Types of Hotel rooms

Types of Hotel Rooms

Some of the commonly found rooms in accommodation industry are listed as below:

    Single Room: It is the room which provides single occupancy. This room only has single bed. The size of the bed is normally 3ft x 6 1/2ft. Most hotels have twin or double rooms and charge for single room of occupied by one person.

    Double Room: It is the room which provides double occupancy. This room has double bed. The size of the bed is generally 6 feet by 6 & 1/2 feet.

    Triple Room: It is the room which provides occupancy for 3 people. Either it has 2 double & 1 single bed OR 3 single beds. This type of rooms is suitable for groups and delegates of meetings and conferences.

    Quad Room: It is the room which provides occupancy for four guests. Either it has four single beds OR two singles & one double bed.

    Twin Room: It is the room which is meant for double occupancy. These rooms have two single beds separated by a bed –side table.

    Hollywood Room: It is the room which provides double occupancy. It has two single beds close to each other with a common head –board.

    Studio Room: It is designed with the minimum basic requirement to live. It does not have the facilities of a bed room and hence used only for day use purpose.

    Parlor Room: It is a living or sitting room. It has a sofa -cum-bed

    Cabana Room: It is the room which is situated near swimming pool or sea beach. This room is used for changing purpose. It has facilities for a shower, lockers, wooden benches, etc.

    Suite Room: Suite Room is a combination of one or more bedrooms & a drawing room. It may also contain a bar & small kitchen. The décor of such units is of very high standards, aimed to please the affluent guests who can afford the high tariffs of the room category According to the design and market segment hotels give different names to suites like honeymoon suite, Executive suite, Deluxe suite, Maharaja suite etc.

    Penthouse:  A room that opens onto the roof & may be accompanied by a swimming pool, patio, a tennis court, & other facilities & amenities. It has very opulent décor and furnishings and is among the costliest rooms in the hotels, preferred by celebrities and affluent people.

    Executive Room:  A room that has a large bedroom with a sitting area provided with chairs & usually a sofa & coffee table. This is really a combination bedroom-cum-sitting room. Sometimes, a temporary wooden partition may be provided between the sitting area and bed room space. They are also known as junior suites

    Lanai Room: It provides a large balcony attached with the room. From the balcony one gets a view of natural scenic beauty likes sea beach, mountain, valley etc. They are usually found in resort hotels.

    Duplex Room: They are two rooms at different levels inter connected through internal staircase. Usually one room is used as drawing room and other as bed room. This room is generally used by business men who wish to use the lower level as an office and meeting place and the upper level room as a bedroom.

    Hospitality Room: It is used by the guest to entertain his or her guests. It is hired on hourly basis and has facilities such as sofa sets, dining table, T.V, mini bar etc.

    Interconnecting Rooms: These are two rooms connected to each other by one interconnecting door. These rooms are preferred by groups and families.

    Adjoining Room: These rooms are situated next to each other sharing a common wall between them. These rooms may be given to the groups.

    Queen room: A room has a queen size bed. The size of the bed is 5 feet by 6 feet. An extra bed may be added to this room on the request of a guest and charged accordingly.

    King room: A king room has king size bed. The size of the bed is 6 feet by 6 & 1/2feet. An extra bed may be added to this room on the request of a guest and charged accordingly.

    Double-double room: A double- double room has two double beds and is normally preferred by a family or group as it can accommodate four persons together. This room is usually preferred by families and is also known as family room and twin double room.

    Efficiency Room : Efficiency room is a room with a pantry/kitchen for basic cooking facility

Types of Hotels

HOTELS AND THEIR CATEGORIES

The word hotel is derived from the French hotel, which refers to a French version of townhouse. British Law defines a “Hotel” or “Inn” as “a place where a bonafide traveller can receive food and shelter, provided s/he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to be received.” Therefore, a hotel must provide food (and beverage) and lodging to travellers, on payment and has, in turn, the right to refuse admission if the traveller is unkempt or not in a fit and orderly state.

With the evolution of hotels and its proliferation around the world, it is impossible to categorise them under one term. Therefore, hotels are classified into distinct categories to help the prospective guest in identifying the right type of hotel matching his standard and requirement. The criteria on which hotels are classified are exemplified below:

1.)                  Size

2.)                  Star

3.)                  Location

4.)                  Clientele

5.)                  Level of Services

6.)                  Ownership

7.)                  Affiliation

8.)                  Management

CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF SIZE

 In this classification hotels are classified with respect to their number of guest rooms or the size of the hotel. The size of property depends on the financial strength of the investor.

