CLASSIFICATION OF HOTEL

A hotel provides many services and facilities to its guests, yet hotels may have different characteristics and assets. Most of the hotels do not fit into a single category because of the services provided by them.

Need for classification

•          Lends uniformity in services and sets general standards of a hotel.

•          Provides an idea regarding the range and type of hotels available within a geographical location.

•          Acts as a measure of control over hotels with respect to the quality of services offered in each category.

CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF STAR SYSTEM

Standard System (Star rating System)

§  THE STAR CATEGORY TO THE HOTELS ARE GIVEN BY THE COMMITTEE CALLED “HOTELS AND Restaurant  approval and classification committee members  comprises of:

§  Officials from Central and State Tourism ministry

§  Members of FHRAI (federation of hotel and restaurant association of India).

§  Members of HAI (Hotel association of India)

§  Members of IATO (Indian association of tour operators)

§  Members of TAAI   (Travel agents association of India)

§  Principle of  IHM (Institute of hotel management)

§  Members of  IHHA (Indian heritage hotel association )

HRACC categorizes hotels into:

§  Star Rated Hotels ( One Star to Five Star Deluxe)

§   HOTELS RESTAURANTS APPROVAL AND CLASSIFICATION COMMITTEE (HRACC)”.

}  ONE STAR

Ø  These properties are generally small and independently owned, with a family atmosphere.

Ø  There may be a limited range of facilities and the meals may be fairly simple. For example, lunch may not be served in room

Ø  Some bedrooms may not have an en suite bath or shower.

Ø  Maintenance, cleanliness, and comfort would be of an acceptable standard.

TWO STAR

}  Hotels will typically be small to medium-sized, and offer more extensive facilities than one-star hotels.

}  Guests can expect comfortable, well-equipped overnight accommodation, usually with an en suite bath or shower.

}  Reception and other staff will aim for a more professional presentation than at the one-star hotel

}  Hotel will offer a wider range of straightforward services, including food and beverages.

THREE STAR

}  Hotels will typically be small to medium-sized, and offer more extensive facilities than one-star hotels.

}  Guests can expect comfortable, well-equipped overnight accommodation, usually with an en suite bath or shower.

}  Reception and other staff will aim for a more professional presentation than at the one-star hotel

}  Hotel will offer a wider range of straightforward services, including food and beverages.

FOUR STAR

}  Degree of luxury as well as quality in the furnishings, décor, and equipment in every area of the hotel is out standing

}  Bedrooms will also usually offer more space than at the lower star levels.

}  They will be well-designed with coordinated furnishings and décor.

}  The en suite bathrooms will have both a bath and shower.

}  There will be a high staff to guest ratio,

}  There will be provisions of porter service, twenty-four-hour room service, and laundry and dry-cleaning services.

}  The restaurant will demonstrate a serious approach to its cuisine.

FIVE STAR DELUXE&FIVE STAR SUPER DELUXE

Ø  Five star hotels offer spacious and luxurious accommodations throughout the hotel, matching the best international standards.

Ø  The interior design should impress with its quality and attention to detail, comfort, and elegance.

Ø  The furnishings should be immaculate.

Ø  The service should be formal, well supervised, and flawless in its attention to guests’ needs, without being intrusive.

Ø  The restaurant will demonstrate a high level of technical skill.

Ø  The staff will be knowledgeable, helpful, and well versed in all aspects of customer care, combining efficiency with courtesy.

SIZE : hotels are grouped in four categories i.e.

size	Developing Nations	Developed Nations
small	25 or less	100
medium	26 to 100	300
large	101 to300	400 to 600
Very large	300 & more	600 to 1000

TARGET/ClienteleMARKET : with the help of marketing research, tools, and strategies hotels seek to identify TARGET MARKET, these are defined as group of people that the hotel hopes to retain or attracts as guest. A hotel may targets many markets and can be classified according to the market they attempt to attract and serve. The most common types of properties based on target market include are:

COMMERCIAL HOTEL:

·         Commercial hotels are situated in the heart of the city.

