A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refrigerator , and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a television, and en-suite bathrooms.
Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, a business center with computers, printers, and other office equipment, childcare, conference and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, gymnasium , restaurants, day spa, and social function services.
Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In Japan , capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities. The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe. For a period of about years from the midth century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travelers.
Inns began to cater to wealthier clients in the midth century. One of the first hotels in a modern sense was opened in Exeter in Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the early 19th century, and luxury hotels began to spring up in the later part of the 19th century, particularly in the United States.
Hotel operations vary in size, function, complexity, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set industry standards to classify hotel types. An upscale full-service hotel facility offers luxury amenities, full-service accommodations, an on-site restaurant , and the highest level of personalized service, such as a concierge , room service , and clothes-ironing staff.
