Before your next check-in, check out the history and differences between hotels and motels.
You ’re drive on some retentive stint of highwayin the dark of night . You ’re 400 miles from home base . You and your locomotion companion are aweary and fresh out of gas - post cheeze curlz . You ’re starve , cranky , and need to make water . Suddenly , the clouds part . The moon glisten , disclose ahotel on a hilland amotel on the side of the road . So … which should you prefer ? And what is the real difference between the two ?
The basic differences
Some of us use " hotel " and " motel " to report any place we pay to remain temporarily . However , they are two different type ofcommercial pad .
Hotels are large , multi - room lodgment with elbow room doorway that open into an interior hall . They often offer washables services , food , and even bar and spa options , and enjoy a broadly speaking safe reputation and full staff . From coma - induce cover to room servicing , there ’s something a bit luxe in the very act of book a hotel . Especially now , even a canonic hotel chain can feel like a splurge , as Price increasein response to multiple global and domestic upshot impacting the hospitality industry .
Conversely , motels are often small , with sparser amenities ( if any ) and few room . Motel elbow room doors open direct into a parking lot or the outside world . They may offer room service , but only in the sentiency that you must leave your room and hope the outdoorvendingmachine is shape . A skeleton work party or an ground forces of one usually hightail it a motel , and some still smell like the 1970s . On the plus side , though , the rate are often splendid .
Magic Beach Motel in Florida|Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
A brief history and etymology of hotels
" Sometimes masses associate hotels with luxury . for certain with historicgrand damehotels,“Jaime Calder , a features author and editor forSun Rays Magazinein Central Texas , say . Her workplace focuses on historical , destination , and travel writing in Texas and beyond . " Like , here in Austin , we haveThe Driskill . A Bos taurus baron , who went by Colonel Driskill , establish it in the late1800sto showcase his wealth . “The Driskill ’s vibe is likeThe Grand Budapest Hotelbut forcowboys .
" But before the opulence of these Driskill - type hotels , you had inns , which were item-by-item folks who had a gravid - ass house and fall out to know off of a main route , " Calder continued . " When multitude were coming through , these innkeepers would tend to the traveler ’s horses . They would offer something to eat up . The stables were run by somebody call a ' hostiler ' or ' hostler . ' This is fundamentally like an old Gallic word for ' boniface . ' Weirdly , it ’s also the same terminal figure that ' hospital ' is derive from . "
In fact , " hotel , " " hostel , " " hospital , " and " hospitality " are all a bit born from Latin and borrowed fromAnglo - French . These words derive from the Latin ancestor parole " hospes , " intend both " guest " and " host . " The word ’s deep substance involvescaringfor and being cared for bystrangers .
The namesake hotel from Wes Anderson’s 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel|Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
supply great cordial reception is considered a requirement for good spiritual health acrossreligionsandcultures . The concept of welcome traveling strangers as protagonist is as old as the hills . It was already anancientidea in 1765 when Gallic scholar Louisde Jaucortlamented cordial reception ’s passing of meaningful personal link with the rise of themerchantclass .
" In their travel , wealthy somebody have gained the use of all the delights of the body politic they visit , joined to the polite welcome that is offered proportionally to their expense , " de Jaucort write inHospitalité .
Motels roll up on the scene
If our French student was bummed at how merchandiser mobility changed hospitality in the 1700s , we marvel what he would have think about the heyday ofRoute 66 . " The biggest difference between a hotel and a motel is that motels did n’t emerge until motor culture emerge in the United States , with the Second Coming of Christ of cars , " Calder said .
Throughout the late1910sand into the ' thirty , affordableautomobiles became an entire country ’s keystone to freedom . The1920sunspooled new highways across the American landscape . Travelers from all storey of socioeconomic status started rack up the route and never totally stopped . And lo , a distinctly American roadside culture was born in the " motor hotel . "
" There was a demand for a position to persist overnight as you ’re getting from Point A to Point B. Motels were the low-pitched - frills answer to hotels , unremarkably in that Greco-Roman one - point shoe form or one miserable landing strip of rooms off of a driveway surface area , " Calder read . visualize the Motor Court from the Hellenic 1934 screwball comedyIt Happened One Nightfor a visual reference work .
The Driskill hotel in Austin, Texas|Photo courtesy of The Driskill
" A batch of motel suffer disrepair and fell out of favor in the ' 70 and ' 80s . Right around the time that these massive hotel Ernst Boris Chain , likeHoliday Inn , took over the nation . " Holiday Inn place the tone for other American hotel at this time by offeringamenitiesto keep guests spending inside their walls .
" A hotel might have a concierge who can mastermind you to things that are more interesting in the community because there ’s an expectation that you ’re staying here more recreationally , not just as an all-night full stop , " Calder say . " With motels , it was normal for mass to get in and out all hours of the Nox . It was a hands - off experience , which is also how motel built that ' no - tell motel ' , seedy reputation . "
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Beating the rep
Just how deserved is the big repute motels get compared to the highfalutin report of hotels ? agree to Andrew Bentley , author and former front desk shift key manager for an upscale boutique mountain chain hotel in D.C. , while hotels often enjoy a good repute , it ’s base more on appearance than reality .
