to b or not!

I have been wondering if our customers know the difference between a B&B or a lodge, cabin, a resort or an INN?
Also what defines these names? Does a name say what you are expecting to see.
Or does it just mean a title that you as an accommodator call your self? Does a B&B say only that you get a bed and a breakfast ,? Does an Inn say you not only get a bed and a breakfast but you also can expect a dinning area for suppers, cause you are an INN. What is the difference between an resort or a lodge? Or is there any differences?
Or is it that simply that zones define what you can call yourself?
Does your association set the rules to what defines what you are?
These questions have been on my mind for some time. I have been wrestling with the idea of what tells us we are a B&B or others.Like when one looks at a hotel they know what they can expect when they enter . Same goes with Motels. I hope this makes sense to you all.??

i had the name 'inn' and kept it as it was original. but there was definitely some confusion as folks assumed i could serve them dinner. i i didn't have the funds to get the kitchen up to the commercial code needed ... i wanted to! although the new owners can and do as they also own a restaurant that brings over the food.
Inn to me implies something more - bigger - than a b&b.
i've stayed at quite a few b&b's that are really just houses that are now being used as b&b's ... and been served breakfast in their kitchen. nothing wrong with that but very small and informal. although one i avoid even though it's the only place around for miles and such a low price and nice lady. but there is one bathroom for three guest rooms and all the family clothes and belongings are in the bureaus and closets. last time i stayed there a bag of hair curlers and those stick pin things was sitting on the toilet tank. grandma was staying in one of the bedrooms and left all her personal items in the tiny shared bath. okay - i have to put this in the shared bath thread.
some b&b's are much more formal
hotel? could be anything. i've heard of boutique hotels being smaller and more like a b&b or inn.
lodge? i'd expect something out in the woods! preferably on the water.
resort? spa date, please! i'd expect all the services and amenities i could afford. and a high price, too.

We have the same sort of jumble of terms in the UK. The lines between B&B, Guest House and Hotel are very blurred. We don't really have motels in the UK, I guess the budget hotels sort of fill that gap. Hostel is the only one I think is fairly consistent.
Technically I think I'm right in saying that 6 guests or less and you're a B&B, if you have a restaurant for evening meals you can call yourself a hotel, otherwise you're a guest house. However many places that are technically guest houses call themselves B&Bs (which they are entitled to do).
As I've mentioned a few times, UK B&Bs are very different from US B&Bs and this causes us a few issues with guests expecting far more from a B&B than offered in the UK.

It's confusing for guests. The original owner called this an inn. Guests think we're bigger than we are and that we have a bar.
We've put B&B on everything. But didn't change the name.
If it's confusing for your guests, put a blurb on your website explaining what each term loosely means. I used to have but it seems to be gone. Time to write something up again.

I think we will find that there is a difference between a dictionary definition and what a place calls itself.
A local motel by their name is the _____ Inn, but is not an establishment that serves food to my knowledge. Our name is ____ Motel, but in the phone book are listed under both hotels and motels.
On TA we are listed under motels, but no one from TA ever asked about us, we just appeared on their listing. We're 2 old folks with a hand full of rooms so no, there is no 24/7 front desk available. Front desk is a marble top dresser in our living room and all guests/potential guests have to ring the doorbell as the door is locked.
In character I hope we fit better with many on this list than a normal hotel/motel, rooms tend to be individually decorated and the fun part of the business is the interaction with our guests, they just don't go through our home to get to their rooms and we don't serve meals.

A State Park near me that has Lodge (hotel, restaurant, & bar) and facilities that is operated under contract with a private firm. They advertise the "bed & breakfast experience" a LOT and call themselves the ____________ State Park and resort. Golf, boating, spa, Conference facility, etc - it is all there.

We call ourselves an Inn but we sure don't serve dinner.
My definitions based on life experience.
Resort - you never have to leave. There is a restaurant, a bar and something to do - pool, beach, golf.
Hotel - front desk, lots of rooms.
Motel - parking close to your room.
Inn - homestyle rather than hotel style.

Our place was called zyz 'inn' when we bought it. Only for the past few years after work done in the kitchen so we could provide more meals than just breakfast are we living up to the term "Inn". It wasn't much of an issue until things have gone mobile. Since we don't have "bed and breakfast" on our name, when people are traveling and find us on their mobile device they just call thinking we're a big hotel staffed all night. The calls late at night have increased dramatically and the calls looking for cheap rooms have also increased.
And no, I can't just unplug the phone at night. Wish I could, but we're still cell phone challenged and our guests and their families need to be able to call us in case of an emergency.
I have a question about the TA description. Can't a "front desk open and staffed 24/7" describe us? We may not be sitting behind that desk 24/7 but we're certainly here on the property available to guests 24/7.

