Boutique Hotels - Managerial Economics - Essay Example

The hotel industry has survived fluctuating fortunes in the last decade or so and has crossed into the 21st century an immense and vital industry, a far cry from its origins as an experimental cultural form, into an industry that has transformed the nature of travel into one that is comfortable, predictable, and to many travelers pleasurable (Wikipedia).

            Hotels are a major component of the hospitality and lodging industry. It can be described as an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short-term basis. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as a restaurant, a swimming pool, or childcare. Some hotels have conference services and meeting rooms and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location.[ibid]

            The original hotel equivalent called inns have existed since ancient times (e.g., along with the Roman road system during the Roman Empire) to serve merchants and other travelers. Medieval European monasteries operated inns to guarantee haven for travelers in dangerous regions. The spread of travel by stagecoach in the 18th century stimulated the development of inns, as did the Industrial Revolution. The modern hotel was largely the result of the railroads; when traveling for pleasure became widely popular, large hotels were often built near railroad stations.

            A diversification of hotel types characterized the early hotels. The first hotels were luxury establishments in urban settings.  But in order to accommodate changing conditions and needs,  variants came into existence: the railroad hotels which were built along railroad track lines to accommodate train passengers and crews for places to eat and rest before the invention of sleeping coaches; resort hotels built far away from crowded urban areas for tourists; commercial hotels which were more simply furnished and less expensive, catering to salesmen and commercial travelers; residential hotels for families yet unable to afford private houses, which served as the prototypes of modern apartment buildings; and frontier hotels, made of wood, for new settlements.