Guests Stay Capsule Treehouse Aberdare National Park Cube Hoshi Ryokan Japanese Oldest Hotels

In French ‘hote’ stands for guests. The word hotel is derived form it, meaning a place frequented by guests. The dictionary defines a hotel as a establishment that offers temporary shelter on payment. In more recent times, a hotel has the added facilities of a pool, gymnasium, health center, spa and in-built restaurant and bar. Hotels also have room for organizing conference and parties.

The traditional hotel had a sink, a cupboard, a table and a bed. This has been surprisingly transformed into huge suits with an attached washroom and exquisite furniture to draw the customers. The rooms are also furnished with a television set, a personal computer, and a telephone. Room-service is also a common thing now. In the UK it is a rule to provide for and drinks as a part of the boarding arrangement. The menu depends on the suit hired. On the contrary, one can still see tiny hotels in Japan devoid of the modern facilities and popularly called Capsule Hotels.

The amount one is ready to shell out on a room decides the facilities available. With the flourishing of the tourism Industry, the hotels are mushrooming in all the nook and corners of various cities. With the introduction of the rating system, one can choose from 1 to 7 stars. Some countries have a governing body which rates the hotels. Even globally there are international bodies with a unifying system of ranking as far as the hotels are concerned.

Some hotels are famous due to their association with events. Hotels like the Taj Bengal of Mumbai (India) are known for its association with the freedom movement of India. The Grand Hotel Europe of Russia shot to fame when it was featured in James Bond’s Goldeneye. Cannes Film Festival is held at the Cannes hotels like Carlton or Martinez. Hotels like the Ritz and Chelsea are famous as the celebrity hotspots.

Treehouse hotels like Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park (Kenya), Bayram's Tree Houses in Olympos (Turkey), Costa Rica Tree House in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge and the Rio Negro (Amazon) are also pretty famous for the unique experience which they offer to the people during their stay in the Hotel. Some hotels are built underwater like Hydropolis in the Persian Gulf of Dubai, Florida’s Jules Undersea Lodge and Sweden’s Utter Inn in Lake Malaren in Sweden. The hotel in Florida can be accessed only by scuba-diving.

Other variety of hotels like the cave Hotels in South Australia (Coober Pedy), Spain and Cappadocia are innovative way of attracting tourists as the rooms are built underground due to natural cave formations. Cube hotels are fashionable in Europe and Malaysia. Some even go to the extent of building hotels out of ice. These are seen in Sweden’s Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Finland’s Mammut Snow and Lainio Snow Hotel. Some of them melt in summers and are built each winter. Garden Hotels likes Cliveden and Gravetye and known for their scenic beauty.

The Oldest hotel in the world is the Hoshi Ryokan in Japan, while the largest being MGM Grand Las Vegas. The tallest hotel is in Dubai, called Burj al-Arab. Hotel