Breakfast Diva said:

Our place was called zyz 'inn' when we bought it. Only for the past few years after work done in the kitchen so we could provide more meals than just breakfast are we living up to the term "Inn". It wasn't much of an issue until things have gone mobile. Since we don't have "bed and breakfast" on our name, when people are traveling and find us on their mobile device they just call thinking we're a big hotel staffed all night. The calls late at night have increased dramatically and the calls looking for cheap rooms have also increased.
And no, I can't just unplug the phone at night. Wish I could, but we're still cell phone challenged and our guests and their families need to be able to call us in case of an emergency.
I have a question about the TA description. Can't a "front desk open and staffed 24/7" describe us? We may not be sitting behind that desk 24/7 but we're certainly here on the property available to guests 24/7..

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Breakfast Diva said:

Our place was called zyz 'inn' when we bought it. Only for the past few years after work done in the kitchen so we could provide more meals than just breakfast are we living up to the term "Inn". It wasn't much of an issue until things have gone mobile. Since we don't have "bed and breakfast" on our name, when people are traveling and find us on their mobile device they just call thinking we're a big hotel staffed all night. The calls late at night have increased dramatically and the calls looking for cheap rooms have also increased.
And no, I can't just unplug the phone at night. Wish I could, but we're still cell phone challenged and our guests and their families need to be able to call us in case of an emergency.
I have a question about the TA description. Can't a "front desk open and staffed 24/7" describe us? We may not be sitting behind that desk 24/7 but we're certainly here on the property available to guests 24/7.

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It doesn't describe us. We are not staffed or open after 9 ish. If we have a late check in, we leave him a note and a key. We mute the phone. (And I get your issue, we do give people a cell number for emergencies.)
My sleep is too important to me.

Breakfast Diva said:

Our place was called zyz 'inn' when we bought it. Only for the past few years after work done in the kitchen so we could provide more meals than just breakfast are we living up to the term "Inn". It wasn't much of an issue until things have gone mobile. Since we don't have "bed and breakfast" on our name, when people are traveling and find us on their mobile device they just call thinking we're a big hotel staffed all night. The calls late at night have increased dramatically and the calls looking for cheap rooms have also increased.
And no, I can't just unplug the phone at night. Wish I could, but we're still cell phone challenged and our guests and their families need to be able to call us in case of an emergency.
I have a question about the TA description. Can't a "front desk open and staffed 24/7" describe us? We may not be sitting behind that desk 24/7 but we're certainly here on the property available to guests 24/7..

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No. That doesn't describe us. Don't even go there. It means someone is there to check you in at any hour, on any day, with no advance notice.
I don't want to be in that category because then you get the drunks ringing the bell at 2am looking for hook up space.
Even if it's a lovely person just tired of driving it wakes me up, wakes up the house and causes me stress. No 24 hour stuff here.
My location is such that it's clearly visible from the main drag.
I was just thinking yesterday about the idea someone floated a few years ago to give guests your cellphone number so they can text you. Please. I need my sleep. If someone could, from the comfort of their bed, text me for something that would otherwise be easily available in the morning I'd never sleep.
Even if they didn't need something now, the beeping wakes you up, you respond, you're wide awake.
That's what a 24 hour front desk is for. We don't have that.

By all means it is confusing to all concerned.
My definitions are similar to others here:
Guest house - spare room in private home or behind home - treated as one of the family.
B&B - 2 or more private bedrooms in a home. Breakfast is provided. Owners live on site. housekeeping available, no 24hr staff.
Inn - 20 or more private bedrooms in a large home or estate. Breakfast provided, more meals offered. Housekeeping and possibly room service provided. No 24hr staff, owners may not live on site.
Boutique hotel - closely associated with an Inn in regard that rooms are individually decorated but building more like a hotel in looks. 24 hr staff. Breakfast may or may not be served, but would be extra charge.
Motel - formerly Motor hotel - park outside your room door. 24hr staff. Food may or may not be available. Possible continental breakfast. Anything more, extra charge
Hotel - rooms entered via central hall. 24hr staff. Restaurant may be on site, extra cost.
Lodge - woodsy feel. Size varies
Resort - no need to leave, may not be all inclusive but all is available

