ACCOMMODATION TYPES

Bed & Breakfast

A Bed and Breakfast (B&B) is a private home in which guests can be accommodated at night
in private bedrooms (which may or may not have private bathrooms).
The owner or manager lives in the house or on the property. The public areas of the house,
such as kitchen and lounge have either limited access for guests, or are shared with the host
family to some degree.
The business may be run as a secondary occupation.
Breakfast is included in the price (generally either continental or full-English). Other meals
may be available by arrangement.
Backpacker Hostel
A hostel (or backpacker) establishment is aimed at the budget traveller and generally attracts
a younger clientele.
Bedrooms are in a dormitory style (shared) and bathrooms are shared, although private
bedrooms may be available.
Light meals may be available in addition to the room rate.
Boutique Hotel
A boutique hotel is a 5 star establishment providing all the features and facilities of a normal
hotel, in a unique and exclusive style.
These properties are generally small, feature top class service and are marketed to the
affluent.
Guest House
A guesthouse is generally a private home which has been converted for the dedicated and
exclusive use of guest accommodation.
The public areas of the establishment are for the exclusive use of the guests. The owner or
manager either lives off-site, or in an entirely separate area within the property.
A Guesthouse offers a wider range of services than a B&B, and usually caters for all meals.
Hotel
A hotel is generally the largest of all accommodation types.
There is typically a common reception area, and rooms generally open directly onto a
hallway.
The on-site restaurant and other facilities are more accessible to the public than the other
accommodation types.
A wide range of guest services is available, such as room service.
Hotels are often members of larger hotel groups, and a similar accommodation experience
may be available in different establishments within the group.




Lodge
A lodge is an accommodation facility which is located and designed to optimize the feeling of
being closely in touch with nature.
The building style should feature natural materials and colouring such as wood, stone and
thatch.
An outdoor experience should be offered at the lodge, such as guided walks, game drives
etc.
Private Home
A private home not dedicated for full time occupation of guests, but is a private house or
apartment which is temporarily available for rental, often during peak tourism seasons.
Resort
A spread out collection of single or double story accommodation units.
Similar to a hotel in that it offers a wide range of facilities.
Units may be rented and available on time-share.
A camping area may be included in the resort.
Self-Catering
A self-catering establishment may be primarily one of the other accommodation types, but
also offers dedicated self-catering facilities.
The unit should feature a fully equipped kitchen to cater for the maximum people to be
accommodated (including fridge, stove, cutlery, crockery, cooking utensils, cleaning
equipment).
The kitchen should be for the exclusive use of the guests, and not shared.














Origins of the term:
The word hotel derives from the French htel, which referred to a French version of a townhouse, not a
place offering accommodation (in contemporary usage, htel has the meaning of "hotel", and htel
particulier is used for the old meaning). The French spelling (with the circumflex) was once also used in
English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the 's' once preceding the 't' in the earlier hostel spelling,
which over time received a new, but closely related meaning.

Services and facilities:
Basic accommodation of a room with only a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely
been replaced by rooms with en-suite bathrooms and, more commonly in the United States than elsewhere,
climate control. Other features found may be a telephone, an alarm clock, a TV, and broadband Internet
connectivity. Food and drink may be supplied by a mini-bar (which often includes a small refrigerator)
containing snacks and drinks (to be paid for on departure), and tea and coffee making facilities (cups,
spoons, an electric kettle and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer or milk).

In the United Kingdom a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all comers within certain stated
hours; to avoid this requirement it is not uncommon to come across "private hotels" which are not subject
to this requirement.

However, in Japan the capsule hotel supplies minimal facilities and room space.

Classification:
The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of services available. Due to the
enormous increase in tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards, especially
those of smaller establishments, have improved considerably. For the sake of greater comparability, rating
systems have been introduced, with the one to five stars classification being most common.

Boutique hotels:
"Boutique Hotel" is a term originating in North America to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel
environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain or branded hotels by providing an
exceptional and personalized level of accommodation, services and facilities.

Boutique hotels are furnished in a theme, stylish and/or aspirational manner. Although usually considerably
smaller than a mainstream hotel (ranging from 3 to 100 guest rooms) boutique hotels are generally fitted
with telephone and wi-fi Internet connections, honesty bars and often cable/pay TV. Guest services are
attended to by 24 hour hotel staff. Many boutique hotels have on site dining facilities, and the majority offer
bars and lounges which may also be open to the general public.

Of the total travel market a small percentage are discerning travelers, who place a high importance on
privacy, luxury and service delivery. As this market is typically corporate travelers, the market segment is
non-seasonal, high-yielding and repeat, and therefore one which boutique hotel operators target as their
primary source of income.

