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.
a word used in communications to represent the letter H.
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.
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.
First recorded in 1670–80; from French hôtel, Old French hostel hostel
How does hotel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nor did it break down in a hotel valet lane like one reader saw a Zoox do this summer in Las Vegas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Sunrise marks its first investment in senior housing, but the firm brings extensive luxury-hospitality experience, with investments including The Boca Raton, Four Seasons Hualalai and a stake in hotel operator Auberge Collection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
He spoke by video from a hotel room in Italy where he was attending a scientific meeting.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
He crossed the Channel again in April 2025 and was housed in a hotel in Basingstoke for three days, before being told he was not eligible for accommodation due to his outstanding asylum application.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
It’s neat and clean-smelling, as if it belongs in a different building from the rest of the hotel.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Nor did the American Hotel & Lodging Assn., the industry’s leading trade group.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Marafatsos entered the city’s MET Hotel through a separate entrance, away from photographers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Holland, 30, and Zendaya, 30, said “I do” during an intimate wedding celebration at the Beaverbrook Hotel in Surrey, just outside London, on Aug. 4.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Wrexham AFC was founded at the then-named Turf Hotel in October 1864 and is the oldest football club in Wales.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
In the first weeks of October 1852, Philadelphians flocked to Webb’s Union Hotel to see the sensational Maggie Fox.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
"I think social media has been hugely impactful," he said, adding his client list ranged from small cafes to luxury hotels.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
MiM takes its name from Messi and the Majestic hotel group, and runs the hotels inside its Melia Collection.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The tech mogul has since updated the hotels and added improvements to the island, such as some farming operations, with an eye toward turning the island into a sustainable mecca.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Renewed reluctance to fly with U.A.E.-based carriers or visit the emirate could ripple through already strained hotels, restaurants and retailers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
There are also results for restaurants, hotels, and dude ranches.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
