A hotel can be an establishment which offers paid overnight accommodations on a temporary basis. These accommodations may range from a fairly small-quality bed in a relatively small room to extremely large suites with many larger, more comfortable rooms. Because hotels and motels have one primary goal to provide comfortable living conditions for their guests, there are some basic features and services which all good hotels should offer. The services provided are not services that are offered by every establishment, however, and there are differences between the quality of services expected in a hotel and the level of quality offered by many motels and hotels. Knowing what is expected from your hotel or motel will help you recognize when a hotel has not met its expectations and when it is a reasonable expectation of your hotel.

One of the most common service expectations is the in-room dining experience. All modern hotels and motels offer a full restaurant and kitchen area, with several different restaurants and cafes usually open at the same time, each having its own staff. In addition to the actual restaurants, all modern hotels and motels also offer a full service bar and lounge area, complete with an assortment of full sitting areas, stools, bar stools, television sets and more. As well as the fully functional bars and lounges, most hotels and motels also offer in-house guestrooms and housekeeping services. These services are often limited but may include cleaning, light housekeeping and laundry services, although they may also include housekeeping and laundry services and scheduling of maid services.

Other hotel information systems used in hotel rooms include concierge, property management, concierge desks, reservation systems, credit and debit card machines, web portal software, meeting and conference facilities, receptionist services, reservation transfer services and more. Most hotels and motels also have a customer assistance option, which is often an optional feature of the property management system. Customer support systems may include a reservation helpdesk or a live helpdesk that can be accessed through the Internet or telephone. Some customer support systems even include virtual help desk agents, customer account executives and real estate agents.