Unusual hotels
Many hotels can be considered destinations in themselves, by dent of unusual features of the lodging and/or
its immediate environment:

Treehouse hotels
Some hotels, such as the Costa Rica Tree House in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, or
Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park, Kenya, are built with living trees as structural elements, making
them treehouses.

The Ariau Towers near Manaus, Brazil is in the middle of the Amazon, on the Rio Negro. Bill Gates even
invested and had a suite built there with satellite internet/phone.

Another hotel with treehouse units is Bayram's Tree Houses in Olympos, Turkey [3].

Cave Hotels:
Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, South Australia and the Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcn (named after
the author) in Guadix, Spain, as well as several hotels in Cappadocia, Turkey, are notable for being built into
natural cave formations, some with rooms underground.

Capsule hotels :
Capsule hotels are a type of economical hotels that are quite common in Japan.

Ice hotels
Main article: Ice hotel
Ice hotels, such as the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjrvi, Sweden, melt every spring and are rebuilt out of ice and
snow each winter.

Snow hotels
The Mammut Snow Hotel in Finland is located within the walls of the Kemi snow castle, which is the biggest
in the world. It includes The Mammut Snow Hotel, The Castle Courtyard, The Snow Restaurant and a chapel
for weddings, etc. Its furnishings and its decorations, such as sculptures, are made of snow and ice.

There is snow accommodation also in Lainio Snow Hotel in Lapland (near Ylls), Finland.

Garden hotels : Garden hotels, famous for their gardens before they became hotels, includes Gravetye
Manor, the home of William Robinson and Cliveden, designed by Charles Barry with a rose garden by
Geoffrey Jellicoe.

Underwater hotels:
As of 2005, the only hotel with an underwater room that can be reached without Scuba diving is Utter Inn in
Lake Mlaren, Sweden. It only has one room, however, and Jules' Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida,
which requires scuba diving, is not much bigger.

Hydropolis is an ambitious project to build a luxury hotel in Dubai, UAE, with 220 suites, all on the bottom of
the Persian Gulf, 20 meters (66 feet) below the surface. Its architecture will feature two domes that break
the surface and an underwater train tunnel, all made of transparent materials such as glass and acrylic.

Other unusual hotels
The Library Hotel in New York City is unique in that its ten floors are arranged according to the Dewey
Decimal System.

The Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, in Toronto, Canada is the only stadium to have a hotel connected to
it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field.

The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, built on an artificial island, is structured in the shape
of a sail of a boat.

The RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California is the only 1930s ocean liner still in existence. Its elegant
first-class staterooms are now used as a hotel.

The Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai houses an extremely expensive hotel with only 20 rooms.

World-record setting hotels

Tallest :
The tallest hotel in the world is the Burj al-Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at 321 meters (1,053 feet).
However, this title may be taken by the less illustrious Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang at 330 meters (1,083
feet), pending its (perhaps unlikely) completion; it has been under construction since 1987 and was
abandoned in 1992.


Largest :
The current largest hotel in the world is First World Hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia.[1] It has a total of
6,118 rooms, and is part of the Genting Highlands Resort and Casino. The First World Plaza which is
adjoined to the two hotel towers boasts 500,000 square feet of indoor theme park, shopping centres, casino
gaming areas, and eateries. Previously, the largest hotel in the world was the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Las
Vegas, Nevada, USA with 5,044 rooms in the main building and a total of 6,276 rooms. Types of hotels
rooms in India

Oldest:
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest hotel still in operation is the Hoshi Ryokan, in
Awazu, Japan. It opened in 717 CE, and features hot springs.























CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND OTHER RELATED TOURIST FACILITIES IN
TANZANIA

Introduction

Tourism regulations and standards play a significant role in the development of any country's tourism
industry. Among the regulations and standards, perhaps one of the most important and with far reaching
impacts is Standard Criteria, which cover the Classification of Hotels and other Accommodation facilities.
Why are Standard Criteria for classification so vital?

Provide balanced standards and quality information to travel trade and international guests as the labels,
codes and ranks would be easily recognised
Encourage and guide quality investments in the sector
Guests expect and find certain accommodation standards regardless of the location
The marketing profile and credibility of establishments can be independently verified
The tourism sector is assisted in its efforts to monitor standards

National Classification Systems are also designed to assist the government plan and identify the need to
develop more particular category of establishment for the investors. Furthermore, the scheme aid in the
marketing strategy of the Public and Private initiatives as profiles of tourists who stay where and why in a
particular area establishments can be analysed.

