The word hotel came from the French word hotel, derived from the word hotel – meaning host. The term originally refers to any building that has frequent visitors. Today, a hotel is an establishment that provides lodging, food and other services to travelers for payment.
The earliest record of any mention of paid lodging would be during biblical times. According to the Bible, Maria and Joseph could not be accommodated because "there was no room at the inn."
It was during the Roman Empire that hotels began to proliferate. These were established to encourage visitors to the empire.
According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest hotel that still operates today is the Hoshi Ryokan located in the Awazu Onsen region of Komatsu in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. It was founded and is still operated by the same family for 1,292 years. The hotel was with the family for forty-six generations since 718. The hotel was built near hot water spring, which creates to be miraculous healing properties. Residents still claim that this is real, to this day. The hotel has 100 rooms and can accommodate up to 450 guests.
In America, the first inn was registered to be established in 1607. In 1792, the City Hotel, the first publicly-owned hotel, opened in New York City. The Tremont opened in Boston in 1809. It was the first modern hotel in America. The Buffalo Statler, the first commercial hotel in America began its operations in 1908.
Over the years, individual tastes have changed and it has been inevitable that hotels have changed according to what customers wanted. These days, customers can choose from a larger choice.
Customers can choose to stay in a luxurious hotel or budget hotel, according to their budget or available funds. Hotels can also be classified by service type:
- Full Service Upscale
- Full Service
- Choose a Service
- Limited Service
- Extended Camera
- Destination Club
For people who want some adventure, they can try some unusual hotels like the Null Stern Hotel in Teufen, Appenzellerland, Switzerland, which used to be a nuclear bunker that transformed into a hotel. There are also cave hotels in Capadocia, Turkey and Spain. Costa Rica has Treehouse hotels and Japan has capsule hotels where people sleep on each other in rectangular containers. Since it is cold during most of the year in Canada, Finland and Sweden, these countries have hotels that are made of ice and snow. There are also underwater hotels in Sweden and Florida, the United States.
The largest hotel according to the Guinness Book of World Records is the First World Hotel located in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. It has 6,111 rooms. The highest hotel is the Rose Tower located in Dubai. It's 333 meters high.