Aria Resort and Casino
Aria Resort and Casino is a luxury resort and casino, part of the CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Aria consists of two curved steel highrise towers adjoined at the center, it opened on December 16, 2009 as a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development. At 4,000,000 sq ft and 600 ft in height, it is the tallest structure at CityCenter; the resort's 61 and 51-story towers contain an American Automobile Association five diamond hotel with 4,004 guest rooms and suites, 16 restaurants, 10 bars and nightclubs, a casino with 150,000 sq ft of gaming space. It has a 215,000 sq ft pool area with 34 cabanas, an 80,000 sq ft salon and spa, a 300,000 sq ft convention center and a 1,800-seat theater which hosted Zarkana by Cirque du Soleil, until closing April 30, 2016. Among the most notable aspects of Aria is its incorporation of technology in the exterior and interior design of the hotel for the reduction of energy consumption, it is the largest hotel in the world to have earned LEED Gold certification.
On account of its smart rooms which automatically adjust curtains, turn off unused lights and electronics, regulate the temperature when a guest enters or leaves a room, Aria was described in Popular Mechanics as "the most technologically advanced hotel built". Aria was conceived by MGM Mirage as part of the broader CityCenter development project, announced on November 10, 2004; the architectural design of Aria was conducted by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, construction began in early 2006 on a plot of land located between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo. This site was occupied by the former Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, retail stores, a large parking lot, all of which were excavated beginning in April 2006. Following excavation, Aria's foundation was poured in June 2006. Vertical progression commenced in September 2007, at which point construction workers built upwards at a rate of one floor every seven days until reaching the final height of 61 floors. Amid ongoing construction in 2007, Infinity World Development, a subsidiary of Dubai World, invested about $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in the CityCenter project.
From this point on, Aria was jointly owned by MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development, with MGM responsible for operations and management. The economic downturn and its ripple effects – including litigation – threatened to halt construction of Aria at one point in early 2009, but an additional funding arrangement was made, allowing construction to continue on schedule; the resort opened on December 16, 2009, in the same month as several other CityCenter properties such as The Crystals, an attached retail shopping complex. The completed structure comprises two curvilinear glass towers. At the base of the connected high-rise towers is a casino and a three-story lobby that incorporates natural materials including foliage, glass and stone. Aria's design is described as not adhering to an overarching theme, in contrast to themed resorts prevalent on the Las Vegas Strip, it was named Aria due to its placement as the central feature of CityCenter, as arias are focal points in operas.
Artwork is incorporated throughout the interior of the building. The main entrance contains a lighted water feature called "Lumia" created by WET, which syncs water bursts to music. Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. created an 87 ft reclaimed silver sculpture of the Colorado River called Silver River, suspended behind Aria's hotel registration desk. A result of its design, Aria is the largest hotel in the world to have received LEED Gold certification. Aria contains 4,004 hotel rooms within its 4,000,000 sq ft; the suites make up 568 of the rooms, a portion are referred to as Sky Suites, a AAA-5 Diamond and a Forbes Five Star hotel. Sky Suites are categorized separately since they are accessed via a private entrance and elevator, include transportation between the hotel and airport in limousines fueled by compressed natural gas. At the time of its opening in 2009, Aria was the 9th-largest hotel in the world as measured by the total number of rooms. All rooms have a touch-screen automation system which automatically adjusts curtains, turns off unused lights and electronics, regulates the temperature when a guest enters or leaves the room.
Room dimensions begin at 520 sq ft. The standard suites range in size from 1,050 to 2,060 sq ft; the two top floors of the hotel consist of a separately designated room category entitled Sky Villas, which range from 2,000 to 7,000 sq ft in size. All rooms outside the Sky Suite are non-smoking. A three-story, 300,000 sq ft convention center includes four ballrooms, 38 meeting rooms and a three-story 400 ft long window overlooking the pool; as of 2009, the window was the largest glass-curtain wall of its type constructed in a public building. An additional 900,000 sq ft is allocated for back-of-house areas, a subterranean parking garage. In December 2015, Aria announced an expansion of its convention center with construction to begin in May 2016 and completed in February 2018; the only casino within the CityCenter complex is located at Aria. Its 150,000 sq ft of gaming space includes slots, table games, a race and sports book; the gaming machines are controlled and monitored by a 3,000 sq ft data center and are changed to play the most popular games based on real-time data collected about the performance of e
William R. Wilkerson
William Richard "Billy" Wilkerson was the founder of The Hollywood Reporter, a real estate developer in Las Vegas and owner of such nightclubs as Ciro's. Wilkerson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 29, 1890, he began to study medicine in Philadelphia, but when his father died leaving extensive gambling debts, Wilkerson quit school to support himself and his mother. He became a compulsive gambler himself, but quit when his son was born in October 1951. Wilkerson was in poor health throughout the latter half of the 1950s due to decades of excessive smoking, he continued to write his daily Tradeviews column until his death. Wilkerson died of a heart attack on September 2, 1962, at his Bel-Air home, one day before The Hollywood Reporter′s 32nd anniversary, he is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. Wilkerson was married six times, his wives were: Helen Durkin - around 1913 or 1914 - New York or Fort Lee, New Jersey - Durkin died in the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918. Edith Gwynn Goldenhorn - June 22, 1927 - Los Angeles, CA - August 7, 1935 - Cd.