Hotels can be grouped into the following categories:

In India: 

Ø  Small hotel: Upto 100 rooms

Ø  Medium hotel: Between 100 and 300 rooms

Ø  Large hotel: More than 300 rooms                     

In Europe and America: 

Ø  Small hotel: Hotels with less than 100 rooms.     

Ø  Medium hotel: Hotels with up to 300 guest rooms.

Ø  Large hotel: Hotels with 300-600 guest rooms.  

Ø  Very Large hotel: Hotels with 600-1,000 guest rooms.

 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF STAR

In India “Star Rating” is used to classify the hotel on the basis of service standard. A hotel gets its star rating from the department of Tourism, Government of India. The department of tourism prescribes the facilities which are to be provided in various star category hotels. Up to three star levels, the categorization is given by state tourism and for four star, five star and five star deluxe hotels, the categorization is given by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. An autonomous body (committee) is responsible for star rating of hotels in India. It is known as Hotels and Restaurants Approval and Classification Committee (HRACC). Generally, the HRACC, after receiving an application from hotel owners for star rating, visits the hotel and checks out the standards and accordingly grades the hotel. The term for star gradation is for two years.  There are six grades of star; 5 star deluxe, 5 star, 4 star, 3 star, 2 star and 1star. The first star is for basic facilities and every additional star means that you will find extra facilities and services.

Following are the members of HRACC:

• Secretary Tourism, GOI
• Regional director of Tourism, GOI
• One representative from Federation of hotels and Restaurants association of India (FHRAI), who is generally the secretary of the respective zone(of the four zones)
• One representative of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), who is generally the secretary of the concerned region
• Director of tourism of the state concerned
• Principal of the regional Hotel Management Institute

(If any of the six members is absent on the day of visit, they are permitted to send their own representatives)

HERITAGE HOTELS

A recent addition to the hotel industry in our country, heritage hotels are properties set in small forts, palaces, or Havelis, the mansions or ancient royal and aristocratic families. They have added a new dimension to cultural tourism. In a heritage hotel, a visitor is offered rooms that have their own history, is served traditional cuisine toned down to the requirements of the international palates, is entertained by folk artists and experience the glimpses into the heritage of the region.

Heritage hotels are defined as old palaces, havelis etc. converted into hotels without changing the exteriors and with minimum operational changes in the interiors. The architecture of the building should have some heritage value. 

Heritage hotels are put into three categories by Ministry of tourism, GOI;

• Heritage- Hotels built in residences, Havelis, forts or palaces between 1935 and 1950.
• Heritage Classic- Hotels built in residences, Havelis, forts or palaces prior to 1935 but after 1920.
• Heritage Grand- Hotels built in residences, Havelis, forts or palaces prior to 1920.

CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF LOCATION

            The following are the various types of hotels on the basis of location

a)    BUSINESS  HOTELS

·         These hotels are also called as “Commercial hotels”, “City hotels” or “Downtown hotels”.

·         These hotels are located in the heart of cities and towns e.g. Blue Diamond (Pune), Oberoi Grand (Kolkata).

·         The hotels mostly cater to the businessmen, tour groups, individual tourist and small conference groups.

·         Commercial hotels provide a wide range of room types such as single rooms, double rooms, junior suites, suites and other essential facilities such as conference rooms, cocktail lounges etc.

·         Most of the commercial hotels have restaurants, coffee shops, business centers with secretarial, fax, internet and Xerox facilities.

·         Commercial hotels also offer room services, laundry-valets, uniformed services such as concierge and transport facilities such as airport pick and drop.

b)   AIRPORT/   TRANSIENT HOTELS

·         These hotels as the name suggests are located in the close vicinity to international and domestic airports of major cities and towns e.g. Airport Ashok (Kolkata), Airport Centaur (New Delhi)

·         These hotels cater primarily to airline passengers with cancelled flights and airline crew members

·         Generally the guests in these hotels stay for a very short duration which is usually one or two days.

