Types of hotels (Part 1)

City Center Hotels

City center hotels, by virtue of their location, meet the needs of the public traveling for business or leisure reasons. These hotels could be lux­ury, midscale, business, suites, economy, or residential. They offer a range of accommodations and services. Luxury hotels might offer the ultimate in decor, butler service, concierge and special concierge floors, secretarial services, computers, fax machines, beauty salons, health spas, twenty-four-hour room service, swimming pools, tennis courts, valet ser­vice, ticket office, airline office, car rental, and doctor/nurse on duty o| on call. Generally, they offer a signature restaurant, coffee shop, or an equivalent name restaurant; a lounge; a name bar; meeting and conven­tion rooms; a ballroom; and possibly a fancy night spot.

City center hotels were constructed in waves; stimulated by government regulations, investors developed hotels when the climate was right, For example, tax incentives for urban renewal projects created favorable economic conditions in the 1960s. This led to the construction of new downtown hotels in many cities. Another boom time for hotel development was the 1980s. Together with convention centers and office buildings, hotels have been one of the catalysts in inner-city revitalization. The Copley Center in Boston and the Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta are examples of this [1, 95].

Airport Hotels

Many airport hotels enjoy a high occupancy because of the large number of travelers arriving and departing from major airports. The guest mix in airport hotels consists of business, group, and leisure travelers.

Passengers with early or late flights may stay over at the airport hotel, While others rest while waiting for connecting flights.

Airport hotels are generally in the 200- to 600-room size and are full service. In order to care for the needs of guests who may still feel as if they are in different time zones, room service and restaurant hours may hi extended, even offered twenty-four hours. More moderately-priced hotels have vending machines.

As competition at airport hotels intensified, some added meeting space to cater to business people who want to fly in, meet, and fly out. Hire, the airport hotel has the advantage of saving the guests from having to go downtown [1, 102-103].

Figure 2. Hotels by Price Segment

Budget $25-$35	Economy $35-$55	Midprice $55-$95	Up Scale $95-$195	Luxury $125-495	All-Suites $65-$125
	Holiday Inn Express	Holiday Inn	Holiday Inn	Crown Plaza
	Fairfield Inn	Courtyard Inn Residence Inn	Marriott	Marriott Mar­quis Ritz-Carlton	Marriott Suites
		Days Inn	Omni	Renaissance
		Radisson Inn	Radisson		Radisson Suites
	Ramada Lim­ited	Ramada Inn	Ramada	Ramada	Ramada Suites
	Sheraton Inn	Sheraton Inn Four Points	Sheraton	Sheraton Grande	Sheraton Suites
			Hyatt	Hyatt Regency Hyatt Park	Hyatt Suites
Sleep Inns	Comfort Inn	Quality Inn	Clarion Hotels		Quality Suites Comfort Suites
		Hilton Inn	Hilton	Hilton Towers	Hilton Suites
		Doubletree club	Doubletree		Doubletree Suites
Thrift Lodge	Travelodge Hotels	Travelodge Hotels	Forte Hotels	Forte Hotels
			Westin	Westin
Sixpence Inns	La Quinta
E-Z-8	Red Roof Inn
	Best Western
	Hampton Inn				Embassy Suites

The St. Regis Hotel in New York is another good example of a city center luxury hotel. An example of a midscale hotel in New York is the Ramada Hotel; an economy hotel is the Days Inn; and a suites property is the Embassy Suites [1, 96].