Some hotels have gained their renown through tradition, by hosting significant events or persons, such as Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam, Germany, which derives its fame from the so-called Potsdam Conference of the World War II allies Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin in 1945. The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai is one of India’s most famous and historic hotels because of its association with the Indian independence movement. Other establishments have given name to a particular meal or beverage, as is the case with the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, USA, known for its Waldorf Salad or the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, where the drink Singapore Sling was invented. Another example is the Hotel Sacher in Vienna Austria, home of the Sachertorte or even the Hotel de Paris where the crèpe Suzette was invented.
There are also hotels which became much more popular through films like the Grand Hotel Europe in Saint Petersburg, Russia when James Bond stayed there in the blockbuster Goldeneye. Cannes hotels such as the Carlton or the Martinez become the center of the world during Cannes Film Festival (France).
“Boutique Hotel” is a term originating in North America to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain or branded hotels by providing an exceptional and personalized level of accommodation, services and facilities. Because of their financial successes in the most recent past, there have been attempts to create chains have adopted the “boutique” look and feel. In the US this trend was started by the “W” hotel chain in the 1990s and most recently this trend can be observed in chains as “aloft”, “NYLO”,”Hyatt Place” and others. Through this corporate adaptation of the concept the term “boutique” also changed and more recently hoteliers prefer to use the term “lifestyle hotels” to get away from the above mentioned quirky image.
The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of services available. Due to the enormous increase in tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards, especially those of smaller establishments, have improved considerably. For the sake of greater comparability, rating systems have been introduced, with the one to five stars classification being most common
Basic accommodation of a room with only a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with en-suite bathrooms and, more commonly in the United States than elsewhere, climate control.
Other features found may be a telephone, an alarm clock, a TV, and broadband Internet connectivity. Food and drink may be supplied by a mini-bar (which often includes a small refrigerator) containing snacks and drinks (to be paid for on departure), and tea and coffee making facilities (cups, spoons, an electric kettle and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer or milk).
Some hotels offer various combinations of meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all comers within certain stated hours; to avoid this requirement it is not uncommon to come across “private hotels” which are not subject to this requirement.[
The word hotel derives from the French hôtel (coming from “hôte” meaning “guest”), which referred to a French version of a townhouse or any other building seeing frequent visitors, not a place offering accommodation (in contemporary usage, hôtel has the meaning of “hotel”, and hôtel particulier is used for the old meaning). The French spelling (with the circumflex) was once also used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the ’s’ once preceding the ‘t’ in the earlier hostel spelling, which over time received a new, but closely related meaning.
A hotel is 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.[citation needed]
In Australia or Canada, the word may also refer to a pub or bar. In India, the word may also refer to a restaurant since the best restaurants were always situated next to a good hotel.
The original Fairmont was built in 1907 in the city of San Francisco following the earthquake of 1906. The hotel opened following the great earthquake in of 1906. It was later acquired by Benjamin H. Swig in 1945.
The Fairmont chain consisted of seven properties in the United States when it merged with Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts in 1999:
The Fairmont (San Francisco)
The Fairmont, New Orleans (formerly Grunewald) - closed since Hurricane Katrina, Will be reflagged a Waldorf Astoria once renovations are complete
The Fairmont Copley Plaza (Boston)
The Plaza (New York)
The Fairmont Chicago
The Fairmont Dallas
The Fairmont San Jose
In early 2006, after a contentious bidding war started by investor Carl Icahn. Icahn lost the bid and Fairmont agreed to be sold for $3.9 billion USD. Fairmont announced on January 30, 2006 that the company will be purchased by Colony Capital, LLC and Kingdom Hotels International. As a result of that purchase, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is now a subsidiary of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI). At the time of the purchase, FRHI also owned Delta Hotels & Resorts; however, Delta was sold on October 2, 2007 to bcIMC (British Columbia Investment Management Corporation).
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2008, as published in Maclean’s magazine, the only hotel operator to receive this honour. This is the 6th consecutive year that Fairmont has received this honour.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Toronto, Ontario -based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 14 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Zanzibar Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Fairmont is known in Canada for its famous historic hotels and resorts such as the Empress Hotel (Victoria) and Hotel Vancouver in British Columbia, the Royal York in Toronto, Banff Springs in Alberta and Château Frontenac in Quebec City. Many of these hotels were originally built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As such, they were operated by Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts until CP Hotels purchased Fairmont in 1999 and changed its name to Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. The name change reflected the new international focus of the company.
Fairmont’s portfolio also includes several other landmark and icon properties including Plaza Hotel in New York, the Savoy Hotel in London and the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, which is currently under-going an extensive renovation.