·         Mostly the businessmen or commercial executives patronize these hotels.

·         Guest facilities at these hotels are – complimentary newspaper, colour TV with cable, E-mail, fax connection, car rental, airport pick up, coffee shop, bar, specialty restaurant, swimming pool, health club, room service, concierge, business center, conference room etc. length of stay in these hotels are from one day to few days.

AIRPORT HOTELS: 

·         These hotels are situated near the airport and are frequented by businessmen, airline passengers, layover passengers, crew members etc.

·         Facilities provided are similar to that of a commercial hotels but the only difference is that airport pick up is provided from hotel to airport and vice versa.

·         Length of stay in these hotels is from few hours to few days.

RESIDENTIAL HOTELS: 

·         These hotels provide long term or permanent accommodation.

·         Advance rent is collected while other charges are billed weekly. There may be a restaurant serving all types of cuisine and there will be laundry service.

·         These hotels normally work on European plan. Recently these types of hotels are converted into cooperative hotels or condominiums.

·         Length of stay is from a week to one or more months.

CASINO HOTELS:

·         Hotels with gambling facilities are casino hotels. Although the guest rooms and F&B operations may be quite luxurious, but there function is secondary and supportive of casino operations.

·         Similar to resort hotels these hotels also cater to leisure and vacation travelers.

·         These hotels attract guests by promoting gambling.

·         A recent trend in casino hotels now days are to provide a broad range of entertainment opportunities, spas, golf, tennis court.

·         These hotels also have specialty restaurant. Length of stay is one week or more.

CONFERENCE CENTERS & CONVENTION CENTERS: 

·         Most of the hotels provides meeting space & they also offer overnight accommodations and because meetings are their focal point these centers place great emphasis on providing all services and equipment necessary to ensure a meetings success- technical production assistance, high quality audiovisual equipment, business center, flipchart, display chart and so forth.

·         These centers also provide extensive leisure facilities like golf course, swimming pool, tennis court, fitness center, jogging track etc.

·         Guest amenities may not be plentiful at conferences centers since these centers concentrate more on fulfilling the needs of meeting planners and organizers then on meeting the needs of program attendees.

Convention hotels

·         Is another segment of the lodging industry that has grown significantly in recent years.

·         These hotels have 50,000 sq; feet or more of exhibit hall space plus ballroom and assortment of meeting rooms.

·         These hotels also have sufficient no. Of guestrooms to accommodate all the attendees of most conventions.

·         These hotels are primarily directed towards business travelers and offer business services such as secretarial assistance, language translator, fax machines, computer room, tele- conference etc. convention hotels usually attract the convention market from state, national and international association and other corporate houses. ( PG)

BED AND BREAKFAST HOTELS: 

·         These hotels are houses with a few rooms converted to overnight facilities to small building having 20 to 30        rooms.

·         The owner lives in the premises and is responsible for looking after the guest,

·         In these hotels only breakfast is served and meeting rooms, laundry, lunch and dinner and recreational facilities are offered in these hotels, however some hotels do offer limited food service. 

ALL SUITE HOTELS:

·         The All-suite concept a new addition to the hotel industry.

·         These hotels  are patronized by by affluent people and tourist who are fond of luxury

·         These suites provide living room, bedroom, kitchenette, complete with refrigerator and a microwave, a bed room attached bathroom and sometimes even a dance floor.

·         These facilities are highly customized and may include wallet services, personalized guest stationery and high speed internet connection and in room safety locker facility.

CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF LOCATION

CITY/DOWNTOWN/COMMERCIAL HOTEL:

·         These hotels are located in the heart of the city.

·         These hotels are more expensive than the suburban hotels.

·         These hotels are patronized by business men and high income tourists.

·         These hotels are centrally located and at a convenient distance from markets, railway station, airport, etc.

SUBURBAN HOTELS:

·         These hotels are located in the suburb of cities, moderately priced and are of mostly medium, large or small size.

·         Normally these hotels are patronized by low budget tourists.

·         The tourists who do not want to stay in the heart of city as they want to be away from hustle and bustle of city, prefer these hotels.

