TYPES OF ACCOMMODATION

The hotels and catering industry is often treated separately from the tourist industry, and certainly the training for both is very distinct. Its primary function is to provide tourists with accommodation and, to a lesser degree, food. So it is often referred to as the hospitality industry.

The hospitality, tourism and leisure industries have become increasingly important in terms of economies and employment throughout the world.

Travel and hotels have always been closely related.

In Europe and America, inns and taverns were spaced along the roads at the distance a horse could travel in a day. The traveller usually had to share his bed with another person, and as many as four other persons in some remote areas. The old-fashioned inns, however, did provide food and shelter for both men and horses and therefore became a symbol for hospitality. Indeed, the word inn has been used recently by many modern hotels and motels.,

A hotel is a temporary home for people who are travelling. In a hotel the traveller can rest and have meals, either on the premises or nearby. The hotel may also offer facilities for recreation, such as a swimming pool, a golf course, or a beach. Very often the hotel also provides free space for the traveller's means of transportation.

All of these services are designed to accommodate the traveller, so the hotel business is often referred to as the accommodations industry.

The word motel was created by combining "motor" and "hotel". When automobiles were first used for travelling, flimsy and inexpensive tourist cabins were built along the roads. Then, as people demanded greater comfort, the cabins were replaced by tourist courts and then by the modern motel, offering services comparable to the traditional hotels.

All hotels do not serve the same clientele, that is, the same kind of guests. It is possible to place hotels in four broad categories.

The first is the commercial hotel,which provides services essentially for transients, many of them travelling on business. Many city hotels and motels fall into this group.

The second category is resort hotels. They are located in vacation areas and often provide recreational facilities of their own as well.

A third type of hotel aims its services largely at the convention trade. Conventions are meetings of various business or professional groups held on a regular basis.

The fourth category is resident hotels. People who do not wish to keep house themselves can rent accommodations on a seasonal basis or even permanently in many hotels.

No firm distinction exists between the different kinds of hotels. In large cities one hotel may offer all types of service.

Even a small motel may have banquet rooms and meeting rooms in addition to its accommodations for transients. Many resort hotels are also designed with complete convention facilities.

Another way of categorizing hotels is by the quality of service they offer.

At the top are the luxury hotels,which generally offer their guests the greatest comfort and convenience possible. At the bottom are those that provide merely a place to sleep. In between these two

extremes are establishments offering a wide range of service arid comfort.

A system for rating hotels according to quality is widely used in France and other countries. This system puts the top hotels in a special "deluxe" category, with others receiving from five stars to one star or "A's".

The standard features include private bathrooms, room telephones, recreational facilities and so on.

The difference in quality between hotels is not entirely a matter of equipment or furnishings. The proportion of employees to guests and/or guest rooms is also a matter of prime importance. In general, the accommodations industry is labour-intensive, that is, it employs a large number of people to perform its services. In a luxury hotel, there may be three employees for every guest room. In a large commercial hotel in a big city, the ratio is usually closer to one employee per guest room,

A small motel, family-owned and operated, may have only three employees per ten rooms and hire a maid to do the housekeeping chores. Obviously, the services offered by a small hotel will be far more restricted than those provided by a luxury hotel. A hotel that prides itself on its quality of service also maintains high standards of performance.