Many times we are faced with a dilemma whenever we plan a family vacation or a lone trip. Where do we stay? We start to research online and find an array of options.
Options of hotels and resorts make us more confused than ever. How do they even defer? We ask exasperated. Which one will be more suitable so as not to ruin the vacation?
We can make the decision by looking into what makes them different from each other. Making up a quick list of resort vs. hotel differences makes things easier.
There are certain differences between the two categories of lodgings, which we will address further down the article.
Read on to know the difference between the two and go on to plan your next trip without the debate of whether to book a hotel or a resort.
Hotel vs. Resort: What is The Key Defference Between Them?
Basically, both hotels and resorts provide accommodation to their guests and involved in the service industry. They differ in the purpose of the service. A hotel vs. resort account is given below.
Purpose
Hotels usually provide the basic facilities to a traveler: a room, a bed, a place to keep your baggage, toiletries to keep clean and meals. A hotel is usually booked when one travels for the purpose of business. Sometimes you may have a renovation going on at home, and you want to spend the night in a hotel.
In such a case, when you don't have much time for tourism, you usually make do with the basics. It is also important to be comfortable, and while most hotels aim to make you as much comfortable as possible, it depends on the number of stars the establishment has gained over the years.
Resorts, on the other hand, provide additional services along with lodgings and meals. A resort is usually booked by tourists, for holiday trips, and much-needed getaways for a short period of time.
If you are looking to be as close to nature as possible in your selected destination of tourism, you might want to look for a suitable resort rather than a hotel.
A resort aims to provide you with much comfort as possible in terms of space, relaxation, recreation, etc. Some may even provide tickets to nearby theme parks and tour guides, which is really an advantage since it is easy to get lost when we are in a new place.
Complimentary
A hotel may provide a complimentary meal once a day, toiletries, newspapers, and access to the internet, depending on the standards of the hotel.
And a resort, however, along with the above-mentioned items, may provide its wide range of facilities and recreational activities to enjoy free of cost. They may provide tickets to parks and theaters as perks and tour guides and transportation to and from airports to make your stay easier.
Space
A hotel usually consists of a building and a parking space. It may have a swimming pool for recreation and a dining restaurant. However, some hotels lack these, in such case, you opt for room service and have your meals there.
Though hotel rooms can be very nicely furnished, other than suites, a hotel room is not very spacious. This is okay because when you travel for work or spend just one night in a hotel room, you don't need a lot of space. A resort, however, exceeds in this regard.
It is usually built with a lot of space indoors and as well as outdoors. Some are equipped with breath-taking views, some even provide their very own theme park. The outdoor consists of parking place, gardens, playgrounds, restaurants, and sometimes shopping places for tourists within the grounds.
The environment of the resorts is usually such that one feels relief to get away from the noisy city life. People can be close to nature as well as enjoy the peaceful serenities, the recreational activities the resorts provide, and also relax with a cup of coffee or tea.
Not all resorts provide all these facilities at once, but a basic resort which is not very expensive does not fail to provide a garden or a park. The rooms of a resort are said to be more spacious, as they tend to be set up in such ways.
And the aim of resorts is to provide as much comfort as possible and keeping holiday trips in mind, the rooms are made such that you can have enough space for all your family members to be together.
Some offer villas, equipped with a kitchen, so you can cook your own meals, enjoy eating together and enough floor space to enjoy an indoor game together if you decide to stay in for the day.
Location
Hotels are usually located in the heart of a city or close to airports, and you can also find a suitable hotel near your workplace. And hotels sometimes can be found in tourist areas such as near the beach, but with the limited space and facilities, one can only have so much fun in a hotel rather than a resort while on a holiday trip.
Resorts, on the other hand, are located in remote areas, far from the airport or any bus terminals and train stations, near the countryside, near beaches, as close to nature as possible.
This sometimes becomes problematic if you want to visit the city or have to go back and forth to the airport if you have luggage problems. You can easily overcome the problem if your resort provides transportation service to the airport or to sightseeing areas.
Conclusion
If you are traveling for work and on a tight schedule, look for a hotel close to the workplace or the airport. And if you are planning a family trip for vacation, you want the experience of a resort rather than a hotel since they offer so much more.
You can also book a hotel if you want to if your plan is to spend all day sightseeing and the attractions of the resort don't mean much to you. If you have gone through the article, you now have the basic information on the resort vs. hotel debate that you need to decide where you would like to stay for your next trip.
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