hotel

American  

[hoh-tel] / hoʊˈtɛl /

noun

1. a commercial establishment offering lodging to travelers and sometimes to permanent residents, and often having restaurants, meeting rooms, stores, etc., that are available to the general public.

   Synonyms:

   motel, guesthouse, hostel, hostelry

2. a word used in communications to represent the letter H.

3. Military. Hotel, the NATO name for a class of nuclear-powered Soviet submarines armed with single-warhead ballistic missiles: in service with the Soviet Navy 1959–91.

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Hotel ¹ British  

/ həʊˈtɛl /

noun

1. communications a code word for the letter h

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hotel ² British  

/ həʊˈtɛl /

noun

1. a commercially run establishment providing lodging and usually meals for guests, and often containing a public bar

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Related Words

Hotel, house, inn, tavern refer to establishments for the lodging or entertainment of travelers and others. Hotel is the common word, suggesting a more or less commodious establishment with up-to-date appointments, although this is not necessarily true: the best hotel in the city; a cheap hotel near the docks. The word house is often used in the name of a particular hotel, the connotation being wealth and luxury: the Parker House; the Palmer House. Inn suggests a place of homelike comfort and old-time appearance or ways; it is used for quaint or archaic effect in the names of some public houses and hotels in the U.S.: the Pickwick Inn; the Wayside Inn. A tavern, like the English public house, is a house where liquor is sold for drinking on the premises; until recently it was archaic or dialectal in the U.S., but has been revived to substitute for saloon, which had unfavorable connotations: Taverns are required to close by two o'clock in the morning. The word has also been used in the sense of inn, especially in New England, ever since Colonial days: Wiggins Tavern.

Other Word Forms

• hotelless adjective

Etymology

Origin of hotel

First recorded in 1670–80; from French hôtel, Old French hostel hostel

Compare meaning

How does hotel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• motel vs. hotel

Explanation

When you're on vacation, one place you can stay for a nightly fee is a hotel. Most hotels provide accommodations for sleeping, with minibars, pools, and ice machines to keep you entertained. While in Australia and New Zealand a hotel can also be a bar or a pub, most English-speakers recognize this word as the equivalent of an inn. Simple hotels give you a bed to sleep in and a bathroom to use, while fancier hotels might have beautiful furnishings, separate sitting rooms, swimming pools, and cafes. In the 1760s, hotel was defined as "an inn of the better sort."

Example Sentences

The treatment for Carey's walnut and pecan allergy cost £6,000, with a further £4,000 set aside for associated travel and hotel costs.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

"We were terrified... We just ran through the streets trying to get back to the hotel," she continued.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

Thrifty Traveler flagged the Turkish deal as a mistake fare and warned subscribers not to immediately make any nonrefundable travel reservations, such as a hotel or return flight, should Turkish not honor it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Local developer Faring plans to build the Bond Hotel & Residences, which will include a seven-story hotel with 45 rooms and a four-story apartment building with 126 units.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Later when we went back to the hotel, she asked me how I was going to spend all the money I had won.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

Related Words

• hostel
• house
• inn
• lodging
• motel
• resort
• tavern