B&B, also known as a pension
This is the real private sector - usually the pension is located in the same house where the owners live. The price includes Bed & Breakfast (bed and breakfast), which is evident in the name. Home pensions usually accept no more than six guests at a time and are not subject to the official "star" classification.
Because of this, they are quite unpredictable: you might get lucky and end up in a delightful homey place where you are served a hot, hearty breakfast and given valuable practical advice. If you are unlucky, you will end up with a careless and indifferent hostess, get a handful of cereal with milk and a cup of bland tea for breakfast. But in any case, do not count on 24-hour room service, a minibar, or a hairdryer in the room, and sometimes there is no private bathroom or shower. Or, for example, the shower stall might be right in the room, while you share the toilet with other guests. And finally, the last drawback: pensions are rarely located in the center of resorts; usually the private sector is shifted to the outskirts.
All these drawbacks are offset by the biggest plus: the price, which can be several times lower than in hotels with a similar level of service. €20-30 for a decent room (that is, for two) is quite a realistic price at resorts in Turkey, Croatia, and even Western Europe. Moreover, hostesses, striving to gain regular customers or at least word-of-mouth advertising, usually offer truly clean and cozy rooms. Travel agencies rarely work with pensions, because the owners themselves do not like it (due to commissions), and it is much more profitable to work with tourists directly!
Guest House
Owners who have "outgrown" the pension stage may open their own Guest House, or guest house, where accommodation is slightly more expensive than at a B&B, but still much cheaper than in "real hotels". Guest bedrooms (from 4 to 10) occupy an entire house, and not only the owner works there, but also hired staff.
Recently, stars have even appeared at the entrance of these mini-hotels, but in general, the level of service in them remains just as unpredictable. Amenities can be either en suite - in the room, or private - i.e., in the corridor, but intended only for guests of one room. Breakfast, again, can be either hot or cold continental (but definitely without a rich buffet). Usually, guest house owners (just like B&Bs) do not buy licenses to sell alcohol, so you will not be able to have a drink before bed.
Perhaps the author of this article was just unlucky, but personally I have not seen a single truly clean and welcoming Guest House. The impression is that the owner does not yet have enough money for proper service and good staff, and he no longer wants to bother with making beds and cooking omelets himself.
Hostel
A city dormitory with shared showers and bunk beds in rooms for 2-20 people. Moreover, sometimes the rooms do not even have a division into "boys and girls". But in Europe, the cost of a night and a modest breakfast is about €10-15 per person, and this fact determines the clientele: youth from all over the world, backpackers, and other undemanding people stay in hostels.
Hostels have fairly strict rules: for example, you are not allowed to be there during the day, during cleaning time, in the evening at a certain time the lights are turned off, and drinking alcohol and smoking are prohibited. Hostels usually have a common living room with a computer with Internet access and a TV. Very often hostels are located in the most prestigious historical areas, and can even occupy entire castles! By the way, very often hostels offer guests their own sightseeing programs, distinguished by imagination and low prices.
Lodge
A city hotel, usually located near major highways. It is implied that guests stay here for one, maximum two nights, and all they need is a clean bed and a shower. The price of accommodation usually does not include breakfast, but the lodge may be next door to a restaurant that feeds its guests in the morning at a fixed price.
The room is as simple as can be: in the bathroom you will find only a piece of soap, a tiny TV receiving two or three channels, an air conditioner - shared or absent altogether. But the rooms in lodges are impeccably clean and comfortable.
A special feature of lodges is that they charge for the entire room, regardless of the number of people living in it (although the number of guests must correspond to the number of beds). In other words, a single room in a lodge is expensive, but a family room with four beds (one of which may be a "pull-out", i.e., sliding out from a large double bed) is very, very profitable.
Inn
Initially, this was the name for rooms attached to a bar, and they had the most prosaic meaning - so that a customer who stopped for a drink and a bite to eat could spend the night there if he did not want to or could not continue on.
Some hotels, of course, have long outgrown their "bar-attached" status - such as the famous Holiday Inn chain, but this is rather an exception. The restaurant and bar of an inn is open to the general public, it may be smoky and smell of beer - such is the specifics! But interestingly, the rooms are usually very, very good, homey, cozy, and well-kept, and the breakfasts are hot and tasty. It has been observed that Europeans happily hold private parties, bachelor parties, and bachelorette parties in such hotels, after which it is simply unrealistic to go home.
Small Hotel
If the name contains the word hotel, stars necessarily appear on the facade. The word small (little) means that the hotel has no more than 20 rooms. Here you will certainly find a beautiful breakfast room, a small living room, and each room is decorated individually and elegantly.