·         These hotels have well furnished guest rooms with restaurants and coffee shops and offer various other facilities such as airport pick up and drop through the hotel owned cars and buses which is very important for the passengers and crew members.

c)    RESORTS

·         Resorts are hotels which are located in exotic locations such as beaches, hill stations, forests and so on and thus are famous for their scenic beauty. E.g. Fort Aguada Beach Resort (Goa), Vanya Villas (Ranthambore)

·         The resorts mostly cater to the leisure travellers, families, holiday makers and vacationers who visit this special category of hotels to enjoy their vacations.

·         The resorts provide most of the important facilities to the holiday makers such as accommodation, food and beverage services, valet services, uniformed services etc.

·         The resorts have various recreational facilities such as tennis courts, golf courses, skiing grounds, amusement parks for children and so on.

·         Thus resorts are a major attraction for the tourist who enjoy the breathtaking scenery in which hotels are located

d)   MOTELS

·         The term “motel” is an American concept and has originated from the word “MOTOR HOTEL”.

·         These hotels are located on the national highways and other important roads and mostly cater to the various passer-bys on the highways and specially to the guest arriving at the hotel by automobiles.

·         These hotels are not very large and generally have a fewer number of rooms but do have enough space for the parking of the vehicles of the guest and other visitors.

·         The hotels generally provide inexpensive rooms with basic facilities and amenities and do have food and beverage facilities.

·         They also provide garages, along with re-fuelling facilities for guest vehicles.

OTHER HOTEL TYPES (Clientele)  

Convention Hotels

·         Convention hotels are very large hotels especially constructed to cater to the needs of housing the convention attendees.

·         Convention hotels have 1000 to 3000 rooms and thus are able to accommodate a large number of guests coming to attend conventions.

·         Convention hotels are very common in United States of America and mostly attract the convention market of regional, national and international associations.

·         Convention hotels offer a large number of business services to the guests such as secretarial assistance, fax machines, computers, laptops and so on.

·         Convention hotels also provide other facilities such as food and beverage service facilities, housekeeping services and transport facilities.

    Casino Hotels

·         Casino hotels are a special class if hotels which cater to the needs of the guests who are interested in gambling. E.g. Gamblers Paradise (Arizona, USA).

·         These hotels are very common in the United States of America and offer a vast range of gambling facilities, with the casinos of the hotels operating 24 hours a day throughout the year and these are a major source of revenue for these hotels.

·         These hotels attract the guest through theme parties and profligate shows and thus earn a large amount of revenue.

·         Apart from gambling facilities, these hotels also provide accommodation with exclusive guestrooms and also provide a large range of food and beverage service facilities.

  Suite Hotels

·         These hotels according to the name have either all suite rooms or majority of the rooms are suites E.g. Grand Hyatt (New Delhi)

·         These hotels cater to lawyers, elite class of businessmen, film personalities, politicians & various executives.

·         Since these hotels mostly have suite rooms which have a sitting room and bedroom, the privacy of the guest is maintained.

·         These hotels also offer a large number of other facilities to the guests such as food and beverage services, uniformed services laundry-valet services and so on.

Boutique Hotels

·         Boutique hotels are a few small hotels located throughout the country and are targeted to the rich class of businessmen and vacationers who visit the hotels for hideaway and getaway. E.g. The Park (Kolkata), The Park (Vishakhapatnam), De L’Orient (Pondicherry).

·         They have been categorized as boutique owing to their intimate size, idyllic settings, highly personalized service, individual size and outstanding attributes.

·         Each of the boutique hotels offer a unique vacation experience and highly personalized service to the guests.

 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF LEVELS OF SERVICE

 Hotels also differ in their standards of services and in the facilities which they offer. Facilities or services of these, establishments can be divided into:

a)    Luxury/ Upmarket/World Class Service Hotels

·         These are the top class hotels which are especially targeted to the elite class of guests who include commercially important persons, politically important persons, dignitaries, and ambassadors as well as other famous personalities and celebrities.

·         World class service hotels offer excellent accommodation, food and beverage and uniformed services to the guests such as guestrooms with world class décor and finish, private lounges and dining rooms along with upscale restaurants, concierge services, valet parking services, dry cleaning and laundry valet services.

·         Guestrooms of these are built in a modern fashion and are all well equipped with all supplies such as personalized stationery, beautiful sets of bathroom supplies including shaving sets,  herbal shampoos, soaps, larger sized bath towels, shower caps, bath robes and a large no. of other amenities.

