Beyond Stars: Navigating the Diverse Classification of Hotels

Hotels are an integral part of the travel and hospitality industry, offering a range of accommodation options to suit the diverse needs and preferences of travelers. From luxurious resorts to budget-friendly stays, hotels come in various types based on factors such as location, target market, property size, level of service, length of stay, and themes. In this article, we will explain about the different kinds of hotels, providing insights into their unique characteristics and what sets them apart.

Location-based Hotels

One way to categorize hotels is based on their location. This classification takes into account the surroundings and accessibility of the property. Some common examples include:

City Center Hotels: Also known as Downtown Hotel, situated in the heart of bustling cities. These hotels cater to business travelers and tourists who prefer the convenience of being close to major attractions, shopping centers, and business districts. Rates here in these hotels are normally high due to location advantage.
Suburbun Hotel: These hotels are located outside the city having quieter surrounding as we compared to the city center hotel. Rates here are moderate to low. Such hotels are suitable for budget travelers.
Motels: These hotels is also famous as “motor hotel”, which is primarily situated on highways. They provide simple accommodation for highway travelers. The length of stay is normally overnight. Motels provide enough parking space, and may be located near a petrol pump.
Airport Hotels: These are hotels situated near the airports. They cater to mainly those guests, who might have to stay over at the hotels between two flight timings.
Forest Hotels: These hotels are located within a forest range and specially designed to serve to those tourists who are visiting the forest area.
Floatels: Also known as Floating Hotels, are the hotel establishments on luxury liners, or ships. Rivers, big lakes, and seas are the best possible spots for such hotels.
Cruise Ships: These hotels are actually passenger ships intentionally as destination holidays. The luxuries aboard the ship as well as the various destinations along the way help create a unique experience for travelers. The furniture used on such ships are much heavier than the usual furniture used in hotels and resorts to provide more stability on the moving ship.
Boatels: A houseboat hotels is referred to as a boatel. The ‘Shikaras’ of Kashmir and the ‘Kettuvalams’ of Kerala are houseboats that offer small but lavish accommodation to travelers in middle of lakes and waterways.
Rotels: These innovative alternatives are hotel on wheels. Our very own Palace on Wheels, Deccan Odyssey, & Maharaja Express are trains providing a luxurious hotels environment. Rotels also includes some large trucks with the interior done up like hotel rooms.

Target Market-Oriented Hotels

Hotels may also cater to specific target markets, tailoring their services and amenities accordingly. Here are a few examples:

Commercial Hotels: These hotels cater mostly to businessmen and are typically designed on the European Plan. They are normally situated at the heart of the city (like City Center Hotels) which helps to provide more business to hotel.
Conventional Hotel: This kind of hotels have a large convention complex and serve to people attending a convention, conference, or similar event.
Resort Hotel: This kind of hotel mainly patronized by vacationers who want to relax and enjoy themselves. Guest may stay for a week or up to even a month. In order to boost business during the off-season, special off-season packages offered to guests.
Suite Hotels: This kind of hotels may provide a compact kitchenette, complete with utensils, refrigerator, and microwave oven, as well as a wet bar. They provide some guest service than other hotels. They cater to people who are relocating and act as a home away from home for frequent travelers. They are suitable for professionals like executives during a long business days.
B&B Hotels: Also known as Bed-and-Breakfast Hotels, A European concept, range from house with a few rooms converted into overnight facilities to small commercial buildings with 20-30 guestrooms. This hotel is managing breakfast to guest. Most B&B provide only lodging and limited board, or, as the name suggested, only breakfast.
Extended-Stay Hotel: These hotel are similar to suite hotels, but usually provide kitchenette amenities in the room, which suite hotels usually didn’t provide. They are designed for travelers who intend to stay for five days or longer, and require reduce hotel services. These kind of hotels usually do not provide food, beverage or guest laundry services.
Casino Hotels: This kind of hotels provide gambling facilities to guests, as the name implies. They provide lodging, food and beverages for their guests, but they were not expecting to earn profit from it. This kind of hotel provide gambling facilities 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
Timeshare Hotel: Also known as “Vacation-Interval Hotel”. This kind of hotel provide individual purchasing of ownership for a short period of time – usually one or two weeks per year.
Condominiums: This kind of hotels are similar to Timeshare Hotel. The one and only difference is the type of ownership. Units of condominiums hotels have only one owner instead of multiple owners, each for a limited amount of time each year.

Property Size – Oriented Hotels

Hotels can also be classified based on their property size they provide. This classification helps determine the scale of operations and the overall guest experience. Some examples include:

Types of Hotels	Indian Standards	Abroad Standards
Small Hotels	Less than 25 rooms	Less than 100 rooms
Medium-Sized Hotel	25 to 100 rooms	100 to 300 rooms
Large Hotel	101 to 300 rooms	400 to 600 rooms
Very Large Hotel	More than 300 rooms	600 to 1000 rooms
Mega Hotel	More than 1000 rooms
Chain Hotel	These are groups that have hotels in a number of locations in India & International venues.

Level of Service – Oriented Hotel

Budget Hotel: Also known as Economy Hotels, which is focus on meeting the most basic needs of guests by providing clean, comfortable, and inexpensive rooms.
Mid-Market Hotel: Also known as Mid-Scale Hotel, offering mid-market services appeal to the largest segment of the traveling public. This kind of hotel provide simple but sufficient and the staffing level is moderate but not huge.
Luxury Hotel: This kind of hotel provide world-class services, providing upscale restaurant and lounges, magnificent decor, concierge services, lavish meeting rooms, and dining facilities.

Length of Stay – Oriented Hotel

Transient Hotel: This kind of hotels provide services to guests where a guest can register for a day or even less. They are situated near airports and seaports. They are usually five-star hotels.
Residential Hotel: This kind of hotel provide services to guests where they can stay for a minimum period of one month and up to two years. The rent is paid either monthly or quarterly, but not on daily basis.
Semi-Residential Hotel: This kind of hotel that incorporate the features of both transient & residential hotel.

Themed – Oriented Hotels

For those seeking a unique and immersive experience, themed hotels provide a captivating stay centered around a particular concept or theme. Some popular examples include:

Heritage Hotels: Housed in buildings with significant historical value, or can hold historical and cultural significance of the place in which they are found. These hotels transport guests back in time, offering a glimpse into the past through their architecture, decor, and stories.
Ecotels: This kind of hotels are actually an environment friendly hotel. This is so because no hotel can be friendly to the environment, since in one way or the other they will be harming in a small way to the environment.
Boutique Hotel: This kind of hotel provide exceptional accommodations, furnishes in a themed and stylish manners, along with personalized services & facilities.
Spas Hotel: This kind of hotel is a Spa Resort Hotel providing therapeutic baths & massage along with other features of a luxury hotels.

Conclusion

As you can see, the hotel industry offers a wide array of options to cater to every traveler’s needs and preferences. Whether you’re looking for a luxurious beachfront resort, a budget-friendly city center hotel, or a themed accommodation experience, there’s a perfect hotel waiting to welcome you on your next adventure.