motel

motel — noun

1. a hotel beside a main road where guests can park their car outside their room.

1.nounB1
Definition

a hotel beside a main road where guests can park their car outside their room.

Example

The Watanabe family stopped at a motel for the night during their road trip.

collocation: stay at a motel

Leila booked a motel room near the highway so she could keep driving the next morning.

collocation: book a motel room

Common collocations
  • motel room
  • stay at a motel
  • cheap motel
  • book a motel
  • motel parking
Synonyms
  • hotel

    a more general term; hotels are often larger and offer more services, but are not typically roadside

  • inn

    a smaller, more traditional place to stay, often in a rural area or small town

  • lodge

    often used for accommodation in natural settings such as mountains or national parks

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Motel, hotel, inn, and lodge all describe places where travellers pay to sleep, but they differ in location, design, and services. A motel (a blend of 'motor' and 'hotel') is built beside a main road and lets guests park right outside their room — ideal for drivers making a short stop. A hotel is the most general term, typically larger, with a front desk, restaurants, and indoor corridors. An inn is a smaller, traditional establishment often found in the countryside or a historic town, sometimes with a pub or restaurant. A lodge usually refers to accommodation in a natural setting — a ski lodge in the mountains or a hunting lodge in the forest. For example: 'They booked a cheap motel off the highway just for one night,' but 'They spent a week at a ski lodge in the Alps.'

motel ↗hotel ↗inn ↗lodge ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • room (motel room)
  • guest (motel guest)
  • parking (motel parking)

Phrases

  • check into a motel
  • check out of a motel
  • stop at a motel

Prepositions

  • at (stay at a motel)
  • in (sleep in a motel)
  • into (check into a motel)

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Motel is a blend from the 1920s that combines 'motor' and 'hotel'. As cars became popular in the United States, business owners built roadside hotels where travellers could park right outside their room. The first 'motel' (the Milestone Mo-Tel) opened in California in 1925.