·         One of the special feature of these hotels is the “Club Floor” or “Tower” which are separate floors or buildings constructed for very important guest to provide them with more comfortable accommodation and more personalized and above all provide security as these floors or buildings have restricted entry for the staff as well as visitors to ensure complete privacy to the guests.

·         The public areas of these hotels are well decorated with exquisite floorings and furnishings making these hotels a piece of art. There are 24 hrs coffee shops, specialty restaurants, banquet halls, and conference rooms in these hotels.

·         The world class service hotels above all maintain a high ratio of staff members to guests which is generally 1 or even more than that.

·         The high ratio of staff members to the guests helps them to offer highly personalized service to the guest ultimately leading to guest satisfaction.

·         Examples include: The oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur and ITC Hotel Grand Maratha Sheraton & Towers, Mumbai are few of the luxury hotels in India.

b)   Mid-market/Middle Class Service Hotels

·         Middle class service hotels have the largest target market as they cater to the largest segment of the tourists which consist of businessmen, families and free individual travellers.

·         Although the middle class service hotels have a good staff to guest ratio of about 0.75, they do not offer extremely personalized service to the guests as it becomes an expensive affair for the guests.

·         The guestrooms of these hotels are equipped with the basic amenities and supplies required for a comfortable stay.

·         These hotels may also offer uniformed service, food and beverage service and sometimes airport pickup and drop service.

·         These hotels have 24 hrs coffee shops, restaurants, meeting rooms, banquet halls, and also some recreational services.

·         The stays at middle class service hotels are comparatively less expensive than the world class service hotels.

·         Examples include: Taj Residency, Lucknow and Trident Hotel, Jaipur in India.

c)    Economy or Limited Service Hotels

·         Limited or economy service hotels are increasing in no. day by day due to the requirements of the travellers for cheaper accommodation as compared to the world class and middle class service hotels.

·         These hotels mainly cater to the budget minded travellers such as families with children, retired persons, tour groups, as well as some travelling business people who require clean and inexpensive guestroom with least amenities required for a modest stay.

·         The economy class service hotels have less staff to guest ratio and generally focus on meeting the most basic needs of guests by providing clean, comfortable, and inexpensive rooms.

·         These hotels do not provide elaborate food and beverage service and other types of services offered in a world class and middle class service hotels.

·         Generally these hotels offer limited food and beverage service, some basic amenities in the guestrooms such as linen and soaps and sometimes may have small meeting rooms for conferences.

CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF OWNERSHIP OF GUESTS

The following are the various types of hotels on the basis of ownership of guests:

a)    Condominium Hotels

·         The concept of Condominium hotels was introduced in the year 1957 in Europe. E.g. Sea Pines Plantation (South Carolina, USA)

·         According to the concept of condominium hotels, individual guests are encouraged to purchase the ownership of the individual units for the entire year.

·         The guest have to inform the hotel management about the time period of the year when they would visit and stay at the property and at the remaining time of the year, the guests can rent their unit through the hotel management.

·         Hence, in condominium hotels, there is only a single owner for each of the unit or cottage of the hotel or resort.

·         The entire concept of the condominium is costlier than timesharing and hence this concept could attract only few guests and thus resorts using this concept started incurring huge losses.

b)   Timeshare Hotels

·         The concept of Timeshare hotels was introduced in Europe in the year 1970 when the condominium hotels started incurring huge losses and were on the verge of extinction.

·         According to the concept of timesharing, individual guests will purchase the ownership of a particular unit of a resort for a definite period of the year and will occupy the unit during that period.

·         (E.g. Mr. Kumar may purchase a particular cottage of a resort for the first three weeks of January during which he may stay at the cottage. Other individuals will purchase the ownership of the cottage for the remaining 48 weeks of the year.)

·         Thus, in timeshare hotels, there are multiple owners for a single cottage or unit of a resort or a hotel.

·         The process of timesharing is far cheaper than the condominium concept and hence was more popular in the hospitality world.

·         One of the unique advantages of timesharing concept is that the owners of the units can easily trade their ownership time with other owners in other locations.

