When travellers are weighing up the place to remain, the phrases “resort” and “motel” may appear interchangeable. However for you as a resort operator, the distinction is greater than only a matter of semantics. It’s a enterprise resolution.
Understanding what units motels and motels aside isn’t simply helpful trivia. It helps outline your property’s worth, make clear your model positioning, and appeal to the correct kind of visitor. In the event you’re not sure how your lodging stacks up or wish to spotlight why your resort is price a bit of further, this information will assist.
On this weblog, we’ll have a look at the core variations between motels and motels that can assist you place your property clearly available in the market.
What’s the distinction between a motel and resort?
Whereas each motels and motels supply paid lodging, they serve totally different functions and forms of travellers. The obvious distinction is within the dimension, construction, and companies offered.
Lodges are usually present in cities, close to airports, or near vacationer points of interest. They’re constructed for consolation and expertise, with a number of flooring, inside hallways, and a variety of facilities like eating places, swimming pools, gyms, and concierge companies. Visitors often enter their rooms from contained in the constructing, and the environment caters to each leisure and enterprise travellers.
Motels, then again, are often positioned alongside highways or on the outskirts of cities. They give attention to comfort for brief stays, particularly for these on street journeys. Most motels are one or two tales tall, with rooms that open on to the automobile park. They provide fewer companies and are typically extra reasonably priced, making them preferrred for budget-conscious travellers.
Right here’s a fast comparability:
Characteristic | Lodge | Motel |
Dimension | Giant, multi-story | Small, 1–2 tales |
Facilities | Intensive (gymnasium, restaurant, and many others.) | Primary (mattress, rest room, TV) |
Location | City, close to airports or occasions | Highways, suburban areas |
Room Entry | Inside hallways | Direct out of doors entry |
Goal Visitor | Enterprise, leisure | Funds travellers, street trippers |
Worth Vary | Mid to excessive | Low to mid |
Understanding these distinctions helps make clear how your property compares, and extra importantly, how one can stand out.
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Why understanding the distinction between resort and motel issues
For resort operators, understanding the excellence is prime for outlining your market place and making smarter operational selections.
Motels typically compete on value and comfort. In case your property gives extra, like high-touch service, higher facilities, or a premium location, that you must make that worth clear. In any other case, you danger being lumped into the identical class by visitors who don’t perceive the distinction.
Say you run a 40-room property with an onsite restaurant and centralised reserving instruments. On paper, you’re a resort. But when your advertising, pricing, or visitor expertise doesn’t replicate that, potential visitors might assume you’re no totally different from a roadside motel.
Being clear about the place your property sits helps you:
- Appeal to the correct travellers;
- Worth rooms extra successfully; and,
- Construct a stronger, extra constant model.
It additionally offers you a benchmark. If motels are your close by competitors, understanding how they function can present you the place to distinguish and the place to double down in your strengths.
How advertising modifications with resort vs motel
Your advertising message ought to match your providing, and that begins with understanding what units your resort aside from motels.
Motels are inclined to lean into affordability and comfort. Their messaging typically focuses on straightforward parking, fast check-ins, and low nightly charges. That works for street trippers and last-minute bookers, nevertheless it received’t enchantment to travellers in search of consolation, high quality, good room sizes, or a memorable keep.
Lodges have extra room to construct a model. In the event you supply premium bedding, on-site eating, or centralised reserving instruments, make that entrance and centre in your advertising. These will not be simply options; they’re alerts that your property delivers a distinct expertise. And when communicated nicely, they justify the next value.
For instance, a motel would possibly promote “Clear rooms proper off the freeway.” A resort may promote “Spacious rooms with metropolis views and room service accessible.” Each enchantment to totally different audiences, however one clearly speaks to a extra experience-driven visitor.
Consider your advertising as a mirror. In the event you don’t replicate on what makes your resort distinctive, visitors might not see a cause to guide with you, as an alternative of the cheaper possibility down the street.
How can motels differentiate themselves from motels
If motels are competing on value and comfort, your edge as a resort lies in providing one thing extra. Listed here are a number of strategic areas the place motels can create clear separation and appeal to higher-value visitors.
Improve facilities
Visitors are keen to pay extra after they really feel like they’re getting extra. Whereas motels often supply the fundamentals, like a mattress, a toilet, and a TV, motels can elevate the expertise with extras. That may imply a well-equipped gymnasium, a calming pool space, or easy comforts like high-quality linens and low within the foyer.
In-room facilities matter. Travellers price air-con and energy retailers close to the mattress as two of essentially the most desired room options. In the meantime, enterprise travellers even have excessive expectations. As much as 69% say they might guide straight via a resort’s web site or app if free Wi-Fi is assured.
Goal particular travellers
Motels serve a large, transient viewers. Lodges have the chance to focus. Whether or not your candy spot is enterprise travellers, households, or lengthy weekenders, your providing and advertising may be formed round what that viewers values most.
Robust model id
A transparent, constant model helps you rise above the noise. That features your visible id, your tone of voice, and the form of expertise visitors can count on at any of your properties. It makes your resort really feel extra established, extra reliable, and extra definitely worth the reserving.
In the event you run a number of places, consistency is vital. A visitor ought to know what they’re getting from the second they land in your web site to the second they try.
Superior expertise integration
Motels typically depend on handbook processes and disconnected methods. Lodges can acquire a severe edge through the use of instruments that join all the things, like reserving engines, channel managers, and dynamic pricing platforms. Greater than 85% of hoteliers now supply or plan to supply in-room tech comparable to cell keys and contactless funds, whereas 92% of hoteliers report that visitors are extra open to utilizing contactless expertise now than they have been earlier than the pandemic.
SiteMinder, for instance, helps motels handle their charges and availability throughout a number of channels without delay. It offers operators extra management, reduces handbook work, and helps you compete extra successfully, even in price-sensitive markets.
Instruments assist motels compete with motels
Lodges can acquire a big edge through the use of expertise to run leaner, smarter operations. Whereas motels typically depend on fundamental methods or handbook processes, motels have entry to instruments that unlock way more management over pricing, availability, and visitor expertise.
That’s the place SiteMinder makes the distinction.
By connecting your resort’s property administration system with SiteMinder’s platform, you may:
- Routinely replace room charges and availability throughout all reserving channels in actual time;
- Keep away from overbookings and handbook errors; and,
- Reply to demand shifts quicker with dynamic pricing.
For instance, in case your PMS exhibits low occupancy for a weekend, SiteMinder can regulate your charges throughout linked OTAs immediately, serving to you fill rooms with out lifting a finger. When motels are adjusting costs manually or in no way, this type of automation retains you one step forward.
It’s also possible to use built-in visitor knowledge to personalise gives, time promotions extra strategically, and forecast with higher accuracy.
The end result? Fewer admin complications, higher margins, and extra bookings from the proper of visitors.