innkeeper

American  

[in-kee-per] / ˈɪnˌki pər /

noun

1. a person who owns or manages an inn or, sometimes, a hotel.

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innkeeper British  

/ ˈɪnˌkiːpə /

noun

1. an owner or manager of an inn

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Etymology

Origin of innkeeper

First recorded in 1540–50; inn + keeper

Explanation

An innkeeper is someone who owns or manages an inn. When you arrive at an inn, the innkeeper might be the person who checks you in and gives you a key to your room (and maybe a chocolate on your pillow). The earliest innkeepers ran inns in Europe during medieval times. These inns provided lodging, food, and a place for travelers to leave their horses, and an innkeeper managed all of these details. Today in the UK, some pubs call themselves inns, so you might find an innkeeper serving pints there, while in the US an inn is almost always a more charming version of a motel, run by an innkeeper.

Example Sentences

Often have I recalled the scene in John Buchan’s spy thriller “The 39 Steps” when the protagonist, Richard Hannay, tells his true but unlikely story to an innkeeper.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

Olivia Cobian, the innkeeper at the Gingerbread Mansion, a bed and breakfast in the historic town of Ferndale, said her 1895 building “looked like a war zone.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2024

Shelley Hunter, an innkeeper from Quincy, Calif., says airlines should be able to exclude kids from some flights.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2023

But Ms. Rolikova, the innkeeper, thought it was important to see it, and so she opened the padlocked door to reveal a palimpsest of Russia over the past century.

From New York Times • Aug. 6, 2023

“The innkeeper told me where the mother lives.”

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo