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Synonyms

motel

American  
[moh-tel] / moʊˈtɛl /

noun

  1. a hotel providing travelers with lodging and free parking facilities, typically a roadside hotel having rooms adjacent to an outside parking area or an urban hotel offering parking within the building.

motel British  
/ məʊˈtɛl /

noun

  1. a roadside hotel for motorists, usually having direct access from each room or chalet to a parking space or garage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of motel

First recorded in 1920–25; blend of motor and hotel

Compare meaning

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Explanation

A motel is a place you can stay overnight, with plenty of parking and easy access to a highway. Many motels feature rooms with separate entrances that face a large parking lot. A motel is very much like a hotel — it fact, motels were originally "motor hotels." The first official motel was built in 1925, designed to be an easy, cheap stop on a long car trip. While hotels are often in the middle of cities, motels are usually on a city's outskirts, providing space to park and a quick walk from car to room. The popularity of motels increased through the twentieth century, along with the development of the modern highway system.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

During the short trip, he counted 25 motels with brands such as Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 and decided China was ready for a budget lodging behemoth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

We sat on the apron of the Rosebud Motel, looking across the muddy parking lot to where fans were gathered on the road above.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

She went on to land roles in M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender in 2010 and starred as Norman Bates's love interest in the 2013 series, Bates Motel.

From BBC • Jan. 20, 2026

The official history of King’s death goes like this: The civil rights leader was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

From Slate • Dec. 1, 2025

Just last night, I’d gone online and made a two-night reservation at the Tropicana Lodge Motel, the least expensive motel I could find.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin

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.