HOTEL INDUSTRY – HISTORY, GLOSSARY, FUNCTIONS OF FRONT & BACK OFFICE

Introduction to Hospitality Industry: An overview

From antiquity to the Middle Ages:

The history of hotels is intimately connected to that of civilizations. Or rather, it is a part of that history. Facilities offering guests hospitality have been in evidence since early biblical times. The Greeks developed thermal baths in villages designed for rest and recuperation. Later, the Romans built mansions to provide accommodation for travelers on government business. The Romans were the first to develop thermal baths in England, Switzerland and the Middle East.

Later still, caravanserais appeared, providing a resting place for caravans along Middle Eastern routes. In the middle Ages, monasteries and abbeys were the first establishments to offer refuge to travelers on a regular basis. Religious orders built inns, hospices and hospitals to cater for those on the move.

Inns multiplied, but they did not yet offer meals. Staging posts were established for governmental transports and as rest stops. They provided shelter and allowed horses to be changed more easily. Numerous refuges then sprang up for pilgrims and crusaders on their way to the Holy Land.

Traveling then became progressively more hazardous. At the same time, inns gradually appeared in most of Europe. Some of them have remained famous and very well known around the globe.

Around 1200, staging posts for travelers and stations for couriers were set up in China and Mongolia.

The start of the hotel industry:

In France, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, the law required that hotels keep a register. English law also introduced rules for inns at that time. At the same time, around 1500 thermal spas were developed at Carlsbad and Mariebad.

During this epoch, more than 600 inns were registered in England. Their architecture often consisted of a paved interior court with access through an arched porch. The bedrooms were situated on the two sides of the courtyard, the kitchen and the public rooms at the front, and the stables and storehouses at the back. The first guide books for travelers were published in France during this period.

An embryonic hotel industry began to develop in Europe. Distinctive signs were hung outside establishments renowned for their refined cuisine. At the end of the 1600s, the first stage coaches following a regular timetable started operating in England. Half a century later, clubs similar to English gentlemen's clubs and masonic lodges began to appear in America.