Of course, there is no point in expecting a swimming pool or tennis court in such a tiny hotel. And since a small hotel always lacks precisely such mandatory infrastructure features to gain “big” stars, it usually gets fewer stars than it deserves for the quality of service and originality of the interior. The price includes breakfast, but as a rule, you can also have dinner and even a drink in the hotel restaurant.
Small hotels are mostly Western European establishments and are usually located in the most romantic places, in historic buildings or even castles.
Resort Hotel
The presence of the word resort in the name indicates the large size of the hotel and the presence of a strong sports and entertainment infrastructure. This proud name in Europe is usually assigned to four- to five-star hotels (and in Asia even three-star hotels can become “resorts”), and they are located on the coast or in other resorts.
It is implied that people who enjoy an active lifestyle live in such a hotel, but who do not intend to run around the area in search of entertainment. Therefore, the resort necessarily has a large swimming pool (or several), a sauna, a gym or a whole fitness center, a tennis court, its own disco, a mini club for children. Depending on the direction of the hotel, you can find golf courses, diving schools, a squash court, a surfing center - in short, everything that, in the owners’ view, is necessary for an active and healthy holiday. The price includes either breakfast and dinner, or full board, or all inclusive.
Holiday Village
Holiday Village translates as a little village for holidays, which means you can expect a family, relaxed, simple in essence holiday. The word village can be found in the names of hotels of both low and quite high classification - the latter even have their own gradation: HV-1 corresponds to 5 stars, HV-2 to four.
You will be offered to stay in bungalows (large buildings are not the “village theme”), and their equipment will not amaze the imagination: the floor is likely tiled, the bathtub is replaced by a shower stall, a small TV receives only four or five channels, and there are no soft armchairs or huge beds in the room. But the grounds will be huge, the animation strong, the entertainment interesting and family-oriented. Much attention in the villages is paid to children, for whom a mini club, or even several, must operate.
SPA
Usually the name features two terms at once: Resort & SPA, which means that the hotel has a powerful SPA center. It is SPA, not just a beauty salon where you can get a manicure or apply a moisturizing mask. SPA uses the most modern (or, conversely, deeply traditional) methods of face and body care based on mineral water.
In the West, SPA hotels are prestigious four- to five-star hotels and usually quite expensive, but in the East (say, in Thailand) even a modest three-star hotel offers such services. SPA packages are never included in the price, and sometimes for a six-day course you have to pay an amount equivalent to the cost of a tour. However, you don’t have to buy them, but simply enjoy good service and a whole range of “elegant” services in hotels. After all, such hotels are intended for those who prefer to relax in comfort and bliss, a little lazily, expensively, beautifully...
Self-Catering Apartments
This is essentially a small apartment that, in addition to a bedroom, also has a dining and living area, and necessarily a kitchenette with at least a refrigerator, a microwave and a modest set of dishes. In more expensive and convenient apartments there is a stove, a comfortable dining table, upholstered furniture, and even a washing machine and dishwasher. What is missing is staff who will prepare breakfast and make the bed.
Apartments are a temporary home where it is convenient for a family to live and where, by buying groceries at the nearest store, you can cook familiar food and save a lot on trips to restaurants and cafes. Apartments have not yet caught on in our market, because for our tourists it is better to rest once a year, but in such a way as not to think about anything at all. And practical Europeans who like to travel often adore this economical and comfortable type of accommodation.
Apartments come in different sizes: studio (one room with a kitchenette), with one bedroom (the second room is a living room-kitchen), with two, three or four bedrooms. The more bedrooms, the more people can live in the apartment, but multi-room apartments are quite rare.
The price for accommodation is never determined “per person”, always entirely for the apartment, no matter how many people live there (but they still won’t let more than the allotted number of people in). Private apartments do not accept tourists for one or two nights, and accommodation in them is counted in weeks.
Aparthotel (or Serviced Apartments)
The same apartments, only combined into large hotel-type buildings. There are maids who clean the rooms, and basic infrastructure elements: a swimming pool, bar, restaurant, etc. The cost of living is higher, but there is also less hassle on holiday. Usually in the restaurant you can order and pay in advance for breakfasts, or even dinners. Most apartment complexes offered to tourists operate on exactly this system.
Beach Hotel
The word beach in the name indicates that the hotel is located on the first line from the sea. This does not affect the star rating or level of service in any way.
Garden Hotel
Garden means garden, and therefore the hotel can boast a beautiful green area. But, with rare exceptions, all “garden” hotels are located on the second line from the sea and further. The star rating can be anything.
Of course, every rule has exceptions, but they only confirm the basic rules described above. That’s hotel anthroponymics for you, use it to your health!