Editing Motel (section)

==International variations==
[[File:Thirroul Beach Motel.jpg|thumb|A motel in [[Thirroul, New South Wales]], Australia]]
The early motels were built in the southwestern United States as a replacement for the tourist camps and tourist cabins which had grown around the U.S. highway system. In Australia and New Zealand, motels have followed largely the same path of development as in Canada and the United States. The first Australian motels include the West End Motel in [[Ballina, New South Wales]] (1937) and the Penzance Motel in [[Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania|Eagle Hawk, Tasmania]] (1939).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.builtheritage.com.au/downloads/motel1.pdf | title=Australia's first motels| publisher=Mo (Vol 10 No 2) | author=Simon Reeves }}</ref>

Motels gained international popularity in countries such as Thailand, Germany, and Japan but in some countries the term "motel" now connotes either a low-end hotel (such as [[Hotel Formule 1]] in Europe) or a no-tell motel.

===Canada===
[[File:10536 01 RB.jpg|thumb|right|The Mid-Trail Motel & Inn in [[Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia]], Canada, 2010]]
As in the U.S., the initial 1930s roadside accommodations were primitive tourist camps, with over a hundred campgrounds listed in Ontario alone on one 1930 provincial road map.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ontarioroadmaps.ca/index.php/official-ontario-maps/official-ontario-road-maps/29-official-ontario-road-maps/official-ontario-road-map/16-1930-1931-official-road-map-of-ontario | title=Official Government Road Map of Ontario | publisher=Ontario Department of Public Highways, Queen's Park, Toronto | year=1930 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609113202/http://www.ontarioroadmaps.ca/index.php/official-ontario-maps/official-ontario-road-maps/29-official-ontario-road-maps/official-ontario-road-map/16-1930-1931-official-road-map-of-ontario | archive-date=June 9, 2013 }}</ref> While most of these provided access to the most basic of amenities (like picnic tables, playgrounds, toilet facilities and supplies), fewer than a quarter offered cottages in the pre-Depression era, and the vast majority required travelers bring their own [[tent]]s. In Canada's climate, these sites were effectively unusable outside the high season.

Because cabins and camps were ill-suited to a Canadian winter, the number and variety of motels grew dramatically after World War II, peaking just before freeways such as [[Ontario Highway 401]] opened in the 1960s. Due to Canada's climate and short tourist season, which begins at [[Victoria Day]] and continued until [[Labour Day]] or [[Thanksgiving (Canada)|Thanksgiving]], any outdoor swimming pool would be usable for little more than two months of the year and independent motels would operate at a loss or close during the off-season.

By the 1980s, motels were losing ground rapidly to franchises such as [[Journey's End Corporation]] and the U.S.-based chains. The section of [[Ontario Highway 7|Highway 7]] between Modeland Road and Airport Road, known as the "Golden Mile" for its plethora of motels and restaurants was bypassed once [[Ontario Highway 402|Highway 402]] was completed in 1982, however the Golden Mile still retains points of interest such as the [[Sarnia Airport]] and Hiawatha Racetrack and Waterpark.<ref name="sarnia.ca"/>

Much of Canada's population is crowded into a few small southern regions. While the Windsor-Québec corridor was bypassed by motorways relatively early, in more sparsely populated regions (including much of [[Northern Ontario]]) thousands of kilometers of mostly two-lane [[Trans-Canada Highway]] remain undisturbed as the road makes its lengthy journey westward through tiny, distant and isolated communities.

===Europe===
[[File:Motelli Kotipesä 2016-05-24.jpg|thumb|Motel Kotipesä in [[Vimpeli]], [[Finland]]]]
The original concept of a motel as a motorist's hotel which grew up around the highways of the 1920s is of American origin. The term appears to have initially had the same meaning in other countries but has since been used in many places to refer either to a budget-priced hotel with limited amenities or a [[love hotel]], depending on the country and language. The division between motel and hotel, like elsewhere, has been blurred, so many of these are low-end hotels.

In France, motel-style chain accommodations of up to three stories (with exterior hallways and stairwells) usually reach the "one-star" rank in France's [[Atout France|national tourism agency]] classification of tourist hotels. The [[Louvre Hôtels]] chain operates Première Classe (1 star) as a [[market segmentation]] brand in this range, using other ''marques'' for higher or mid-range hotels. The use of "motel" to identify any budget-priced roadhouse hotel (''Rasthaus'', ''Raststätte'') also exists in the German language; some French chains operating in Germany (such as [[Accor]]'s [[Hotel Formule 1]]) offer automated registration and small, Spartan rooms at reduced cost.

In Portuguese, "motel" (plural: "motéis") commonly refers not to the original drive-up accommodation house for motorists but to an "adult motel" or love hotel with amenities such as whirlpool baths, in-room pornography, candles and oversize or non-standard-shaped beds in various honeymoon-suite styles. These rooms are available for as little as four hours, and minors are excluded from these establishments.<ref group="Note">"Motéis de Portugal" ("Motels of Portugal", www.moteisdeportugal.com) is a listing of what elsewhere would be classed as adult motels; see also "[[:pt:Motel|Motel]]" (in Portuguese) in that language's Wikipedia.</ref> (The Portuguese-language term "rotel" had brief usage in 1970s [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil for a similar concept, ro- for rooms through which clients rotate in a matter of hours instead of overnight.)

A similar association of "motel" to short-stay hotels with reserved parking and luxury rooms which can be rented by couples for a few hours has begun to appear in Italy, where the market segment has shown significant growth since the 1990s and become highly competitive.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.repubblica.it/2009/08/sezioni/cronaca/alberghi-a-ore/alberghi-a-ore/alberghi-a-ore.html | title=Privacy e comfort, così torna l'albergo a ore (Privacy and comfort, back to the hotel by the hour)| newspaper=[[la Repubblica]], Rome | author=Jenner Meletti | language=it | date=August 21, 2009 }}</ref>

===Latin America===
In Latin America, a "motel" (in Mexico, "Motel de paso") is an establishment often associated with extramarital encounters and rented typically for a few hours (15 minutes to 12 hours). In Ecuador, any establishment with the title "Motel" is related to extramarital encounters; in Argentina and Peru these hotels for couples are called "telo" (from "hotel") and offered for anything from a few hours to overnight, with décor based on amenities such as dim lights, a whirlpool and a king-size bed.

In the Dominican Republic, "cabins" (named for their cabin-like shape) have all these amenities (such as a whirlpool bath, oversize bed and HDTV) but generally do not have windows, and have private parking for each room individually. Registration is handled not in a conventional manner but, upon entering the room, by delivering a bill with the registration through a small window that does not allow eye contact to ensure greater discretion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.motelesRD.com |title=Moteles RD |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908030048/http://www.motelesrd.com/ |archive-date=September 8, 2012 |quote=A directory of motels from the Dominican Republic; these appear to be mostly love hotels |access-date=August 21, 2018 |publisher=Marketeam.com.do |url-status=live }}</ref>

The connotations of "motel" as adult motel or love hotel in both the Spanish and Portuguese languages can be awkward for U.S.-based chains accustomed to using the term in its original meaning,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2003-12-02-motels_x.htm |title=Old-style motels fading out |author-link=The Associated Press |author=AP |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=December 3, 2003 |access-date=August 21, 2018 |location=New Orleans |publisher=[[Gannett Co. Inc.]]}}</ref> although this issue is diminishing as chains (such as Super 8 Motels) increasingly drop the word "motel" from their corporate identities at home.