I’ve always been intrigued about how a hotel categorizes its available rooms. Through my years of travel, I have begun to see patterns emerging that are as much about marketing as they are about the actual physical spaces themselves.

When I venture away, I mostly limit myself to four and five star hotels and lodges. To me travel is as much about that luxurious, comfortable temporary home as it is about the destination and the experiences within. More often now than ever before, the marketing of room categories is designed to steer you towards choosing a more expensive room.

Larger hotels, particularly the chains, have a myriad of rooms to choose from, designed to suit every budget. When you consider what is on offer, however, not everything is really what it seems.

The most common rooms, considered entry level, are now relatively standard across hotels all over the world. Starting from lowest and most basic, to the top echelon, let’s have a little examination of them.

STANDARD ROOM

Many hotels begin right here. A Standard Room is pretty much what it says. You get the basics. Large hotels will have plenty of these rooms. Easily configured and cookie-cutter in style, the rooms are designed for in and out, overnight quick stays and the most budget-conscious travelers. These rooms are almost always the smaller ones, just enough for a couple to move around in.

It’s a smart name for a room when you think about it, as it sounds so unappealing. Nobody likes the word Standard. It sounds cheap. The room probably isn’t. But it may well be the least expensive room in the house. It makes you feel like a tight-arse when you choose a standard room. So many, will choose the next category, as the name is a zillion times more appealing.

DELUXE ROOM

See? SO much better! “Deluxe” holds such promise. Must be something special right? Nope, It’s not. It’s usually the standard room bumped up by a few more square meters. Now a couple can be comfortable in there, as well as bring their cat to swing around in it without it hitting the walls. There will be variations on the Deluxe room in many hotels as well. Such as the Deluxe City View Room, Deluxe Pool View Room, or Deluxe River View Room. Or even more lavish, a Deluxe Corner Room. This one will have an extra window. A bit more light. And it will cost you another hundred or so bucks.

Views mean everything to hotels. The better the view, the more they can charge. The sunnier the room, the happier everyone is. Deluxe Rooms rarely provide much more than a Standard room. But the little extra space and a better view is always enough to pull the punters away from that ordinary Standard Room.

Categories within a category are often created from Deluxe Rooms. Enter the Balcony Deluxe Room. Exactly the same as a Deluxe, but with fresh air from an open, usually small, balcony, with two chairs and a small table. A true rarity with hotels these days. What price for a balcony? Plenty. People will pay extra for it, particularly if it has a view and bright sunshine. Does the Deluxe Balcony River View Room tick all the boxes? For many, probably.

The next room category has always somewhat baffled me.

SUPERIOR ROOM

Sounds good but leaves a lot to the imagination. What constitutes a Superior Room? Basically, it’s a combination of what the Deluxe Room also offers. More space, in this instance perhaps a whopping 10 square meters or more, and a better view. Perhaps you can see the top of Mount Fuji from a Superior Room in a high-rise Tokyo hotel. But that view would cost you much, much more.

A Superior Room usually offers more space in a particular area, such as the bathroom. There is probably a nice free standing tub to soak in. In the living area there may be a comfy couch, that the Deluxe Room didn’t offer. All the more reason to spend just that little bit extra, right?

EXECUTIVE ROOM

This one may sound targeted to the high-flying business executive, but it really isn’t. Again, this room will have more space, but it will have a more spacious desk area with some bells and whistles by way of a drawer full of business “essentials”, perhaps pencils, staples, eraser, tape. Mostly unnecessary things that never get used. An Executive room is not dissimilar to a Superior Room in many hotels. Often it comes with complimentary access to the Business Lounge and perhaps free pressing of suits. Enough reason to charge more for the room? To some, perhaps.

Part of the reasoning behind these categories of rooms is the ever-appealing upgrade. Most hotels now will provide these. For the traveller, they are considered the most wonderful gift the hotel can offer. Whereas you never look a gift horse in the mouth, to be upgraded from a Deluxe Room to a Deluxe City View Room, where the only significant difference is the view, and the cost difference is minimal, is a very easy thing for a hotel to provide.

For a true upgrade, for a very loyal customer, you should be bumped right up to the next highest category. It won’t adversely affect the hotel’s bottom line and in doing so, it practically guarantees your loyalty. Hotel management know that the upgrade is by far the most powerful tool in their arsenal.

SUITES

There isn’t anything tricky about a room called a Suite. Generally, these are much larger rooms with separate living areas, much bigger bathrooms, walk-in wardrobes, a hallway entrance. They are usually the size of a modern one or two bedroom apartment. Naturally, they are the most expensive spaces in the house.

Suites are usually fitted out with far better furnishings, their spaces differing vastly from regular, smaller rooms. Real Suites have an x-factor that befits their expense, often luxurious added extras, like a fully-stocked wine fridge, separate study, bespoke lighting and a higher tier of luxury bathroom products.

