# hotel

> English word · Noun · IPA /həʊˈtɛl/ · frequency rank #1,191

## Definitions
1. A large town house or mansion; a grand private residence, especially in France.
2. An establishment that provides accommodation and other services for paying guests; normally larger than a guesthouse, and often one of a chain.
3. A public house or pub.
4. A restaurant; any dining establishment.
5. Alternative letter-case form of Hotel from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
6. The larger red property in the game of Monopoly, in contradistinction to houses.
7. The guest accommodation and dining section of a cruise ship.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Italic *hostipotjālis
Latin hospitālis
Old French ostel
Middle French hostel
French hôtelbor.
English hotel
Borrowed from French hôtel, from Middle French hostel, from Old French ostel, from Late Latin hospitālis (“hospice, shelter, guesthouse”), from Latin hospitālis (“hospitable”). Doublet of hostel and hospital.

## Easily confused with
- **Howe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-howe)
- **howl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-howl)
- **hove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-hove)
- **hots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-hots)
- **hover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-hover)
- **hotly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-hotly)
- **hoyer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-hoyer)
- **hotter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-hotter)
- **Howell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hotel-vs-howell)
- **hot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hot-vs-hotel)
- **hoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hoe-vs-hotel)
- **Hel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hel-vs-hotel)
- **home** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/home-vs-hotel)
- **hope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hope-vs-hotel)
- **hate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hotel)
- **hole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hole-vs-hotel)
- **heel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heel-vs-hotel)
- **hose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hose-vs-hotel)
- **hone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hone-vs-hotel)
- **hoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hoke-vs-hotel)

## Common misspellings (7)
`hhotel`, `hoetl`, `hotell`, `hotle`, `hottel`, `htoel`, `ohtel`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hotel