A hotel is a building space where guests pay for temporary lodging on a night-by-night basis. It is the most common form of lodging space, and ranges from very small bed-and-breakfast houses to large commercial hotels with over a thousand rooms.

Lodging facilities where guests usually move in for extended periods and establish an address are listed as serviced apartments, even if they call themselves hotels. Roadside hotels where the rooms are accessed directly from outdoors are classified as motels.

The lodging pattern distinguishes the usage from serviced apartments where guests establish an extended residence. Direct outdoor access to roadside guest rooms identifies the separately defined motel form.