Hotels are facilities in which individuals can pay a price for short-term lodging. Travelers commonly utilize these places. Historically, they have only included the bare necessities such as a bed, wash area, table and cupboard. Nowadays, there are many amenities that come standard and some available for an extra fee. For example: alarm clock, safe, telephone, bathrooms, air conditioning, miniature bar and kitchen appliances. A hotel may offer free meals as part of a guest package.

There are different kinds of hotels. Typically they vary by function, size and cost. Some of main types: full service, upscale luxury, timeshare, extended stay, limited service, and destination club.

Historical hotels are ones that have some notability because of a person or event that they have hosted. For example, in Germany, the Schloss Cecillenhof is known for hosting the Potsdam Conference that Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman attended. Other examples: Tower in Mumbai and Taj Mahal Palace. These historic places may also be known for a special meal or beverage that they serve. In general, most recognition for these historical places comes from pop culture references.

A hotel may be considered nontraditional or even unusual because of a feature that is has. Tree house ones are constructed using live trees, while straw bale ones are made entirely from straw bales. Bunker places, as their name suggest, are nuclear bunkers that have been remodeled for lodging purposes. A shoe hotel is built into over-sized footwear. The cave kind are built within old mines or cave formations. Capsule lodging facilities, which are most present in Japans, guests are set up to sleep in rectangular containers, which lie stacked on each other. Other unusual types: garden, underwater, ice and snow, and boutique.

Generally resort hotels offer more than traditional lodging facilities. These places usually contain at least one attraction such as a casino. The Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada has several of these resort-style facilities. Railway companies build railway lodging places that are located along the track area and a place for rail travelers to temporarily stay. These facilities are not too common in the United States where the railway is not as popular a form of transit.

Motels, also called motor hotels, offer another form of temporary lodging. They are designed to host travelers, usually for only one night. Most are located near major roadways and offer direct access to and from the room and the parking lot.

It has been recorded that the largest hotel in world contains more than 6,000 rooms. The Guinness Book of World Records reports that the oldest hotel that is still being operated is located in Japan. The building, known as the Hoshi Ryokan, opened in 718. The tallest hotel is assumed to be the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, which sits atop the highest building, at nearly 500 meters, in Hong Kong called the International Commerce Centre.

Hotels may be used for temporary or permanent living space. They may be used as permanent lodging for a public figure that is always on the move from place to place. Most individuals, who live off of an average income, cannot afford to stay long term at these types of facilities.

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