Classification of Hotels

The Nature of the Hospitality Industry

Broadly speaking, Hospitality is the act of
kindness in welcoming and looking after the
basic needs of customers or strangers, mainly
in relation to food, drink and accommodation.
A contemporary explanation of Hospitality
refers to the relationship process between a
customer and a host.
 Characteristics of the Hospitality
Industry
• Product-service mix
• Two-way communication
• Relationship building
• Diversity in culture
• Labor intensive
 Hotels and Their Classifications
“Hotel” means an establishment held out by the
proprietor as offering sleeping accommodation to
any person presenting himself who appears able
and willing to pay a reasonable sum for the
services and facilities provided and who is in a fit
state to be received.
A hotel is classified as a commercial
establishment providing accommodations, meals
and other guest services.
 Classification of Hotels
A) Classification on the basis of Size-
• Small hotel (with 25 rooms or less)
• Medium Hotel (26 to 100 rooms)
• Large Hotels (101- 300 rooms)
• Very Large Hotels (more than 300)
B) Classification on the basis of Star-
 The classification is done by Ministry of Tourism under
which a committee forms known as HRACC (Hotels and
Restaurants Approval & Classification committee) headed
by Director General of tourism comprising of following
members are
• Hotel Industry
• Travel Agent Association Of India
• Departments of Tourism
• Principal of Regional Institute of Hotel Management
Catering Technology & Applied Nutrition
This is a permanent committee to classify hotels into 1-5
star categories. Generally inspects ones in three years.
C) Classification on the basis of Location–
• Downtown Hotel: A downtown hotel is located in the
centre of the city or within a short distance from
business centre, shopping areas, theatres, public
offices etc.
• Sub-urban Hotels: As the land cost in the city centre is
higher and the space is limited, some entrepreneurs
build their hotels near the outskirts of the city. Such
hotels are ideal for people who prefer to stay away
from the hustle and bustle of city. The duration of the
stay of guest in these hotels may be longer than at a
hotel located in the city.
• Resorts Hotel: Hotels that are located at
tourist destination such as hill station, sea
beaches and countryside are referred to as
resort hotels. These hotels have a very calm
and natural ambience. The occupancy in
resorts is normally higher during vacation time
and weekends when guest want to take a
break from their weekly routine.
• Airport Hotel: Airport Hotels are situated in the vicinity
of airport and other ports of entry. Offering all the
services of a commercial hotel, these hotels are
generally patronized by the passengers who need a
stopover en route their journey.
• Motel: The word motel is formed by merging two
words ‘motor’ and ‘hotel’. They are located primarily
on highways and provide modest lodging to highway
travellers. A motel offers facilities such as
accommodations, food and drinks, garage facilities, a
parking lot, and re-fuelling for vehicles.
• Floatels: Floatels are type of lodging properties
that float on the surface of water. This category
consists of all lodgings properties that are built
on the top of rats or semisubmersible platforms,
and includes cruise liners and houseboats.
• Rotels: The hotels which rotate on wheel are
called Rotels. It is also called Motel on wheels.
The best example of rotel in India is Palace on
Wheels. It is a luxurious train, fully air-
conditioned, and well furnished, with attached
restaurant and bar.
D) Classification on the basis of Clientele-
• Business or commercial Hotels: Designed to
cater to the business traveller, commercial hotels
are generally situated in the city centre. These
hotels provide high standard rooms and
amenities situated in the city centre. These hotels
provide high standard rooms and amenities,
along with high speed internet connectivity,
business centres, and conference halls.
• Transient Hotels: Transient hotels cater to the
needs of people who are on the move and
need a stopover en route their journey.
Located in the close proximity of ports of
entry, such as sea port, airport, and major
railway station, these hotels are normally
patronised by transient travellers.
• Boutique hotels: These are very small and
expensive hotels and mainly cater for elite class.
They are different from the hotels in that each
room has a distinct personality. Though the hotel
is small but still it has more number of
restaurants. Each restaurant is decorated keeping
in view a theme and food served the uniform of
the staff, the menu, even the way of welcoming
the guest commemorates with the theme. Eg-
The Lodhi in New Delhi and many more
• Residential Hotels: As the name suggest, residential
hotels provide accommodation for longer duration.
These hotels are generally patronised by people who
are on a temporary official deputation to a city where
they do not have their own residential
accommodation.
