Hotel & Resort room type descriptions
Beach Front
Hotels that have access directly onto a beach often have this category available to guests; in its strictest interpretation, you should be able to walk out of your room and onto the sand. Some hotels use this category, though, for their lower ocean front rooms even if you have to go down an interior corridor and take an elevator to get outside. If what you want is to just be able to walk out, check carefully before you book.
City View
It could mean on a higher floor with a broad view over the city, or it could mean a city view instead of a more desirable ocean view or mountain view etc.
Deluxe
This room type usually means the most basic room type offered by the hotel. It has basic, standard amenities and furnishings. A standard room in a Four Seasons hotel is without question much more deluxe than a standard in, say, a Holiday Inn, but there may be higher categories from which to choose. Standard rooms in hotels with higher categories often have no view or have a poor view over the dumpster or parking lot.
Double
A double hotel room sleeps up to four people in two double beds. Since there are two beds, it is called a double.
Garden View
Usually means lower floors, facing landscaping, no view except of the shrub that blocks your window.
Ocean Front
This could mean one of two things: Your room is on the side of a building and you have a full view down the beach and can see the ocean but you don't FACE the ocean, or that you are in a hotel several blocks away and on a high enough floor that you can see the ocean from your room. In the second scenario you may well be facing the water, but from a distance. In a beachfront hotel, or even one across the street from the beach, this category does not mean facing the ocean.
Ocean View
The Room that gives you a full-on ocean view. It means that the windows in your room face the ocean. Depending on the type of hotel you are in, it could mean that you are on a higher floor and have a more sweeping view.
Standard
This room type usually means the most basic roomtype offered by the hotel. It has basic, standard amenities and furnishings. A standard room in a Four Seasons hotel is without question much more deluxe than a standard in, say, a Holiday Inn, but there may be higher categories from which to choose. Standard rooms in hotels with higher categories often have no view or have a poor view over the dumpster or parking lot.
Studio
This is usually configured like a Junior Suite, but has the added advantage of a "kitchenette," or cooking facilities.
Suite
A Suite is usually two or more rooms clearly defined; a bedroom and a living or sitting room, with a door that closes between them. Many hotels use the word "suite" to define any room with a sofa in it so be sure to check thoroughly if what you really want are the two or more separate rooms.
Superior
This room type is always subject to interpretation. It's supposed to mean superior to a standard room in both size and furnishings, but it often refers to just the view. Some hotels have only Superior rooms; the categories then are defined by the view and location of the room.
Twin
A twin is supposed to be 36 inches wide and 72 inches long, but it can also describe a bed that is as narrow as 32 inces wide. It is also sometimes called a "single."
