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The history of hotels and accommodation for travellers can be traced back to ancient times when people such as the Romans and Greeks would have buildings made to ensure that travelling officials had a place to stay when on business. Additionally, accommodation was a requirement of Romans who had a desire to travel to places such as Aqua Sulis - modern city of Bath in the UK, to take treatments in what they regarded as healing waters of the area. Thus, this demand lead to the building of accommodation which can be regarded as early hotels.

Much later and into the 15th Century, travellers in the UK would of course have to travel by horse which to travel any sort of distance would take many days and journeys would have to be separated into shorter distances with overnight stops along the way. Accommodation was a requirement of these horse back or horse and coach travellers and so coaching inns sprung up around the British Isles and beyond to cater for these travellers. These coaching inns served as early hotels, offering somewhere to stable the horses overnight along with a bedroom, an opportunity for a meal and a drink for the weary traveller. These coaching inns were a necessity, rarely if ever were they used for purely pleasurable stays, journeys would have been made out of necessity.

Later in Georgian times and into the Victorian age in Britain, it became fashionable to travel from the cities and towns to the coast such as Brighton. The advent of the steam locomotive meant travel was speedier and convenient, and as such the gentry would travel further a field for leisure purposes to take in the sea air, dip in invigorating waters, enjoy the coast line and countryside. As such, accommodation whilst staying in places such as Brighton could not all be enjoyed as the Prince Regent did at the Royal Pavilion, instead hotels were required for the noble gentry. Along the seafront and just beyond the Royal Pavilion in Brighton the rows of hotels can be seen and many date from the Georgian era. These hotels command prime locations in Brighton, and many seaside resorts like them, where travellers will want to come and stay to enjoy the sea views.

The modern day father of hotels could be regarded as Conrad Hilton. He had the first tower hotel built in Dallas, US in 1925. Hilton are synonymous with hotel vacations and are a Worldwide brand. Other well known hotel brands are Marriott, Hyatt, Holiday Inn and Best Western. What branding does in the hotel world is provide the potential visitor some comfort in the knowledge of the type of standard they can expect at the hotel. Additionally, the clever idea of loyalty points, means that customers will book pleasure and business trips to certain hotels only with these big hotel brand names knowing they are building up loyalty points to be rewarded with free overnight stays, or discounts on meals and the like.

Nowadays staying in hotels has become as much of the holiday as the destination itself. For example, Ice Hotels in Iceland draw visitors to want to stay at the hotel, and the fact that it is in Iceland it could be argued as neither here nor there. The first underwater hotel is being built in Dubai, and whilst Dubai is a tourist destination in its own right this hotel will be another draw to the United Emirates region. Holiday makers who might only have flown via Dubai airport to get to India for example might now consider staying in Dubai with the vast array of modern and magnificent hotels that are situated there, and now more recently the underwater hotel.

Las Vegas is a prime example of why travellers will travel to a region to visit particular hotels. Whilst the casinos are clearly an attraction, the hotels are big, brash and an attraction in their own right. The Venice hotel for example has its very own Italian waterway with gondolas included. Another Las Vegas hotel has its own roller coaster inside the hotel !