·         In India, few of the holiday resorts have started the concept of timesharing and are earning huge profits. E.g. Sinclair’s Resort (Darjeeling)

CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF AFFILIATION

The following are the various types of hotels on the basis of affiliation:

a)    Chain Hotels

·         The chain hotels are hotels which are affiliated to one another and are owned or affiliated with other property. E.g. Taj Group of Hotels, Oberoi Group of Hotels, etc,

·         The chain hotels enjoy large economies of scale as:

Ø  All the properties of the chain enjoy the benefit of advertisement and promotion as it is the brand which is being promoted rather than the individual property.

Ø  All of them have management information systems, reservation systems, national purchasing contracts, and common architectural designs.

          Independent Hotels

·         The independent hotels are hotels which do not have any recognizable ownership and also do not have any management affiliation like the chain properties e.g. Bristol (Gurgaon)

·         These hotels do not have to obey the rules and regulations which the properties of a chain have to follow to maintain their affiliation.

9.)  CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF MANAGEMENT

The following are the various types of hotels on the basis of management:

a)    Management Contracts

·         The concept of management contract originated in USA in the year 1970 and was immensely successful thereafter.

·         A management contract is a contract which is signed between an individual property owner (who does not have fair knowledge about the management of hotel) and a hotel management company to run the day to day administration and management of the hotel.

·         In return, the hotel management company would get a commission called the “management fee” which is generally 1% - 8% of the total revenue generated by the hotel and also sometimes an additional incentive fee which is a percentage of the net profit generated by the hotel property.

·         Although a management contract gives total control of the hotel property to the hotel management company, but the legal and financial responsibilities lie ultimately with the owner.

·         A chain acting as Management Company for a particular property has total control over the standards and quality of each property and these benefits both the chain as well as the owner.

b)   Franchising

·         The concept of franchising also developed in the year 1960 in USA.

·         In franchising process, an individual entity builds a hotel property and enters into an agreement with a hotel company rather than operating as an individual property. In this case the individual entity is called “Franchisee”.

·         Thus, the hotel company called “Franchisor” agrees to grant the right to the franchisee to conduct the business according to the pattern established by the company.

·         The individual owner gains a lot from the franchising agreement as the new property enjoys the name and reputation of the franchisor, receives assistance from the company regarding the technical know-how to run the property and above all also enjoys a central reservation system and sales and marketing assistance to run the property.

·         The franchisee in return pays a set of fee to the franchisor which includes an initial franchising fee which is a lump sum amount and then a royalty fee, reservation fee and marketing fee which are a percentage of the total room sales.

·         Thus the process of franchising was extremely successful business strategy in the world of hospitality.

c)    Referral Groups or Organisation

• The concept of referral group or organisations was developed in USA in 1960s by the independent hotel operators in order to compete with the chain hotels.
• In referral groups or organisation, the independent hotels join together to form an association for a common purpose.
• Thus an independent hotel gained a broader level of exposure and number of advantages by joining the referral group.
• Through the referral group, the independent hotel owner could obtain sales proportion benefits similar to those enjoyed by the properties of a chain.
• By joining the referral group, the independent had a brand-name image that could help in the marketing efforts and management of the independent property.
• The independent hotel properties of a referral group could also refer business to each other and thus they help each other in generating revenue.

SUPPLEMENTARY ACCOMMODATION

Supplementary accommodation includes all the establishments of the unorganised sector of the accommodation industry which do not provide elaborate services that are provided by the organised hotel industry; but these establishments provide the basic services of accommodation and may or may not provide food services and other services.

CLASSIFYING THE SUPPLEMENTARY ACCOMMODATION

a)    Youth Hostels

·         Youth hostels generally offer clean and inexpensive shelter to the young people who are either out for exploring the city and the country or travelling independently or in groups on holiday or for educational purposes.

Young Men Christian Association and Young Women Christian Association

·         These associations run the chain of youth hostels around the whole world.

·         They provide the young people with the basic facilities of food, clean beds, and the concept of self service and community life.

b)   Caravan Camping Sites

·         These hospitality establishments are also called camping grounds or tourist camps or open air hostels.

·         This concept of caravan camping sites initiated in the Federal republic of Germany in the first half of 20^th century.

c)    Circuit Houses

·         The circuit houses are tourist bungalows which cater to the high government officials.

d)   Dak Bungalows

·         These establishments are constructed primarily to cater to the needs of the travelling officials on government duty.

·         These are small rest houses with a limited number of rooms and are situated in areas which are important from the point of view of government duty.

e)    Dormitories

·         The dormitories cater mainly to the students of low class tourists.