·         Usually writers, poets, low budget tourists etc prefer to stay at suburban hotels.

AIRPORT HOTELS:

·         These are Hotels located near the Airports, especially international airports.

·         Airport Hotels are popular because of their proximity to major travel centers.

·         Airport Hotels vary widely in size and level of services.

·         Typical target market includes business clientele, airline passengers with overnight travel layovers or canceled flights and airline personnel.

·         Hotel owned courtesy vans often transport guests between the hotel and the airport.

RESORT HOTEL:

 A resort may be located in the mountains, on an island, or in some other location away from crowded area. Most of the resort hotels provide extensive food and beverage, valet and room service for the vacationers. These hotels also provide special activities such as golf, tennis, horseback riding, nature hikes, sailing, skiing, swimming and dancing etc. resorts also try to be destination within a destination by providing wide range of services, facilities and activities giving a guests with many choices. A more leisurely, relaxed atmosphere distinguishes most resort hotels from their commercial counterparts. Length of stay is for one week or more.

MOTELS:

·         Motels are also called Motor Hotels or transit hotel and are located alongside the highways.

·         Motels are normally economical and they provide comfortable bedrooms that motorists prefer to stay on their way for a night rest.

·         Motels have facilities of proper motor garage to service a car and a filling station to refill vehicles, parking area for motor vehicles etc.

·         They also have road maps, dormitory for drivers. These days Motels also provide various indoor and outdoor facilities like Video parlor, Billiards, Table tennis, Cyber café, Library etc.

·         RESORT HOTELS:

·         A resort located in the tourist interest places like hills, forests, beaches, on an island, or in some other exotic location away from crowded residential areas.

·         The recreational facilities and breathtaking scenery typical of most resorts.

·         Most resort hotels provide extensive food and beverage, valet and room services, sightseeing to vacationers.

·         Many resorts also provide special activities, indoor and outdoor games for guests such as dancing, golf, tennis, horse riding, nature hikes, skiing and swimming, health club, steam sauna bath, spas etc.

·         A more leisurely, relaxed atmosphere distinguishes most resort hotels from other types of hotels.

ROTELS:

·         The hotels which rotate on wheels are called rotels. It is also called motel on wheels. Best example of rotel in India is Palace on wheels. It is a luxurious train, fully air-conditioned, well-furnished with attached restaurant and bar. The fare is inclusive of train ticket, food, alcoholic beverages and sight seeing. The train starts from Delhi and covers the tourist interest places of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh including TajMahal, Agra, Mathura.

·         In Japan Rotels are parked in the parking slot in the late evening and during day the rotel is towed away.

FLOATELS:

·         The hotels which floats on water are called floatels. The best examples of floatels in India are House boats in Kashmir Dal Lake. These are luxurious suites consisting of drawing room, dining room, bed room, sitting room, balcony, kitchen, bathroom etc.

·         These days luxury ships are becoming popular for travelling. The guests are offered cabins to stay. These float on sea water and these have all facilities of five star hotels.

BOATELS:

·         These are luxury boats/yachts which can ferry people from one place to another. The best example of yachts are in Mediterranean or Caribbean, they can ferry guest through canal-based narrow boat or Broad-based cabin cruiser.

·         In Sirhand, Punjab there is restaurant on boat.

CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF OWNERSHIP

TIME SHARE AND CONDOMINIUM HOTELS: time-share hotels are referred to as the vacation ownership hotels. The concept is that for a set period which may be one week or more in a year the person gets the right to enjoy stay and other facilities and services in an apartment are any other type of lodging in a tourist complex. It is like advance purchase of time in holiday accommodation. Here the purchaser has to pay a one time capital sum and then annual contribution towards the maintenance of the property. The fee usually covers services such as cleaning and maintenance of apartment and public areas, electricity, gas, water, etc. Avelon resorts. Sterling resort, mahindra holding etc. are the few time-share hotels in India .

