6. Hotels: types and classification

Travellers usually stay in hotels, inns or campsites. Businessmen who come to a city for a short stay try to find accommodation in the centre of the city. Hikers and motorists stay in campsites. Holidaymakers who travel with their children look for accommodation in old country inns or guesthouses.

There are the following hotel types according to the international standards:

1) Motor Hotel is a hotel with parking facilities and other services for motorists, normally with a first-class restaurant.

2) Motel has parking and other services for motorists. As a rule it is situated on a motorway. There is a restaurant or cooking facilities on its territory.

3) Commercial Hotel is usually situated in the town centre. Clientele mainly consists of travelling businessmen who stay for a couple of nights only.

4) Resort Hotel is situated at a tourist resort whether by the sea or in the mountains. Clientele mainly consists of people on holiday that stay for a longer period than a couple of nights only.

5) Airport Hotel is situated near an airport. Clientele mainly consists of airline stuff and people travelling by air who only stay for one night.

6) Congress Hotel has all necessary meeting and exhibition facilities, audio-visual equipment and banquet rooms for large and small groups.

7) Summer Hotel can be in operation only during the summer months. It is often used as a student dormitory in winter time.

8) Holiday Village consists of a number of small individual cottages or bungalows normally with cooking facilities.

9) Hostel is a kind of a modest, moderately priced hotel, as a rule it has sleeping and breakfast facilities only.

There are also other types of moderately priced accommodation: an inn, a motor lodge, and a youth hostel.

All the countries of tourist attraction have a large network of hotels. Their class depends on their size, furniture, comfort, service, situation and so on.

According to the level of comfort the hotels are classified as one, two, three, four or five star hotels. Nowadays there are some six star hotels abroad. The class of a hotel depends on its size, comfort, furniture and location in the city. Top class hotels offer tourists good food and good service.

Hotel facilities include: accommodation facilities (rooms of different types), dining facilities (restaurants, bars, snack-bars, cafes and so on), entertaining facilities (golf, night clubs, casinos), sporting facilities (swimming pools, saunas, massage rooms, boats for hire, fitness rooms).

7. Types of Rooms

A top category has a whole choice of rooms. You can stay either in the top-category or the first-class room. It all depends on your choice, because the rooms are expensive. If you are not short of money you can afford yourself a suite-apartment, a suite, a junior suite or duplex. In any of these rooms you can find all facilities and conveniences. Normally there are three or more chambers in the top-category rooms (a sitting room, a study and bedrooms).

Guests staying in a suite or a suite apartment can have a guide and a car for the whole day.

In case you are short of money you can stay in single rooms, double rooms, twin rooms or studio rooms. Here you can also feel yourself at home. Hotel staff does its best to make your stay pleasant and comfortable.

There are the following main room types in a hotel: single room is a room occupied by one person. Double room has large bed for two people. Twin room is a room with single beds for two people. Studio room has both one bed and a convertible sofa. It can be used a single or a twin one. Suite has a sitting room connected to one or more bedrooms. Junior suite is a large room with partition separating the bedroom furnishing from the sitting area. Parlor is a sitting room not used as a bedroom (Sometimes called a salon). Hospitality room / Display room is a room used for entertaining (cocktail parties, banquets etc.). Connecting rooms are two rooms with private, connecting doors. You can move from one room to another without going to corridor. Adjoining rooms are two or more rooms side by side with a connecting door between them.

It is advisable to book rooms in advance especially in high season. Customs can always get the required information in Accommodation Bureau at railway stations, airports or at hotels about the kind of accommodation available.

Room Service

Room service is a catering service in which food and drink brought to a guest’s room in a hotel.

There are the following dining facilities at the hotel: restaurants, cafes, snack bars and a currency night bar. You can also order meals in the room for an extra charge. The extra charge is 15%. At the restaurant, the visitor can have good time and taste national dishes. All these services are additional. You should pay for them extra. Many other hotels have complete restaurant service and also offer room services for guests who want food and beverages served to them in their rooms. Large hotels including the mere luxurious resort hotels usually offer a variety of restaurants and bars for their guests to choose from. The restaurants may have different price ranges and different menus.

Most hotels have got some kind of food and beverage department. It includes a kitchen, a pantry, dining halls, bars and cocktail lounges. If the hotel kitchen has gained a reputation, it may increase the hotels business. The food and beverage department is in charge of room service too. When the hotel guests want to have their food and beverage in their rooms, the hotel provides this service. If guests need room service they should address a reception desk.