5 ms·

In Brazil these things are known as "motels". I still have to think twice when I see a reference to the word in its original context, like "Bates Motel" in Psyc

by ufo 8y ago

In Brazil these things are known as "motels". I still have to think twice when I see a reference to the word in its original context, like "Bates Motel" in Psycho.

fouc 8y ago
Is that because people park their motor-vehicles there?
- gtirloni 8y ago
  I don't know how they started. They may have started as regular "motels" like in the US and then turned into love hotels because they were usually far away from downtown, near highways and that's a better place if you don't want to be seen with someone else? Nowadays "motel" equals "lovel hotel" in Brazil, without exception AFAIK. Cheap motels (in the US sense) that are near highways and are not "love hotels" will just call themselves "hotels" and avoid the sex-related stuff. There are plenty of those. I think it's also pretty common place for people who meet at night clubs and don't want to take their partners back home (in order to keep their privacy). They go to the motel and that's it. Wikipedia doesn't have a lot on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motel#South_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motel#South_America
  - Phrodo_00 8y ago
    Yeah, it's the same in Chile. Cheap hotels go by names that generally translate to "inn".
- OneWordSoln 8y ago
  As I understand it, motel rooms have doors that open to the outside and hotel rooms connect to the inside of the building, i.e. motels have no atrium.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    In pure form maybe. In actual life lots of motels and motel chains have atriums and rooms that don't open to the outside.
- outworlder 8y ago
  > Is that because people park their motor-vehicles there? Regarding Brazilian motels, I'm not sure about the etymology, but it is possible that it was borrowed from English, I guess. Because people DO park cars there. In many (most?) cases, there are individual parking garages (with a door that closes) which open to the specific room. There are no elevators, corridors, or anything that would allow unrelated people to interact. Other than the 'reception', which is essentially a drive-through, you do not have to see or interact with any human beings. Even payment is handled through a small compartment.
ashleyn 8y ago
It's basically the same in dodgy parts of the US.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  Speaking as an American, to me "hotel" and "motel" mean exactly the same thing. But "hotel" is the more usual word.
  - kazinator 8y ago
    The do not mean the same thing. You can't refer to a 20 story Sheraton tower with a concierge-staffed lobby as a "motel". A motel (portmanteau of "motor hotel") is a low-lying, often ground-level, structure oriented toward motorists, usually featuring separate exterior entrances to each suite. Visitors are usually able to park right next to their suite, for easily moving items to and from their vehicle. The word comes from America, and seems to originally have been a proper noun serving as the name of a motor hotel chain: https://www.etymonline.com/word/motel https://www.etymonline.com/word/motel
    - ozim 8y ago
      Same thing with that no one I know would refer to McDonalds as restaurant. Even though technically it is a restaurant.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - iak8god 8y ago
      > usually featuring separate exterior entrances to each suite Having recently thought a lot about this after being tricked into staying in a place listed on booking.com as an "inn", but which upon arrival was clearly a motel, this is definitely the defining feature of a motel: if I can access the room through an exterior entrance without passing through the interior of the building (a lobby), it's a motel and not a hotel.
Mediterraneo10 8y ago
In Chile, too, any place calling itself a "motel" is actually a discreet place for a rendezvous and often surrounded by high walls for privacy’s sake. This actually creates problems for OpenStreetMap, because Chileans, unaware of what "motel" means in the rest of the world, tend to tag these places using OSM’s "motel" tag even though it is arguably inappropriate in this context. (Similarly, because of the similarity of the Spanish word hostal ‘hotel’ and English hostel, unaware OSM editors in this region tag all kinds of ordinary hotels as hostels.)

by ufo 8y ago

In Brazil these things are known as "motels". I still have to think twice when I see a reference to the word in its original context, like "Bates Motel" in Psycho.

fouc 8y ago

Is that because people park their motor-vehicles there?

gtirloni 8y ago
I don't know how they started. They may have started as regular "motels" like in the US and then turned into love hotels because they were usually far away from downtown, near highways and that's a better place if you don't want to be seen with someone else? Nowadays "motel" equals "lovel hotel" in Brazil, without exception AFAIK. Cheap motels (in the US sense) that are near highways and are not "love hotels" will just call themselves "hotels" and avoid the sex-related stuff. There are plenty of those. I think it's also pretty common place for people who meet at night clubs and don't want to take their partners back home (in order to keep their privacy). They go to the motel and that's it. Wikipedia doesn't have a lot on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motel#South_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motel#South_America
- Phrodo_00 8y ago
  Yeah, it's the same in Chile. Cheap hotels go by names that generally translate to "inn".
OneWordSoln 8y ago
As I understand it, motel rooms have doors that open to the outside and hotel rooms connect to the inside of the building, i.e. motels have no atrium.
- coldtea 8y ago
  In pure form maybe. In actual life lots of motels and motel chains have atriums and rooms that don't open to the outside.
outworlder 8y ago
> Is that because people park their motor-vehicles there? Regarding Brazilian motels, I'm not sure about the etymology, but it is possible that it was borrowed from English, I guess. Because people DO park cars there. In many (most?) cases, there are individual parking garages (with a door that closes) which open to the specific room. There are no elevators, corridors, or anything that would allow unrelated people to interact. Other than the 'reception', which is essentially a drive-through, you do not have to see or interact with any human beings. Even payment is handled through a small compartment.

ashleyn 8y ago

It's basically the same in dodgy parts of the US.

thaumasiotes 8y ago
Speaking as an American, to me "hotel" and "motel" mean exactly the same thing. But "hotel" is the more usual word.
- kazinator 8y ago
  The do not mean the same thing. You can't refer to a 20 story Sheraton tower with a concierge-staffed lobby as a "motel". A motel (portmanteau of "motor hotel") is a low-lying, often ground-level, structure oriented toward motorists, usually featuring separate exterior entrances to each suite. Visitors are usually able to park right next to their suite, for easily moving items to and from their vehicle. The word comes from America, and seems to originally have been a proper noun serving as the name of a motor hotel chain: https://www.etymonline.com/word/motel https://www.etymonline.com/word/motel
  - ozim 8y ago
    Same thing with that no one I know would refer to McDonalds as restaurant. Even though technically it is a restaurant.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - iak8god 8y ago
    > usually featuring separate exterior entrances to each suite Having recently thought a lot about this after being tricked into staying in a place listed on booking.com as an "inn", but which upon arrival was clearly a motel, this is definitely the defining feature of a motel: if I can access the room through an exterior entrance without passing through the interior of the building (a lobby), it's a motel and not a hotel.

Mediterraneo10 8y ago

In Chile, too, any place calling itself a "motel" is actually a discreet place for a rendezvous and often surrounded by high walls for privacy’s sake. This actually creates problems for OpenStreetMap, because Chileans, unaware of what "motel" means in the rest of the world, tend to tag these places using OSM’s "motel" tag even though it is arguably inappropriate in this context. (Similarly, because of the similarity of the Spanish word hostal ‘hotel’ and English hostel, unaware OSM editors in this region tag all kinds of ordinary hotels as hostels.)