Condominiums involve a joint ownership of a complex. Each owner has the full benefit of a unit and shares the cost that is common to the entire complex such as taxes, maintenance, upkeep of building etc. each owner can occupy or sell his unit independently but is obliged under the terms of contract to contribute towards the pool of common facilities and services. The owner can enjoy recreational exclusive to the complex and the management looks after the unit in the absence of the owner and if permitted by the owner let it out to provide income to him.

CHAIN HOTELS:

·         A chain is usually classified as operating under a management contract or as a franchise or referral group.

·         Chains usually make certain rules regarding standards, rules, policies, procedures of affiliation etc.

·         In general, the more centralized the organization the stronger the control over the individual property.

·         Some chains own affiliated properties, but many do not.

·         Some chains have strong control over the architecture, management and standards of affiliated properties.

·         Other chains only concentrate on advertising, marketing, purchasing.

INDEPENDENT HOTELS:

·         Independent hotels do not have ownership or management affiliation with other  properties.

·         They have no relationship to other hotels regarding policies, procedures, financial obligations, management, accounting etc.

·         These may be registered as sole proprietor-ship or a private limited company.

·         The owner may decide the standard, type of clientele, the tariff etc.

·         He may tie up with travel agencies to sell his property against commission.

MANAGEMENT CONTRACT:

·         Management companies are organizations that operate properties owned by others.

·         Those other hotels may be owned by individual persons, partnerships or private limited companies.

·         The individual hotel, under construction, may contract with a professional hotel management company to operate the proposed property.

·         These contracts are normally on a long-term basis.

·         Some management companies, when feel that they must have a hotel in a particular location then they approach prospective individuals to build a hotel and operate under their managements contract.

·         The management contract can even be signed before the construction starts.

·         After paying the management fees, operating expenses, the owners keep the balance cash for paying their debts, taxes etc. and the balance is their net profit.

·         The Management companies only take over the management of the company, whereas the franchising companies provide the financial assistance, advertising, central reservation facilities, marketing etc.

FRANCHISE:

·         Franchise is a system in which the franchise owner grants another the right or privilege to merchandise a product or service for a specified return.

·         Franchise Agreement is an agreement under which the owner operates as a member of the chain, utilizing the brand image, name, goodwill and obtaining for a certain fee some services of marketing and operating nature support from resources of a large organization, advertising, sales promotion, technical and financial help etc.

·         The best known franchising companies are Holiday Inn, Choice International, Quality Hotels & Inns etc.

Referral Groups:

·         referral Groups consists of independent hotels 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.

·         The member hotels recommend guests to other member hotels.

·         Best Western International, one of the largest hotel chains is the best example of referral groups.

·         The referral groups also extend benefit of more extensive reservation and expanded advertising through pooled resources.

 CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF LENGTH OF STAY:

TRANSIT HOTELS:

·         Motels and airport hotels are the best example of these hotels.

·         These hotels are patronized by those guests who are in transit and will be travelling further to their destinations.

·         Sometimes these hotels also charge room rent for half a day as guests would like to stay just for a few hours.

·         At times these hotels have much more than 100% occupancy.

·         In India the motels have not become very popular as people do not travel very long distances by their own vehicles. 

RESIDENTIAL HOTELS:

·         These hotels offer rooms/apartments on monthly basis and even if a guest stays for a part of the month, is normally charged for the full month.

·         The best examples for these hotels are hostels, paying guest houses for students, trainees, working people etc.

·         Some big companies also hire them for months/years for their company executives for pleasure, business, training etc.

·         These can be located in any part of the country, it may be a hill station, beach etc. for pleasure or a big city or an industrial town for business.

SEMI RESIDENTIAL HOTELS:

·         Most of the hotels in present days are semi residential hotels and are located throughout the country.

·         The guests, staying in these hotels, are required to pay room rent on daily basis.

·         guest may hire the accommodation for months or years together but the rent charged will be on daily basis.

·         The hotel may offer a special allowance on room rent to these guests.

