what is the difference between a motel and hotel?

Motels and hotels differ by price and service.

Hotels are nicer and range from one start to five stars. Usually, they offer a range of difft services and amenities and often, you will gain access to the hotel through a central lobby area.

Motels do not require entrance through a lobby area. You merely get your key and are assigned a room, at which point, you can just walk to that door. Motels do not offer too many services and amenities. These facilities are usually good for travellers who are passing through an area and need a place to rest for the night. They are cheaper than hotels but you can still find some hotels that offer better price and room than a motel.

A motel is an establishment which provides lodging and parking in which the rooms are usually accessible from an outdoor parking area as opposed to a hotel where the rooms are accessible from within the establishment itself. Motel is a blend of motor and hotel.

MOTEL - ".Dr. Doris E. King, professor of history at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She reported that the word 'was first used in 1925 in connection with an establishment opened in San Luis Obispo, California. The name was coined by the architect and the place was first called and advertised as a 'Mo-tel Inn.' The original motel consisted of a front administration building and a group of little cottages with a garage attached to each. The man who seemingly made motels respectable was a hotelman in California who built swank motels with full hotel facilities and services in Fresno and Sacramento, the El Rancho motels.Of course, in the East, motels were known as tourist camps or courts until after World War II, when the word finally came into its own.' And how did Dr. King know all this? Well she happened to have written a master thesis on the subject and to be the author of a Harvard University Press book called 'The Palaces of the Public, a History of American Hotels." From the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).

A motel is a place of refuge usually located along highways to allow travelers to spend the night and rest a while before they continue their journeying while a Hotel is a specially designed located in a city or town where one can lodge for couple of days. I have been in a lot of Motels and Hotels because I travel a lot and my personal opinion is that Motel are more of a temporary residence where you could stay weeks/months at a time. Some are generally filthy and low budget but affordable. A Hotel is usually in the City/Suburbs and generally used for a weekend get away. They are nicer then motels with varies free commentaries; Breakfast, Pool, restaurant/movie discounts ect... I usually will drive further to avoid a Motel as they have varies unwanted guess. (Small animals/ Bugs)

I am not sure, but I think that a motel has only 1 floor and has rooms facing the driveway or the road while hotels may have more than one floor and have the rooms on the inside of the building.

You enter hotel rooms from the inside and motel from the outside.

A hotel is nicer than a motel.

Hotel is bigger than Motel...

Motel is cheapest

Hotels have function rooms & suites unlike motels it just a bedrooms.

hotels are more upscale than a motel so if you are going somewhere stay in a hotel if you want better service but if you are on a bugit stay in a motel

Here's Websters take on this...

for Hotel

Main Entry: ho·tel

Pronunciation: hO-'tel, 'hO-"

Function: noun

Etymology: French hôtel, from Old French hostel hostel

: an establishment that provides lodging and usually meals, entertainment, and various personal services for the public : INN

- ho·tel·dom /-d&m/ noun

And Motel

Main Entry: mo·tel

Pronunciation: mO-'tel

Function: noun

Etymology: blend of motor and hotel

: an establishment which provides lodging and parking and in which the rooms are usually accessible from an outdoor parking area

There ya go....and please dont forget to vote for best answer

size/ capacity and also quality of service is better with hotel . you are almost on your own in a motel.