• Suite Hotels: Suite hotels provide the highest level of
personalized services to guest. The guest rooms
generally comprise a living area, compact kitchenette,
complete with refrigerator and a microwave, a
bedroom attached with a bathroom.
• Casino Hotels: Casino hotels provide gambling
facilities, such as Luxor hotel and casino in Las
Vegas. These Hotels attract the clients by
promoting gambling, arranging extravagant
floor shows, and some may also provide
charter flight services to its clients. The
casinos of Las Vegas, USA, are among the
most famous casino in the world.
• Conference Centres: The word conference means ‘a
meeting, sometimes lasting for several days, in which
people, with a common interest participates in
discussions or listen to lecturers to obtain information’.
• Convention Hotels: Convention is defined as ‘a formal
assembly or meeting of members, representative, or
delegates of a group for general agreement on or
acceptance of certain practice or attitudes’. This type of
meetings involves a large number of participants. The
hotels catering to the needs of these segments are
known as convention hotels.
• Green hotel: is a hotel or accommodation that
has made important environmental
improvements to its structure 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.
E) Classification on the basis of Ownership-
• Independent Hotels: These hotels are on ownership
basis and do not have any affiliation or contract
through any other property. And also they do not have
any tie up with any other hotels with regards to policy,
procedures and financial obligation. The advantages in
this type of hotel is that they need not maintain a
particular image and they are not bound to maintain
any set targets, but can independently adopt quickly to
the changing trends. They are usually autonomous.
• Chains: When one hotel realizes that they can
offer the same services in other cities, chains of
the same hotel are opened in those places. Hotel
chain is an enterprise that administrates, through
a unique management a number of hotels
located in different areas. They can be total or
partial owners of the hotel and they manage
their administration, marketing and promotion.
• A chain is usually classified as operating under a
management contract or as a franchise or
referral group.
• Management Contracts: It is a contract between
the owner of the property and a hotel operator
(management contractor) by which the owner
employs the operator as an agent to assume the
full responsibilities for operating and managing
the hotel.
• Franchise: It is the authorization given by a
company to another company or individual to sell
its unique product /services and use its trademark
according to the guidelines given by former, for a
specified time, and a specified place.
• Referral Groups: It consists of independent
hotel which have grouped together for some
common purpose. Though the properties in
the referral group may be different from each
other but there is sufficient consistency in the
quality of service to satisfy guest expectations.
• Time –Share Hotels:
A new concept of ownership also called
vacation ownership or holiday ownership
concepts, mushrooming up in resorts areas
like hills, beaches, forest. As the name
suggest, it entails purchasing a tourist
accommodation at a popular destination for a
particular time slot in a year which can be
week or weeks.
• Condominium: Condominium units also called
as Condo are purchased outright and owned
by the guest as second homes. Condominium
hotels have single owners instead of multiple
owners sharing the hotel. In condominium
hotels, the owner informs the management
company when they would occupy the unit.
F) Classification on the basis of Duration of guest
stay-
• Commercial Hotels: The duration of guest stay in
these hotels is short, ranging from a few days to
a week.
• Transient Hotels: A transient guest are those
who are en-route guest i.e. who are in the
process of moving from one destination to
another and stop at the hotel for a short period
of time as against a terminal guest who has
reached his final destination.
• Semi-resident hotels: These hotels are
generally patronised by people who are
staying at the location while in transit to
another place.
• Residential/Apartment Hotel: Residential
hotels are also called as apartment hotels.
Room in a Residential hotel are sold on a
monthly or yearly basis.
G) Alternative Accommodation:
• Sarai/ Dharamshala: These lodging properties are
mostly found at popular pilgrimage places. They
are generally constructed by welfare trusts, social
organisation, or even the state, and provide basic
security and sleeping facilities for a nominal fee.
• Youth Hostel: The youth, from rural as well as
urban areas, travel for various reasons, such as
education, adventures, and recreation. Youth
hostels were established to cater to the youth on
the move, who couldn’t afford steep hotel rents.
• Yatri Niwas: A yatri niwas provides low-cost,
self-service accommodation to domestic
tourist in cities. The emphasis is on modest
comfort and affordability.
• Paying Guest Accommodation: A PG
accommodation is a non institutional
accommodation offered by individual
household at various destination.