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.
Guests were served Champagne as they walked into a hotel ballroom, according to one guest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Early on Jan. 23, 2025, I left a Washington hotel for my first day leading the Department of Government Efficiency team at the Interior Department.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The hotel was awarded the equivalent of $57,741.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
"These arrangements work when we engage as true partners that respect each other's traditions and sovereignty," Carney told attendees at a luxury hotel in central Toronto.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
“It’s only, like, the most famous hotel in the entire country.”
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
If I’m looking for something more classic, Hotel de Rome or the Ritz-Carlton are always beautiful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Beneath the sparkling chandeliers hanging in the stained-glass dome atrium of The Palace Hotel, some investors told the BBC that the comments from Coxon and others could accelerate a government crackdown.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The Delafield Hotel is a charming boutique property with massive rooms, comfortable beds and bathrooms outfitted with Kohler rain showers and soaking hydrotherapy tubs.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
In a video accompanying the ad, Kelce could be seen rubbing shoulders with a host of famous faces, including Gigi Hadid, Frances Tiafoe, and Carmelo Anthony, while making his way through Manhattan’s famed Plaza Hotel.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
Bobby left the ballroom of the Empire Hotel, just steps away from the construction site of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts cultural complex.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
He noted that Google kept its lead as the “first stop” for respondents when it came to use cases like buying flights and hotels, finding services, searching for vacation ideas, picking restaurants and travel planning.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Flights and hotels are now customary expenses, in addition to gifts, while more than two-thirds of weddings last two to three days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Around Britain, regular protests have been staged against housing asylum seekers in hotels and other facilities.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
It’s such a noisy world — so full of crappy music that plays outside all these hotels and places where we stay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Entering the sparkling city of Budapest, Fischer checked into one of the most romantic and elegant hotels in the city, the Gellért, right on the Danube, and had lunch on the terrace.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