Classification as a Quality Assurance System

The process of breaking down accommodation or restaurant facilities into categories or classes or grades
and grouping them according to their common physical, facilities, amenities, range of services, hospitality
etc is an imprecise science. That is why the system is so widely debated and/or disputed. Consequently
there many different stars, diamonds, ticks and crown ratings worldwide as a means of differentiating
quality, amenities, hospitality and service. There is no internationally acceptable and requisite Hospitality
Establishment Classification system. The genesis of the hospitality establishment rating system is
entrenched in the efforts of Automobile and Cycling Clubs in 1880s who in their tour books displayed
establishments amenities, which in turn recommended to their membership, based on guaranteed facilities
and services which were offered. This led to the establishment of Automobile Association (AA), its American
counterpart (AAA) and the Michellin tyre Company- Michellin Red Guide etc.
After world war two, National Tourist Boards began to be involved in the exercise of either registering and/or
classifying establishments in order to enforce minimum standards. This intervention helped to consolidate
guest confidence in identified establishments, counteract harmful generalisation of standards which
impacted negatively on the reputation of the destinations and aided marketing strategies by proofing
recognisable hotels profiles in targeted promotions. Also, schemes/systems encouraged local investors to
improve standards and the range of services they offered.

According to WTO records, by 1970 only five European countries had national classification systems in place.
But by 1980 the number had increased to 22 in Europe and 60 worldwide. Since then hotel classification has
been accepted to mean the separation and grouping of different types and ranges of accommodation or
restaurants into several categories based on a range of standard criteria.

Historically, hotel classification systems were developed to ensure safe and reliable lodging and food for
travellers at a time when very few such trustworthy establishments existed. With the unprecedented growth
of international tourism in the past fifty years, during which hospitality has reached the status of a mature
industry, the focus has moved from consumer protection (generally guaranteed by national regulations and
legislation) to consumer information. Today, standardization and competitive marketing of hotel services to
foreign customers and tourist professionals have emerged as driving forces for instituting a local or national
hotel classification system.UNWTO
That is why, accommodation classification is the process by which establishments are separated and
grouped into categories or classes according to their common physical, environmental, hospitality,
amenities, service, safety, security and upkeep among other criteria. It entails the identification of types,
settings, standards and criterion for each type. Other aspects such as verification of the standards,
institutional certification and finally awarding of labels or signs are part of the processes of classification.


The Genesis of the Tanzanian Classification Scheme

The recognition of the necessity for quality assurance in the tourism industry has been acknowledged in
Tanzania since the 1980s. The competitive nature of international tourism, the rising level of consumer
rights and the need to stamp the country's destination credentials drove this initiative. In September, 2000,
the Tanzania Government through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNT) formed The Panel of
Experts on Standardisation and Classification of Hotels, Restaurants and other Tourist Facilities. The Panel's
portfolio also included setting-up of Standards for Non Classifiable Establishments. This decision was in line
with the provisions of the East African Community (EAC) Treaty; article 115(2) and subsequent directions
and decisions made by the EAC Council of Ministers. At the same time Kenya and Uganda as Members of the
EAC (Partner States) likewise formed their teams. The Panel comprises of five experts from each Partner
State who come from both the industry/private and the public sectors.

The Standards Criteria for Classification and the Assessment and Scoring, and the Score Tallying Sheets
were developed by the said team of experts comprising Members from the EAC Partner States as said
earlier. These experts were informed by UNWTO guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa and best practices
worldwide albeit with the problems discussed above. But adhered to the UNWTO references whereby basic
standards which could be recognised as minimum standards of universal application irrespective of cultural
differences, which are vital to all human beings and guests and correspond to ethics and satisfaction of their
basic needs. It should also be firmly said that emphasis in approach differ. While some schemes emphasise
quality, others may stress facilities and hygiene or service or even environment as Green Globe 21 does.
Members of the Panel chose to borrow from all of these to come up with a comprehensive approach well
tested for standardisation demands of our time.

Current Status of the Classification Process in Tanzania

Jointly with their counterparts from Kenya and Uganda (here in called EAC Partners) finalised the Draft
Report on Proposed Standards Criteria for the Classification of Hotels, Restaurants and other Tourist
Facilities and Proposed Standard Guidelines for the Development of Non-Graded Establishments. The Draft
Criteria were presented to Stakeholders for discussion and deliberation in Dar es Salaam on 6th August
2004 at The Golden Tulip where 30 Dar es Salaam hotel operators/representatives attended. On 21st August
the same year, another stakeholders meeting was held Arusha where 25 operators/owners were represented
and lastly; 24th August one was held in Mwanza where 20 representatives attended. After that; The
Standard Criteria were presented to the East African Tourism and Wildlife committee for deliberation,
comments and approval in September 2004.

