in an entirely separate area within the property and the guesthouse may serve as a form of lodging business, similar to a bed and breakfast.
Hostel.
Sometimes limited service lodging facilities which:
Hostels, also called youth hostels, provide short-term accommodation to travellers or backpackers, particularly encouraging outdoor activities and cultural exchange for the young. Hostels are also often called backpackers' hostels (or backpackers' for short), particularly in Australia and New Zealand.
In a hostel guests rent a bed (sometimes a bunk bed) in a dormitory and share common bathroom, kitchen, and lounge rooms. Private rooms are often available. The main benefits of a hostel are firstly the low cost of the accommodation compared to alternatives such as hotels, and that one gets to meet other travellers from all over the world. Hostels are usually less formal and less expensive than hotels. They are most frequently used by young travellers. In the past many hostels had imposed age limits, but today it's more common for hostels to accept guests of all ages. Despite the openness of modern hostels, the majority of guests are traditionally and overwhelmingly between the ages of 18 and 26 or above these ages.
Hotel.
Generally, full service lodging facilities which:
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short-term basis and especially for tourists. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as a restaurant, a swimming pool or childcare. Some hotels have conference services and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location.
Hotels differ from motels in that most motels have drive-up, exterior entrances to the rooms, while hotels tend to have interior entrances to the rooms, which has been asserted by some hotels as enhancing guests' safety and presenting a more upscale image.
Inn.
Generally, moderate service lodging facilities which:
Inns are establishments where travellers can procure food, drink, and lodging. Found in Europe, they first sprang up when the Romans built their famous system of highways two millennia ago. Some inns in Europe are centuries old. In addition to providing for the needs of travellers, inns traditionally acted as community gathering places.
In today's automobile-ridden world, real inns are fast dying out. The few that are left function primarily as pubs. In North America, inns are usually alcohol-serving restaurants that have never provided lodging or serviced the needs of travellers. In Europe, it is the provision of accommodation, if anything, that now differentiates inns from taverns, alehouses and pubs. These later tended only to supply alcohol (although in the UK the conditions of their licence sometimes required them to have a nominal supply of food and soft drinks). Inns tend to be grander and more long-lived establishments. Famous London examples include the George and the Tabard. There is however no formal distinction between an inn and other kinds of establishment, and many pubs will use the name "inn", either simply because they are long established, or to summon up a particular kind of image.
The original functions of an inn are now usually split among separate establishments, such as hotels, lodges, motels, pubs, restaurants, and taverns. In North America, the lodging aspect of the word "inn" lives on in hotel brand names like Holiday Inn, and in some state laws that refer to lodging operators as innkeepers.
Motel.
Short for "motor hotel". Generally, moderate service lodging facilities which:
The word motel originates from the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo, constructed in 1925 by Arthur Heinman. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the motel (aka the MOtor hoTEL) referred initially to a single building of connected rooms whose doors face a parking lot and/or common area, and their creation was driven by increased driving distances on the United States highway system that allowed easy cross-country travel.
Unlike their predecessors, auto camps and tourist courts, motels quickly adopted a homogenized appearance. Typically one would find an 'I' or 'L' or 'U' shaped structure that included rooms, an attached manager's office, and perhaps a small diner. Even so, postwar motels often featured eye-catching neon signs which employed pop culture themes that ranged from Western imagery of cowboys and Indians to contemporary images of spaceships and atomic symbols.
The motel began in the 1920s as mom-and-pop motor courts on the outskirts of a town. They attracted the first road warriors as they crossed the U.S. in their new automobiles. They usually had a grouping of small cabins and their anonymity made them ideal trysting places (or the "hot trade" in industry lingo). Even the famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde were frequent guests, using motels as hideouts. The motels' potential for breeding lust and larceny alarmed then FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who attacked motels and auto camps in an article he penned called "Camps of Crime", which ran in the February 1940 issue of American Magazine.
Motels differed from hotels in their emphasis on largely anonymous interactions between owners and occupants, their location along highways (as opposed to urban cores), and their orientation to the outside (in contrast to hotels whose doors typically face an interior hallway).
With the 1952 introduction of Kemmons Wilson's Holiday Inn, the 'mom and pop' motels of that era went into decline. Eventually, the emergence of the interstate highway system, along with other factors, led to a blurring of the motel and the hotel. Today, family owned motels with as few as five rooms may still be found along older highways. The quality and standards of every independent motel differ so it is always wise to cruise around for good motel before settling in a room.
Resort.
Generally full-service lodging and recreational facilities which:
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation. As a result, people tend to seek out a resort for holidays or vacations. Generally, a resort is distinguished by a large selection of activities, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping. The term resort is sometimes misused to identify a hotel that does not meet the requirements of a resort. However, a hotel is frequently the central feature of a resort.
Vacation Rental.
Generally self-service lodging facilities which:
Vacation rental is a term in the travel industry meaning renting out a furnished apartment or house on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. Vacation rentals are becoming increasingly popular in Europe (especially in the UK) as well as in Canada. In some cities, like Barcelona, local authorities determined that vacation rentals were becoming a threat to the hotel industry, and passed some legislation placing regulations and limits on the industry. | |
