How Are Hotels Classified? Choose one Type of Classification and Explain

2. How are hotels classified? Choose one type of classification and explain.

Answer

Over the time, when the tourism and hospitality industry has developed, hotels now become more diverse in size, service offerings, and characteristics....much more than that of the past. The large number of hotel with various services may cause confusion to both the customers and the researchers when searching for information; therefore, due to the need of organizing and referencing information on hotels, hotel classification exists (Rutes W.A et al, 2001). The criteria of hotel classification will be discussed in the following part.

There are five different hotels categories as described by Barrow C.W: price, function, location, market segment and distinctiveness of style or offerings (2008) and it is indicated that there may be many hotels that fall into more than one category. For the price, function, location or market segment, it is quite easy for us to follow and understand about which kind of hotel will belong to which category; therefore, just the criteria of offerings will be explained further in this essay within the Vietnamese context. All-suite hotel, extended hotel, bed and breakfast inns, and boutique hotel all belong to this category. All-suite hotel, in short, is hotel whose every room has an attached living room and/or a kitchen so that tourists can cook themselves. In Ho Chi Minh City we have Chancery Sai Gon All-Suite hotel that offers this kind of room for the customers. Regarding extended hotel, they are often used by tourists who have the demand to stay there for a long time. Extended stay hotel offers customers with many comforts of home so that they will not feel away from their home. One special thing about this kind of hotel is that it usually offers discounted rates because of its characteristic of longer stay time. Tom House Hotel Ha Noi near the West Lake is one of many long stay hotels in Vietnam where tourists can satisfy their need of a home away from home. For bed and breakfast inn, it is small and provides tourists with only overnight accommodation and breakfast, not other meals (usually). In Vietnam or particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, we can find bed and breakfast services at Family Inn Sai Gon on the Bui Thi Xuan Street. Last but not least, the boutique hotel, a very interesting kind of hotel that offers tourists many distinctive experiences. Boutique hotel is usually not chain-affiliated, which features an intimate, has the stylish appearances and provides tourists with faultless amenities. Ha Noi Boutique hotel 1 in the Old Quarter is a very typical example of this category.

In conclusion, hotel classification can make it easier for tourists to find and select the type of hotels that they are in favor of. Moreover, although there are different hotel categories, hotels are not separated with each others, and one may belong to several categories