One place where this is playing out is on TA, where they have defined four different categories of accommodations:
To be in the “Hotels” tab, the accommodation must offer all four of the following features:
A front desk opened and staffed 24/7.
Daily housekeeping included in the room rate.
Private bathroom for each unit.
If there is a minimum-stay requirement, it must be no more than 3 nights.
To be in the “B&B/Inns” tab, the accommodation must have:
Onsite staff daily.
Daily housekeeping included in the room rate.
Requirements for the “Specialty Lodging” tab include:
The accommodation must have onsite staff daily.
Any accommodation that offers shared (dorm-style) rooms will be considered a hostel, and will be listed in “Specialty Lodging”.
“Vacation Rentals” include:
Private vacation homes, villas, or units (apartments, condos) that are available to one party/group of travelers at one time for exclusive use.
Accommodations where homes/units are at different addresses, even if they are owned/managed by one company.
Accommodations without full time staff onsite at the same location with the guest accommodations.
But apparently they have added a "search filter" called "B&B sytle" so that you can search for hotels that are more like B&B's (whatever that means!) which has some business owners in a tizzy (see discussion on owner's forum, must be a registered owner to access the forum).
I think it gets even more confusing because TA is an international site, and the definitions of these terms may vary slightly from place to place around the globe.
For us, our legal business name registered with the state is just "Harborfields, Inc."
Our current sign on the road by our driveways says "Harborfields On The Shore Housekeeping Cottages" (but it seems fewer and fewer people know anymore what is meant by "housekeeping cottages" and one of our regular guests has told us that she thinks that name diminishes what we really are.)
The chamber just lists us as "Harborfields On The Shore"
For our website (and signature file on our e-mails) we've more recently adopted "Harborfields Waterfront Vacation Cottages"
Our owner will, in conversation, talk about us as a "cottage resort" or a "cottage community," but I think "resort" is apparently defined in some state law or something somewhere to mean a place that provides food as well as accommodation (e.g. on the "American Plan" where three meals plus your lodging are included in one price, although not all the places that call themselves resorts do offer food), and "cottage community," to me at least, implies separate individual owners...
One of our competitors (not really) calls themselves the "_____ _____ Inn, Resort and Spa"
To the extent that resort means you have things to do onsite, and one never (or rarely) has to leave the property, then sure, we could be a resort... (edited to add: so long as you've stocked up on groceries and supplies at the store, you have a full kitchen and can prepare your own meals)
Ultimately, I think there is enough wiggle room in all of these terms (inn, B&B, resort, lodge, etc...) that we can adopt whatever we think fits best, but then it falls on us to make clear to prospective guests what we really are ... what WE mean by the name we have adopted.
Or we can just go by the dictionary definitions....
Inn: an establishment providing accommodations, food, and drink, esp. for travelers.
Resort: a place that is a popular destination for vacations or recreation, or which is frequented for a particular purpose: a seaside resort, a health resort.
Lodge: ok, multiple conflicting definitions in the dictionary: a small house, a large house, a beaver's house....
Bed & Breakfast: sleeping accommodations for a night and a morning meal, provided in guest houses and small hotels, a guest house or small hotel offering such accommodations.
Hotel: an establishment providing accommodations, meals, and other services for travelers and tourists.
Guest House: a private house offering accommodations to paying guests; or a small, separate house on the grounds of a larger house or establishment, used for accommodating guests.

Breakfast Diva said:

Our place was called zyz 'inn' when we bought it. Only for the past few years after work done in the kitchen so we could provide more meals than just breakfast are we living up to the term "Inn". It wasn't much of an issue until things have gone mobile. Since we don't have "bed and breakfast" on our name, when people are traveling and find us on their mobile device they just call thinking we're a big hotel staffed all night. The calls late at night have increased dramatically and the calls looking for cheap rooms have also increased.
And no, I can't just unplug the phone at night. Wish I could, but we're still cell phone challenged and our guests and their families need to be able to call us in case of an emergency.
I have a question about the TA description. Can't a "front desk open and staffed 24/7" describe us? We may not be sitting behind that desk 24/7 but we're certainly here on the property available to guests 24/7..

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We're a motel, but then don't know if we completely fit the standard description.
Parking: well most of the time you can park near your room, however when one or more rooms arrive with more than one vehicle or truck, trailer and motorcycle without my advance knowledge then parking may get tight for the last guest to return at night. Generally I have a parking place for each guest room and a spot in front of the office.
24/7: well we live here so usually we are on the property when guests are here or expected, but there are doctor visits, shopping trips or other events that take us away, even when we are here or at night a guest needs to ring the doorbell. Yes there are those folks that ring the doorbell at 3AM because they were driving by and needed directions to their destination and just knew I didn't have anything else to do at the time.
Phone: Most guests have cellphones and I have a cell for our family if they need us after hours. I learned some years ago that potential guests that called in the wee hours usually didn't make a reservation or if they did they called to cancel in the harsh light of day

Hmm the AAA folks just re-approved our diamond rating and we asked them to switch us to Country Inn since we now serve dinner to our guests.