Classification on the basis Level of Services

Hotels may be classified into following group on the basis of level of services provided by them:

§  Up-market / Luxury / World Class Services Hotels: These are the hotels that caters the needs of the affluent people demanding luxury and are not price sensitive. These hotels have following features:

–         Generally located in heart of the city or at very exotic location

–         Provides personalized services of highest standard

–         These hotels have many specialty restaurants with full-assisted service

–         Top-end recreational facilities, such as golf course, tennis courts, designer swimming pools with trained life guards, and other sports facilities, shopping arcades, beauty salons,  health spas with saunas and jacuzzi, are a regular feature.

§  Mid-market / Mid-range Services Hotels: These hotels offer modest services without the frills and personalized attention of luxury hotels, and appeal to the largest segment of travelers.

§  Budget / Economy Hotels: Budget hotels focus on meeting the most basic needs of guests by providing clean, comfortable, and inexpensive rooms. Also known as economy or limited services hotels, they appeal primarily to budget-minded travelers and groups.

OTHER CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS

HOSTELS:

·         The students hostels are very common both in schools and colleges.

·         These can only be patronized by the students of a particular school or college.

·         The hostels can also be attached to offices, banks etc.

·         These are also called residential hotels as they charge on monthly, half yearly or yearly basis.

·         These hostels provide nutritive food, keeping in view the needs of the residents.

Heritage Hotels: The Government of India to boost up tourism and to preserve the India heritage, has started a scheme, where old heritage buildings, palaces, havelis, mansions, small forts constructed before 1950 were converted into hotels.

 According to the ministry of tourism, the heritage hotels are further sub divided as follows:-

Heritage This category covers hotels in residence built between 1935 and 1950

Heritage Classic This category covers hotels in residences built prior to 1935 but after 1920

Heritage Grand This category covers hotels in residence built  prior to 1920

BOUTIQUE HOTELS:

·         These are very small and very expensive hotels and mainly cater for elite class.

·         Though the hotel is small but still it has more number of restaurants. Each one is decorated keeping in view a theme and the food served.

SUPLEMENTRY ACCOMMODATION: it consists of all types of accommodations other then the convention type, it may be described as premises that provides accommodation but not the other services which is provided by the hotels. The main distinguish features of supplementary accommodations are:

•  Standard of comfort are modest as compared to that of a hotel,

•  They can sell accommodation at a very low price,

•  There is an informal atmosphere and freedom regarding dress code.

Supplementary accommodation plays a very important role in the total available tourist accommodation in a country; it caters to both the international and domestic tourist traffic.

Types of supplementary accommodations are:

•  Dharamshalas or sarae, - is an Indian religious rest house. In Hindi, Dharma means religion, and shala means "sanctuary" hence dharamshala is a 'religious sanctuary' or rest-house for pilgrims, that are primarily created for religious pilgrims or as a religious endowment.

•  Dak bungalows,-  a legacy  of the British  Raj  these were built as rest houses for colonial officials across the country as well as in remote areas  scenic locales

•  Youth hostel,-   are established to cater to the youth on the move , who couldn’t afford steep hotel rents it provides  low cost accommodation with common bathing and cafeteria facilities

•  Dormitories,-A dormitory (dorm) or hall of residence or hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students. In the United States dorm is the most common term, which comes originally from the Latin word dormitories.[

•  Sanatoria,-A sanatorium (also spelled sanatorium and sanitarium) has different meanings depending on the region of residence. Historically for Americans, Australians and most European countries it is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis (TB) before antibiotics. A distinction is sometimes made between "sanitarium" (a kind of health resort, as in the Battle Creek Sanitarium) and "sanatorium" (a hospital).[1][2] The term "sanatorium" was often used throughout the 20th century in the U.S. as a socially acceptable term for psychiatric hospitals.

•  Paying guest accommodation--,Paying Guest is someone who takes a part of your house on rent, for example someone generally an elderly person staying alone giving 1 room on rent in a 2 /3 Bedroom apartment with all the furniture, including breakfast and some meals and the facility of laundry etc... It helps the elderly home owner with some financial and emotional support. Normally young students, fresher’s take up these kind of opportunity as it comes pretty reasonable and their focus at this time of life is college, studies, work etc.