Hotel Terminology & Glossary

Spa Hotels

What is the meaning / definition of Spa Hotels in the hospitality industry? A Spa Hotel is a hotel with the primary purpose of providing individual services and treatments for Spa seeking clients, with a focus on health. Historically many Spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or [...]

Source of Business

What is the meaning / definition of Source of Business, in the hospitality industry? Source of Business is a term used to determine how a guest heard about the hotel in order to further expand marketing and promotion efforts to maximise profitability. Simply speaking, a Source of Business provides a hotel [...]

Hotel Soft Brand

What is the meaning / definition of a Hotel Soft Brand? The term hotel soft brand is a term used in hospitality that describes a hotel franchise or chain company. This organisation, in comparison to other hotel franchises or hotel chains provides the benefits of a larger chain without enforcing strict [...]

Ski Resort

What is the meaning / definition of Ski Resort in the hospitality industry? Ski Resorts are towns and villages in winter sports areas, offering support services for skiing and snowboarding such as lodging (e.g. boutique hotels, B&Bs, chalets), equipment rental, ski schools and ski lifts. Ski Resorts can be in/near towns [...]

Shoulder Season

What is the meaning / definition of Shoulder Season in the hospitality industry? A hotelโ€™s booking season that is between high season and low season. Shoulder seasons have less crowds, but have some of the same advantages of peak seasons, like whether, attractions and amenities. Shoulder seasons usually occur a month [...]

Shoulder Date

What is the meaning / definition of Shoulder Date in the hospitality industry? Sometimes a hotel can generate extra revenue by selling rooms on Shoulder Dates; these are basically dates that fall very close to other high demand dates. For example, a couple decides to treat themselves to a luxury break [...]

Sell Through

What is the meaning / definition of Sell Through in the hospitality industry? A hotelโ€™s reservation system can include many tools. One of these is called a Sell Through. A Sell Through will allow a hotel anywhere in the world to implement a control that will enable a request for an [...]

Sell Rate

What is the meaning / definition of Sell Rate in the hospitality industry? Sell rate can be simply defined as the amount the guest has to pay for your hotelโ€™s room night. Not all hotel reservations are made directly through the hotel itself โ€“ over the โ€˜phone, at Reception or through [...]

Selected Services

What is the meaning / definition of Selected Services in the hospitality industry? Select-service properties are a hybrid of full-service hotels and limited service hotels. As the name states, select service properties, select their services โ€“ thereby only providing services which match the target markets needs. Most select service hotels fall [...]

Go to Top