The East African Tourism and Wildlife Committee after deliberations, comments, corrections and appropriate
recommendations forwarded the Standard Criteria to the EAC Council of Ministers who approved the Draft in
April 2006. After the approval these Standard Criteria superseded all other existing schemes in the Partner
States. The work of editing and publishing should be finalised by the EAC Secretariat before July 2007.
Developed the Assessment and Scoring and the Score Tallying Sheets for the Standards Criteria for
Classification; covering Town and Vacation Hotels, Lodges and Tented Camps, Villas, Cottages and Serviced
Apartments and Motels. The Counsel of Ministers approved these instruments after being deliberated by the
East African Tourism and Wildlife Committee for five days in January 2007.
Pre-tested the Proposed Standards Criteria for Classification and Assessment and Scoring Sheet for seamless
functionality in ten up-market hotels in Kampala, Entebbe and Munyonyo all in the Republic of Uganda under
the auspices of the EAC Secretariat in October/November 2006. The Assessment and Scoring Sheets were
edited to reflect what was happening on the ground in Uganda; a scenario which was believed to represent
the rest of the Partner States.
Inventoried most of the Hospitality Establishments in Dar-es-salaam, Arusha, Mara, Dodoma, Mwanza,
Tanga, Kilimanjaro, Manyara and Pwani. The Inventory Inspection Team is still on the ground mopping areas
which were not optimally done.
Developed and forged Certificates and Plaques as Awards, which will be presented to deserving
Establishments after Classification.
Pre-tested the Documents again by Classifying 55 different Establishments in Uganda ready for the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Uganda in November 2007.




Proposed Implementation of the Classification of Tourist Establishments in Tanzania

Unfortunately in Tanzania we are talking of a first! Apart from the Members of the Panel who developed the
Standard Criteria for Classification and the subsequent Assessment and Scoring and Score Tallying Sheets;
the number of professionals familiar with the documents are very few if they are indeed available.
Consequently we have to wonder in virgin land and build capacity as we go.

With that in mind the Panel Members from Tanzania plan to run a pilot Classification Programme in Arusha
jointly with the rest of the Panel Members from Kenya and Uganda. In the face of lack of qualified personnel
familiar with the developed EAC Criteria, it is wise and cost effective to employ the team that built the
system in the first place. This option was selected not only to avoid rushed selection and training of
Assessors but also to tap the wealth of combined experiences in our Partner States. In using this approach
the credibility crisis wont be an issue; and simultaneously internal capacity building efforts will go on. The
other advantage of using this team includes; the need to use the experience gained during the scheme
formative years (six!).

Transition from Registration and Licensing of Hospitality Establishments to Classification and
Grading

Tanzanian Hospitality Establishments have had to be licensed since colonial times; and since 1971 when
Tourism Agencies Licensing Authority (TALA) was enacted a form of double Registration exists. When the
new Tourism Act comes into operation, this anomaly will be corrected. The UNWTO defines Registration as a
form of licensing which may or may not demand a minimum standard. Nevertheless, some conformity with
health, fire and safety legislation and byelaws is necessary implying a minimum criterion. Unfortunately in
Tanzania all mentioned criterion are supervised by a myriad of regulatory bodies and local authorities which
often times have different priorities; not to mention lack of coordination among them.

Currently the Hospitality scene in Tanzania is in transition from this mess to clearer registration rules which
will lead to classification. Challenges are many as this is a critical point requiring a cautious, albeit
systematic approach to hotel classification. The Government of Tanzania under the auspices of The East
African Community; will be acting legitimately when it enacts mandatory hotel classification in discharging
its duty to provide for a fair playing field for competition, protect consumers and participate in efforts to
position Tanzania correctly in the source markets.

In order to fully understand the implication of this transition; a brief SWOT analysis is hereby provided:

STRENGHTS

The advantage of adopting a Classification System is that the world of Tour and Travel and the international
traveller can easily recognise the signs and rankings and make choice/s.
Guests expect and find the minimum operational standards regardless of the location or provider.
Government planning in areas of accommodation is made easier.
Marketing strategy is made easier with guest profiles of different categories available.
Investors have benchmarks to base on when improving standards and/or adding a range of facilities.
The public and private organs in marketing will target their promotions with clearer focus.
Eliminate bad properties which impact negatively on the reputation of the destination and of the better
properties.

WEAKNESSES

Old but prime properties with undersized guest and public rooms will be disadvantaged.
Resources in terms of qualified personnel and the structure to undertake the exercise will have to be
brought-up from scratch.
Difficult of properties receiving top rankings because of geographical/climatic location; e.g. the logic of
verandas and terraces in mosquito infested areas.
Fear of change from the private sector.

OPPORTUNITIES

The right time to strengthen the PPP.
Develop markets by positioning establishments with recognisable codes
Train and develop a new cadre of Assessors from a clean start.
Guide appropriate investments in required categories.

THREATS

Resources in terms of funding and personnel to keep the exercise not only running but under constant
check, audit and assessment to ensure conformity to earlier approved standards; and/or demotion where
appropriate.
Lack of suitable institutional and legal frame work within which the scheme would work.