Suites are not always what they are cut out to be, however. Many hotels beef up their offering by calling their regular rooms Suites. It’s just a way of giving more prestige to a hotel that perhaps doesn’t really have it.

Categories of Suites can be quite confusing. Luxury hotels often name their Suites after a famous figure, sometimes a famous politician or actor that stayed there eons ago. Another reason to make that Suite one of the highest priced in the hotel.

Then there is the baffling JUNIOR SUITE. What the hell is it? I believe it relates to the size, really being just a name for a smaller suite than usual. A room that features a separate living area, but not a separate room, in addition to the bedroom. So it’s a “mini-suite”, if you will. But that’s an unappealing name. So is Junior Suite, in my opinion.

The Daddy of them all, however, is the ridiculously named PRESIDENTIAL SUITE. Ah! A massive living space fit for world-leaders! Always the biggest Suite of all, they are always lavish and intensely private. With the most knockout views from the hotel. Some even have their own direct elevator entrance right into the front door.

The cost of Presidential Suites are stratospheric. They are for the extremely wealthy, or the idiotic. I have only stayed in one, and that was a complimentary upgrade for continued loyalty. The hotel shall go unnamed. I felt lucky to have been gifted the night, but such a large space was wasted on me as a solo traveler.

Now we come to the fun part. Less generic rooms, often a challenge for the hotelier. Rooms unique to singular properties. When researching hotel rooms for trips, I have come across these interestingly named rooms, which were either a marketers dream or nightmare.

COZY ROOM

Doesn’t this one sound lovely! Who wouldn’t want to be all cozy in their room? Don’t be fooled by the name. Cozy means only one thing: Tiny. Miniscule, even. Made for one person. And forget about bringing your cat, because if you swing it, you will kill it as it swiftly hits the wall. Often long and skinny, the Cozy Room is usually uncomfortable and not a functional space. The leftover bit when all the rooms were originally configured and reconfigured. The real test is the bathroom. Often an afterthought, there is never anywhere to place your wet pack, with no room around the world’s smallest sink, and barely room to move in the shower.

More adventurous hoteliers will called these very small rooms PETITE ROOMS. That is exactly what they are. With that name, at least you know you are buying into the smallest room in the house. And paying accordingly for it. They can also be called SINGLE ROOMS. Yes, the description is apt. They may contain a single bed (as no other size would fit) affording the name of the room true meaning. They are definitely designed for one.

Clever hoteliers who understand marketing will call these rooms something exotic, like SANCTUARY ROOM, or HIDEAWAY ROOM. These evoke private spaces that are particularly appealing to solo, introverted travellers. If you really want to understand these rooms prior to booking one, you need to read between the lines in the description on the hotel’s website. More often than not, these rooms tend to be on the ground floor and windowless, and for me, that’s a no-go. BEWARE the one only cozy, petite, single or sanctuary room. No one wants to stay in a dark, converted closet.

SIGNATURE ROOM

Another confusing category. In most instances, these are the best entry level rooms that the hotel can offer. A Standard Room, but one that represents the hotels philosophy, usually through styling, design or character. If this room represents the brand at its best, then it is always a popular choice.

Now comes the time to leave the big cities behind and venture out for a lovely stay in the countryside. This is the home of the luxury hotel resort, often a loose term as any. This is the land where often Rooms and Suites don’t exist. This is a whole new realm.

Villa interior, Amanoi, Vinh Hy, Vietnam

VILLAS

The standard offering in smaller, more boutique luxury resorts are the Villas. It’s a bit of a loose term, as the true meaning of villa is “a large and luxurious country house in its own grounds” The name is somewhat appropriate however, as they don’t resemble any kind of hotel room. They are more akin to Suites, but in resorts they most often stand alone. Villas tend to lend themselves to all sorts of add-on categories, the most common all attributed to the view, of which Ocean View, Mountain View, Lakeside or, the pinnacle of them all – Ocean View Plunge, which signifies the addition of the almighty plunge pool.

As villas became more the norm across hotel resorts worldwide, another term needed introduction. Something even more exclusive, evoking an air of refined, breezy, languid luxury.

Pavilion interior, Amanemu, Ise Shima, Japan

PAVILIONS

The Pavilion is the current king of resort accommodation. Indicating utmost privacy in a stand-alone dwelling, the very mention of the word is enough to make you covet a stay in one. They are almost always great hideaways with soothing, calm interiors, gorgeous external lounging spaces, the obligatory pool, and an aspect with a stunning vista anyone would envy.

Pool Pavilion lap pool, Amanoi, Vinh Hy, Vietnam

As with everything in travel, and particularly the world of hotels and luxury resorts, room categories are ever evolving. Accommodation is made to fit your circumstance, your budget, and your desire. It is that desire that hotel operators are banking on, with their clever, calculated, alluring, home away from homes. You just need to choose very, very carefully.

(for a study on the ultimate hotel resort marketing tool, the plunge pool, read my earlier separate article “What Price Plunge?” in my journal)