" It ’s pretty much a no - tell policy . I think that goes for all hotels . A hotel generally gives you a lilliputian more privacy . It ’s economically tiered , like every other aspect of our society , " said Bentley . " If you may afford to be in a hotel , you may do some darn that you might not get aside with in a motel . "
motel , meanwhile , are n’t incapable of flipping the script . “At first , when we were traveling , we incline to detect motel not super accommodating . Hotels were nicer , " Margaret Bienert , who co - start the popular Instagram accountA Pretty Cool Hotel Tourwith her husband , Corey Bienert , say . Together , the pair explore blot out - gemstone - themed hotels and motels , which they also collect in the bookHotel Kitsch .
" But in the last couple long time , we ’ve had some great experience lately at motel bought by one person or crime syndicate who want to do a revamp . These experiences are so much nicer and cute personalized sometimes way better than being in a bighearted hotel . "
The revampire chronicles
In the early 2000s , hotel and motel respond to a falloff in occupation withrenovations . receipts amend . Amanda Harrison - Wu , a former hotel director , recite us , " At that time I solve at outback properties known for their demode spell . Mackinac Island , Martha ’s Vineyard , and on Nantucket . These places could n’t update to get the more innovative smell , but they updated where they could . Some even offered a assembly line of more innovative rooms . It determine a Modern precedent and made more the great unwashed concerned in staying at motels and hotels again . "
A fistful of decades later , the personal line of credit between indie hotels and motel is starting to blur . Reimagined lodging experienceslike theRosebud MotelfromSchitt’sCreekmight be fictional , but lodgings likeAustin Motelin Texas , Coachman Hotelin Lake Tahoe , andWhite Sandsin Waikiki show that a stylish , retro conversion of old - school properties is very potential in real life sentence .
Bienert is exclamatory that a revamped motel or hotel ’s success rely on the revamper ’s cacoethes . " We had a favorite hotel that buy the farm under after it got bought by a corporation who turn it millennial gray . Those investors did n’t devote attention to what made that hotel with child , and so it failed , " Bienert articulate . " You also need to be passionate when staying in these place . I ’ve had such upright experience , and I bid more people got to cognise who ’s execute the front desk because they ’re unremarkably the pocket-size business possessor attempt to make the place better . "
The Rosebud Motel from the popular television show Schitt’s Creek|Photo courtesy of
" People have to reinvest , " Calder agree . " Even if hotel and motel just put an EV charger on the premises , these spot would believably explode with achiever . "
There really is n’t a wrong choice when it arrive to staying the Nox in a hotel or motel . While both options take on dissimilar pauperism , they also each meet the canonical want of incur a place to rest while out on the open road . Whether that repose come in the form of a brightly - lit chain hotel or a throwback motel so photo - ready it will make your societal media weep — well , that ’s up to you .
Nick Warnock , a heavy railroad engineer from Oklahoma , usually rest in mid - range chain hotels for his cross - country workplace travelling . Still , he carries a soft blot for motels . " My dad was always on the road for pipelining , so we stayed predominantly in motel , " Warnock said . " I ’m pretty certain it was always a Motel 6 , where Tom Bodett would always ' allow for the lightness on for you ' . When I was a kid , hotels were reserved for fancy occasions . Now that I ’m sometime , I favour a motel . There ’s a scent of of stale butt smoke and burnt coffee baked into a way . But two layer and a coffee plenty will always feel like home . "
Austin Motel in Texas|Photo courtesy of Austin Motel
( It should be observe thatTom Bodett , farsighted - prison term interpreter for Motel 6 , courteously declined to be interviewed for this story , as he was traveling in England , where he noted a " tragic lack of Motel 6 localisation . ” )
A sense of home and nostalgia are strong settle factor for last out in hotelsandmotels . Often , planned ( or surprisal ) time off from household call for a good sense of safety , puff , and even adventure grown - ups may otherwise feel hard to grasp — certainly if traveller are on a budget .
" multitude want to have experiences . Even multitude with kids , " Calder said , " hoi polloi want to see each other . They want to trip . That ’s just human nature . And those experiences make us all better as people . They just need to be within reaching for everybody . It ca n’t just be a luxury experience . There are so many opulent hotels that are outstanding , but like , I do n’t make that much in a solar day . I ca n’t spend that much on a nighttime . "
" I hope the tendency continues toward that nostalgic cozy flavour , " Bienert sound out of today ’s slow reviving hotel / motel landscape painting . " I feel like that smaller , look - to - face interaction is what people want . I hope it is , and I ’m always hold out hope . "
However and wherever you go for to find your two beds and a umber pot at the end of an capable route , safe and happy travels to you .
Larissa Zagerisis a writer , pedagogue , and movie maker from Midlothian , IL . She is the author ofMy Lady ’s Choosing : An Interactive Romance Novel , For Your Consideration : Keanu Reeves , Taylor Swift : Girl Detective , and many comics , game , and playscript . Her short filmNot Bloody Marywas an NYX Official Selection for their inaugural 13 Minutes of Horror Film Festival . It streamed on Shudder and as part of India ’s Wench Film Fest . Her horror short story “ Something in the Night ” is being produced by Good Pointe podcasts .
