5 ms·

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

by ashleyn 8y ago

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.
- sinker 8y ago
  Yup. Motels aren't necessarily sex related. They're just cheaper hotels where you might only stay for a night or two getting to your destination. Whereas a hotel is some place you'd usually stay during a vacation.
- OneWordSoln 8y ago
  As I mentioned above, my understanding is that hotels have internally-connected hallways that link the rooms, whereas motel rooms connect directly to the outside. Note: I am American, too.
  - cronix 8y ago
    Yes, at least in the USA. > "Hotel," according to Merriam-Webster, originated in the year 1765 and comes from a French word for an establishment that provides lodging, meals and other services. > "Motel" came along much later, in 1925, according to Merriam-Webster. It blends the words "motor" and "hotel" and is meant to describe an establishment that provides some, but not necessarily all of the services associated with a hotel. Motels, according to San Jose State University communications professor Andrew Wood, are an entirely American phenomenon: They originated as inns along the country's first major motorways, offering rest to weary explorers and families on vacation. > Hotels and motels differ in layout and construction. Hotels can contain hundreds of rooms and several floors; they generally have staircases, elevators and internal corridors that lead to the rooms. Motels commonly have a one- or two-floor layout and guests access their rooms directly from the parking lot. > Some hotels, especially those in the luxury-accommodations realm, exhibit specific styles of architecture and design, such as the Waldorf Astoria of New York. Motels typically have a more utilitarian construction. https://traveltips.usatoday.com/difference-between-hotels-motels-2976.html https://traveltips.usatoday.com/difference-between-hotels-mo...
    - kazinator 8y ago
      Hotel is related to hostel. Regarding French, note that many words that have a circumflex-o in modern French correspond to "os" words in English. Like hôpital -> hospital. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex_in_French#Indication_of_a_lost_phoneme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex_in_French#Indicatio... So "hotel" is basically a re-import of "hostel" from French which had become "hôtel" due to the lost phoneme. So now we have both hostel and hotel. All of the words hotel, hostel, hospital and related words ultimately come from the Latin word hospitale (inn, large house).
- soylentcola 8y ago
  Also American, and as I understood it, hotels were traditionally in town but when people started taking more long distance driving trips, people opened "motorist hotels" (aka, motels) along highways and common driving routes. Even today, with chains often blurring the lines, I still think of the old-school, single story row of rooms as a motel and the taller ones as hotels. It's not because of the original reasons anymore since you can have a high rise along the highway and serving a similar purpose. But since I was a kid, the cheap one-story drive-up ones were still called motels whereas the bigger multi-story chain places were marketed as hotels. I agree that the lines have blurred but I still consider a motel as a subset of hotels.
- jandrese 8y ago
  If you can pull your car up to the door it is a motel. If you have to go in to get to your room its a hotel.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    There are many that have rooms that you can't get your car up to the door, but are still called motels (and even belong to motel chains like Motel 6). In smaller motels all rooms have car access (on the ground floor of course). In larger ones, as the expand, they often add extra rooms with no road access. And inversely, there are smaller places where cars can be parked outside, but are called hotels. Nowadays it more how fancy they are and how much you pay, which makes them call them "hotel" vs "motel", as opposed to (That said, I've never seen an establishment without parking outside/next to the building called a motel).
  - kazinator 8y ago
    Not exactly. For example, there are two-storey motels, which still have outside entrances, from a balcony corridor reached via an exterior staircase.

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.
sinker 8y ago
Yup. Motels aren't necessarily sex related. They're just cheaper hotels where you might only stay for a night or two getting to your destination. Whereas a hotel is some place you'd usually stay during a vacation.
OneWordSoln 8y ago
As I mentioned above, my understanding is that hotels have internally-connected hallways that link the rooms, whereas motel rooms connect directly to the outside. Note: I am American, too.
- cronix 8y ago
  Yes, at least in the USA. > "Hotel," according to Merriam-Webster, originated in the year 1765 and comes from a French word for an establishment that provides lodging, meals and other services. > "Motel" came along much later, in 1925, according to Merriam-Webster. It blends the words "motor" and "hotel" and is meant to describe an establishment that provides some, but not necessarily all of the services associated with a hotel. Motels, according to San Jose State University communications professor Andrew Wood, are an entirely American phenomenon: They originated as inns along the country's first major motorways, offering rest to weary explorers and families on vacation. > Hotels and motels differ in layout and construction. Hotels can contain hundreds of rooms and several floors; they generally have staircases, elevators and internal corridors that lead to the rooms. Motels commonly have a one- or two-floor layout and guests access their rooms directly from the parking lot. > Some hotels, especially those in the luxury-accommodations realm, exhibit specific styles of architecture and design, such as the Waldorf Astoria of New York. Motels typically have a more utilitarian construction. https://traveltips.usatoday.com/difference-between-hotels-motels-2976.html https://traveltips.usatoday.com/difference-between-hotels-mo...
  - kazinator 8y ago
    Hotel is related to hostel. Regarding French, note that many words that have a circumflex-o in modern French correspond to "os" words in English. Like hôpital -> hospital. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex_in_French#Indication_of_a_lost_phoneme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex_in_French#Indicatio... So "hotel" is basically a re-import of "hostel" from French which had become "hôtel" due to the lost phoneme. So now we have both hostel and hotel. All of the words hotel, hostel, hospital and related words ultimately come from the Latin word hospitale (inn, large house).
soylentcola 8y ago
Also American, and as I understood it, hotels were traditionally in town but when people started taking more long distance driving trips, people opened "motorist hotels" (aka, motels) along highways and common driving routes. Even today, with chains often blurring the lines, I still think of the old-school, single story row of rooms as a motel and the taller ones as hotels. It's not because of the original reasons anymore since you can have a high rise along the highway and serving a similar purpose. But since I was a kid, the cheap one-story drive-up ones were still called motels whereas the bigger multi-story chain places were marketed as hotels. I agree that the lines have blurred but I still consider a motel as a subset of hotels.
jandrese 8y ago
If you can pull your car up to the door it is a motel. If you have to go in to get to your room its a hotel.
- coldtea 8y ago
  There are many that have rooms that you can't get your car up to the door, but are still called motels (and even belong to motel chains like Motel 6). In smaller motels all rooms have car access (on the ground floor of course). In larger ones, as the expand, they often add extra rooms with no road access. And inversely, there are smaller places where cars can be parked outside, but are called hotels. Nowadays it more how fancy they are and how much you pay, which makes them call them "hotel" vs "motel", as opposed to (That said, I've never seen an establishment without parking outside/next to the building called a motel).
- kazinator 8y ago
  Not exactly. For example, there are two-storey motels, which still have outside entrances, from a balcony corridor reached via an exterior staircase.