What is the biggest difference between a hotel and a motel?

By hotel I mean anything from really small to really big.


And by motel I mean something that doesn't rent rooms by the hour. (motel 6 or super 8 motel for example)





We're visiting California this summer and have most of our lodging figured out, but for a few days we still need to find something.





Preferably not too expensive, hence my question :)





Are motels always cheaper and less well maintained than hotels?


Are motels sleazy places one should avoid?What is the biggest difference between a hotel and a motel?
The answers to your last two questions are no and no. You cannot generalize about prices, degree of upkeep or cleanliness about motels and hotels. Some motels are very well maintained and clean while some hotels can be run down and sleazy.





You can generalize about the following though:





1. Most motels are older and not parts of a national chain. National chains (systems) do not name their lodging facilities ';motels'; any more simply, I gather, to avoid the misunderstanding such as raised in your questions.





2. Most motels are near a highway or a main road. However, this is to be taken with the understanding that what used to be a highway may have been replaced by a newer highway and is now just a road through town.





Since you sound like you may be from another country, I'd advise to make reservation with a national chain to assure a certain level of quality (Holiday Inn, La Quinta, Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott...). You can find reasonable rates through those chains as they have different levels of hotels but at least, you know in advance what you're going to get. Individually-owned hotels and motels can vary so widely in quality you can never be sure.What is the biggest difference between a hotel and a motel?
~~ Motel 6 doesn't rent rooms by the hour, it's overnight or longer.





~~ From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel


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.


Hotels differ from motels in that most motels have drive-up, exterior entrances to the rooms, while hotels tend to have interior entrances to the rooms, which may increase guests' safety and present a more upmarket image.





~~ Being an Aussie I think of a Hotel as an establishment that sells beer (true, they have an internal staircase that leads up to rooms for short term accomodation).


I consider a Motel to be accommodation that you drive up to, your car handily parked just ouside the door.


Many of the national motel chains are located right next to a restaurant too.





~~ Nor are motels sleazy places best avoided, certainly not the national chains anyhow.


We did a seven week tour of the entire USA, staying 90% of the time at Motel 6, so be nice!


The rooms are cleaned daily, we never once had complaints about cleanliness or freshness of any linen items.


The odd occassion we stayed at a privately owned motel, some of those are best avoided!





~~ Unsure about the price comparison between hotels and motels, I wouldn't stay at a hotel.


Just do a search for Californian hotels/motels, you'll get thousands of hits.


Many sites have personal reviews, photos of the hotel/motel and the rooms. And you just make a reservation online.
Motel allows you to enter your room from the parking lot, with your car parked outside the door. It is usually single level.





A hotel has to be entered through the lobby. It is multilevel.





Motels do not have to be 'sleazy'. There are quite a few that are upscale. You can save money by avoiding chain run hotels/motels and staying at ones that are family run. The drawback is that there are fewer amenities and no overall quality control.





You can do a quick assessment of a property by visiting the tripadvisor site and see how customers have rated it compared to others in the vicinity.





http://www.tripadvisor.com