Do you mean that we don’t have anything that we call “motorways,” or that we don’t have anything precisely equivalent to what are called “motorways” elsewhere?
Yes we do.
Long ago, when motels were the coming thing, hotels would offer almost every service imaginable, and were pretty pricey. Motels had nothing but a room; any services you needed, you supplied yourself, including parking the car and handling luggage. But they were cheap and more anonymous, since the only person you might see was the desk clerk.
Then the hotels started losing business to motels, so they made it a little easier for the motoring traveler with parking nearby, and the motels got bigger, more luxurious, and added services – pools, bellhops, restaurants, gift shops, convention rooms, even casinos.
So now there is very little difference between them. I’d say a hotel is more likely to be downtown and a motel, in the suburbs or outskirts of a city.
“Motorway” is the British term…
Motels are where you stay on your way to somewhere; hotels are where you stay once you get there.
The Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo, Ca., claims to be the world’s first “Motel”, and I think claims to have coined the term “motel” (originally written as “Mo-Tel”). The main building is still present, just alongside Highway 101 at the northern end of San Luis Obispo, although it’s not being used as a motel any more.
“Now I’m checkin’ out the body
This hotty gotta body ‘n’ I wanna get naughty
Followed her to the motel
Yes, motel, I’m too cheap for a hotel”
– Sir Mix-a-lot, Sprung on the Cat
I won’t say I can define the difference, but if my room is on the 22nd floor , I can send my clothes to be dry-cleaned or laundered, parking is $10 a day and the parking lot is open to non-hotel guests it’s not a motel.
I agree with doreen’s post above. There are certain establishments that are unambiguously hotels, and not motels. A high rise with paid parking, etc, is certainly never going to be considered a motel by anyone. There may not be any motels, however, that might not be considered a hotel by many people. Even flea-ridden places like Motel 6 is still just a type of “hotel” in the minds of many, I’d bet.
For business hotel/motels, maybe, but not if you’re at a beachfront Hotel in a tourist area.
God damn it I came here to post that.
The cost of the room is what I would consider to be the only difference. I’ve never heard of a fancy motel before.
Behold the glory of The Gobbler.
Yes, there’s a difference that is rather hard to formally define but seems to work fairly well in real life. Motels tend to be small, located directly on or very close to major roads, tend to be cheap, and provide minimal services. Hotels tend to be downtown, big, and have a lot of amenities like conference rooms. There isn’t any one factor that is critical - it’s a judgment call based on the totality of the circumstances. A lodging place that has an interior corridor but otherwise screams “cheap motel!!!” is still a motel.
One thing you find is that upscale hotels tend to be commonly used as event locations, so you often have people coming to the hotel to take part in an event (trade convention, wedding, fundraiser banquet, award ceremony, graduation, etc.) when they aren’t staying there. Motels tend not to have much happening there.
At least here in the Dom Rep, one’s maily for boinking by the hour, the other isn’t – plus you can park your car inside the cabana. Rather important when you are cheating. So take your pick as to which is which.
A very romantic name indeed. 
I’ll be cruising past the “world’s first motel” sometime in the next couple of days. There have been a couple of failed restoration attempts but it falls farther into ruin every year. Inspired by this thread, I’m hoping to check out what remains of the place and get a few pictures.
True that there has arisen a large grey area – a lot of hotel brands would rather not mention they have motels under their flag, and sometimes one of the brand-levels spans both sorts of property (e.g. there are Comfort Inns that are classic motels and others that just make the cut as hotels). The classic old-school sign was the motor court layout and the signage designed to catch highway drivers’ attention.
Same story here on the other side of the Passage. Though after a tragic recent Spring Break incident our local State OSHA has pointed out that you should have CO detectors and an extractor fan in that configuration.:eek:
Yep, had the very same thought; many thanks to Lileks for keeping lit the flame of this memory (and in a briefer way of others). Gotta say, though, Og bless whoever had the idea for the Gobbler. That’s the sort of American can-do spirit, unfettered by the chains of good sense, that tamed the frontier and built a superpower ;).