·         These are big halls with a large number of individual beds for the travellers.

f)     Railway Retiring Rooms

·         These rooms are owned by the railways and are situated in the railway stations.

·         This is a type of accommodation service provided to the passengers holding confirmed and current reservation tickets.

g)   Traveller’s Lodge

·         These are modest hospitality establishments situated in the places of tourist interest.

·         The rooms of the traveller’s lodges are moderately furnished and may or may not be air-conditioned.

h)   Private Household

·         Many people owning houses provide accommodation and sometimes food to the travellers in return for money.

·         A substantial number of bed accommodations are provided by the private households to the travellers.

i)     Holiday and Conference Centres

·         The Holiday and Conference centres are open to the general public groups.

·         These holidays and conference centres do provide substantial facilities to the guest and travellers but these facilities need not to be available for block arrangements.

m)  Forest Lodges

·         These lodges are special category of supplementary accommodation and generally cater to the tourists and travellers on a visit to a wildlife sanctuary and hence are located adjacent to the forest sanctuaries.

·         They are so constructed that they provide clear view of the forest to the residents from the guest rooms and also from the public rooms.

·         The lodges have a unique ambience which is reflected from the overall décor of these establishments. But these lodges do not disturb natural habitats of the animals in the sanctuaries.

SOME UNUSUAL TYPES OF HOTELS

a)    Eco Hotel is a hotel that has made important environmental improvements to its structure and overall façade in order to minimize its impact on the environment. The basic definition of a green hotel is an environmentally-responsible lodging that follows the practices of green living. These hotels have to be certified green by an independent third-party or by the state they are located in.

An eco hotel must usually meet the following characteristics:

·         Should depend on the natural environment

·         Should have ecological sustainability

·         Should have previous record of contribution to conservation

·         Should have adequate provision of environmental training programs

·         Should incorporate cultural considerations

·         Should have provision of an economic return to the local community

b)   Pop-up hotel is a hotel which is temporarily established at a location for a short time before being moved. Such hotels may be built from pre-fabricated modules which are joined together on site or from collapsible structures such as tents or they may be fully mobile, being built on a large vehicle.

c)    Capsule Hotel is a type of hotel found in Japan with a large no. of extremely small “rooms” (capsules) with an average size of 2m x 1m x 1.25m which are made of modular plastics of fibreglass. These capsules are stacked side by side and two units top to bottom, with steps providing access to the second level rooms. Luggage is stored in a locker, usually somewhere outside of the hotel. Washrooms are communal and most hotels include restaurants and other entertainment facilities.

d)   Ice hotel is a typical hotel which is a temporary structure and is made up of snow, sculpted blocks of ice, and some steel framing. Their lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures and food and beverage are specially chosen for the circumstances. All of the ice hotels are reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-freezing temperatures during construction and operation.

e)    Cave hotels are hotels built into natural cave formations, some with rooms underground.

f)     Underwater hotels are special hotels which are constructed under the water and require scuba diving for the guests to get access to the rooms.

           

SUMMARY

The hotel industry is so big and diverse that each hotel has come up with specialty products and services to carve out a niche for itself. Depending on the services offered, or the clients they are targeting, or their location, hotels can be categorized variously to provide customers an indication of their profile and what to expect from them. The main advantage of classification is that it lends uniformity in services and sets the general standards of a hotel. Other benefits of the chapter include giving an idea about the star classification system, where hotels are rated as one star, two star, three star, four star, five star an five star deluxe on the basis of services and facilities offered by them. Hotels in the size category are divided into small, medium, large and very large hotels. The location of a hotel decides whether it is a downtown hotel, suburban hotel, resort hotel, airport hotel, motel or floatel. Depending on types of guests they cater to, hotels are classified as: business hotel, transient hotel, suite hotel, residential hotel, bed and breakfast hotel, casino hotel, conference hotel or convention hotel. The duration of guest stay determines whether a hotel is a commercial hotel, resort hotel, semi-residential hotel, residential/apartment hotel, and extended stay hotel. The level of services distinguishes a hotel as up market, mid market, or budget hotel. On the basis of ownership, hotels are classified as franchise, management contract, time-share and condominium. Besides these hotels, alternative accommodation may be found in sarai/dharamshala, dak bungalow, youth hostels, tourist camp, airport/railway retiring room or paying guests accommodation.