Now I am completely confuseled about our place. It's cottages/cabins, a former "motor court", no restaurant on site, not anything more than lots of space and a way to get to the beach which is 600 yards away. What is it?
It's lodging. English being my second language, I thought the word lodging sounded good. Now I don't know.

Highlands John said:

We have the same sort of jumble of terms in the UK. The lines between B&B, Guest House and Hotel are very blurred. We don't really have motels in the UK, I guess the budget hotels sort of fill that gap. Hostel is the only one I think is fairly consistent.
Technically I think I'm right in saying that 6 guests or less and you're a B&B, if you have a restaurant for evening meals you can call yourself a hotel, otherwise you're a guest house. However many places that are technically guest houses call themselves B&Bs (which they are entitled to do).
As I've mentioned a few times, UK B&Bs are very different from US B&Bs and this causes us a few issues with guests expecting far more from a B&B than offered in the UK..

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however some guest houses serve evening meals - not me because I have 136 restaurants in a 10 minute walk radious
technically is under the tourist board definitions
B&B = 6 guests or less
Guest House - more than 6 and more facities and possible bar and restaurant
Hotel - bar, restaurant and 24 hour reception
Hostel - usually student type accommodation in a dorm type set up - VERY cheap but share with up to 12 strangers
Metro Hotel - your budget hotel which don't usually have a bar or restaurant though may have one on site which is technically separate - also usually extra for breakfast.
Inn - pub with accommodation

Iris said:

Now I am completely confuseled about our place. It's cottages/cabins, a former "motor court", no restaurant on site, not anything more than lots of space and a way to get to the beach which is 600 yards away. What is it?
It's lodging. English being my second language, I thought the word lodging sounded good. Now I don't know..

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AS a UK person (English English lol) Lodging would be fine with me - would cover your set up as it is more unconventional - good just different and clearly doesn't fit easily into the other categories
Just a very clear web site which is never bad advice for anyone.

Joey Camb said:

Iris said:

Now I am completely confuseled about our place. It's cottages/cabins, a former "motor court", no restaurant on site, not anything more than lots of space and a way to get to the beach which is 600 yards away. What is it?
It's lodging. English being my second language, I thought the word lodging sounded good. Now I don't know..

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AS a UK person (English English lol) Lodging would be fine with me - would cover your set up as it is more unconventional - good just different and clearly doesn't fit easily into the other categories
Just a very clear web site which is never bad advice for anyone.
.

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I want to thank each one of you for your comments.
I was at a meeting where I braved passing on the idea of us accommodator's .coming up with the idea of just handling.What is an Inn , hotel , motel , lodge, guest house.
WELL I was blown over by the response. Or maybe call it the beating of ones life. Man did it get hostel, and nasty to say the least ! One fellow just got right nasty. So I end by say we shall just agree to disagree. WOW! I was really amazed just how much people just want to call themselves what they wish with the feeling guest do not care what our names are or what we call ourselves.
We have B&B with 2 rooms calling themselves INNs . We have a large places with 7 rooms calling itself a B&B. We also have 2 room B&Bs calling themselves resorts!! then you got to understand why guests do not understand what they are actually getting. I think a well written web site will help the people see what they are going to experience when arriving at your site. Now there are people that do not read we all know that. But for the most part at least we tried to inform them.

Flower said:

I want to thank each one of you for your comments.

I was at a meeting where I braved passing on the idea of us accommodator's .coming up with the idea of just handling.What is an Inn , hotel , motel , lodge, guest house.
WELL I was blown over by the response. Or maybe call it the beating of ones life. Man did it get hostel, and nasty to say the least ! One fellow just got right nasty. So I end by say we shall just agree to disagree. WOW! I was really amazed just how much people just want to call themselves what they wish with the feeling guest do not care what our names are or what we call ourselves.
We have B&B with 2 rooms calling themselves INNs . We have a large places with 7 rooms calling itself a B&B. We also have 2 room B&Bs calling themselves resorts!! then you got to understand why guests do not understand what they are actually getting. I think a well written web site will help the people see what they are going to experience when arriving at your site. Now there are people that do not read we all know that. But for the most part at least we tried to inform them..

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Sorry your fellow innkeepers couldn't see the good in having a somewhat standardized set of definitions.
I would never call myself a resort or a lodge or a hotel or a motel.
I'm sorry the original owner called this an inn. It leads to much confusion.