Historic Kviknes destination hotel in Norway

A destination hotel is a hotel whose location and amenities make the hotel itself a destination for tourists, rather than merely a convenient place to stay while traveling through or visiting the area for other reasons.^[1] Destination hotels are also called destination lodgings and sometimes destination resorts. The market for destination hotels is the subject of academic and business analysis.^[2]

A destination hotel is often characterized by:

• Upscale lodging, dining, and activities
• Recreation and entertainment on the hotel's own property
• Distinctive characteristics of the building, gardens, and sometimes history

[edit] History

Since the 1800s, the traditional concept of a destination hotel has been based upon a venue which is typically remote and has a natural feature as its attraction.^[2] For example, the Kviknes Hotel in Norway is a difficult to reach remote location which provides visitors access to the scenic fjord at Balestrand. Historically there were certain built-in amenities such as gourmet cuisine, music recitals and shoreline trails; however, the amenities of modern (post 1980) destination hotels dwarf the scale of these earlier models. Many of the Las Vegas and Caribbean resort hotels have complete shopping malls, conference centers and large entertainment halls on site; thus, the contemporary version of a destination often features large on-site capital investment in activities, although the access to a local natural feature is still retained by many newer destination hotels (e.g. Hotel l'Anjajavy in Madagascar).

[edit] Historic examples

Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs main lodge, circa 1870

There are numerous historic venues which were well known in the 19th century, some of which survive to the present. Examples of these properties include:

• Raffles Hotel, Singapore
• Kviknes Hotel, Balestrand, Norway
• Metropole Hotel, Avalon, California, USA, circa 1887 Victorian style hotel^[3]
• Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs, Gilroy, California, USA^[4]
• Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite National Park, California
• Hotel Metropole, Vienna, Austria^[5]

[edit] Types of destination hotels

There are several distinct types of destination hotels including:

• Geographically remote locations often associated with a noteworthy natural feature such as a volcano or rainforest
• Urban settings^[6]
• Conference center oriented
• Specialized activity settings (e.g. Disneyland Hotel)
• Hotels of unusual construction by virtue of being built into a specialized environment (e.g. ice hotels, cave hotels or treehouse hotels)^[7]
• Boutique Hotels

[edit] See also

• Luxury resorts
• Canada's grand railway hotels

[edit] References