Juárez, Mexico Rita Ann Seward - September 30, 1935 - Las Vegas - May 9, 1938 - Los Angeles, CA Estelle Jackson Brown - December 12, 1939 - Las Vegas, NV - August 13, 1942 - Reno, NV Vivian DuBois - May 9, 1946 - Las Vegas, NV - March 14, 1950 - Los Angeles, CA Beatrice Ruby Noble - February 23, 1951 - Phoenix, AZ - His death When a friend won a Fort Lee, New Jersey movie theater in a bet, Wilkerson agreed to manage it in exchange for half the profits. Expanding his work in the movie industry, he became district manager at Universal Pictures under Carl Laemmle. Wilkerson published the first issue of The Hollywood Reporter on September 3, 1930, he began each issue with a self-penned editorial entitled "Tradeviews", which proved influential. In 1946 he began a series of columns in The Hollywood Reporter, listing suspected Communist sympathizers, it was in these columns that he helped to initiate the "red scare" that led to the Hollywood blacklist. Wilkerson opened a series of social nightspots on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip.
Seeing opportunities in Las Vegas, he made key investments there as well. Restaurants and hotels that Wilkerson started: Vendome Wine & Spirits Co. Cafe Trocadero Sunset House The Arrowhead Springs Hotel Ciro's LaRue The Flamingo Hotel Wilkerson began development of the property but ran out of money and sold out to gangster Bugsy Siegel. L'Aiglon LaRue The Man Who Invented Las Vegas by W. R. Wilkerson III William Wilkerson at Find A Grave Early Vegas Vegas and the Mob
Casino
A casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry. Casinos are most built near or combined with hotels, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate over whether the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated; some casinos are known for hosting live entertainment events, such as stand-up comedy and sporting events. The term "casino" is a confusing linguistic false friend for translators. Casino is of Italian origin; the term casino may mean summerhouse, or social club. During the 19th century, the term casino came to include other public buildings where pleasurable activities took place. In modern-day Italian a casino is either a brothel, a mess, or a noisy environment, while a gaming house is spelt casinò, with an accent. Not all casinos were used for gaming; the Catalina Casino, a famous landmark overlooking Avalon Harbor on Santa Catalina Island, has never been used for traditional games of chance, which were outlawed in California by the time it was built.
The Copenhagen Casino was a theatre, known for the mass public meetings held in its hall during the 1848 Revolution, which made Denmark a constitutional monarchy. Until 1937, it was a well-known Danish theatre; the Hanko Casino in Hanko, Finland—one of that town's most conspicuous landmarks—was never used for gambling. Rather, it was a banquet hall for the Russian nobility which frequented this spa resort in the late 19th century and is now used as a restaurant. In military and non-military usage in German and Spanish, a casino or kasino is an officers' mess; the precise origin of gambling is unknown. It is believed that gambling in some form or another has been seen in every society in history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans to Napoleon's France and Elizabethan England, much of history is filled with stories of entertainment based on games of chance; the first known European gambling house, not called a casino although meeting the modern definition, was the Ridotto, established in Venice, Italy in 1638 by the Great Council of Venice to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season.
It was closed in 1774. In American history, early gambling establishments were known as saloons; the creation and importance of saloons was influenced by four major cities: New Orleans, St. Louis and San Francisco, it was in the saloons that travelers could find people to talk to, drink with, gamble with. During the early 20th century in America, gambling became outlawed and banned by state legislation and social reformers of the time. However, in 1931, gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada. America's first legalized casinos were set up in those places. In 1976 New Jersey allowed gambling in Atlantic City, now America's second largest gambling city. Most jurisdictions worldwide have a minimum gambling age. Customers gamble by playing games of chance, in some cases with an element of skill, such as craps, baccarat and video poker. Most games played have mathematically determined odds that ensure the house has at all times an overall advantage over the players; this can be expressed more by the notion of expected value, uniformly negative.
This advantage is called the house edge. In games such as poker where players play against each other, the house takes a commission called the rake. Casinos sometimes give out complimentary comps to gamblers. Payout is the percentage of funds returned to players. Casinos in the United States say that a player staking money won from the casino is playing with the house's money. Video Lottery Machines have become one of the most popular forms of gambling in casinos; as of 2011 investigative reports have started calling into question whether the modern-day slot-machine is addictive. Casino design—regarded as a psychological exercise—is an intricate process that involves optimising floor plan, décor and atmospherics to encourage gambling. Factors influencing gambling tendencies include sound and lighting. Natasha Dow Schüll, an anthropologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, highlights the decision of the audio directors at Silicon Gaming to make its slot machines resonate in "the universally pleasant tone of C, sampling existing casino soundscapes to create a sound that would please but not clash".
Dr Alan Hirsch, founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, studied the impact of certain scents on gamblers, discerning that a pleasant albeit unidentifiable odour released by Las Vegas slot machines generated about 50% more in daily revenue. He suggested. Casino designer Roger Thomas is credited with implementing a successful, disruptive design for the Las Vegas Wynn Resorts casinos in 2008, he broke casino design convention by introducing natural sunlight and flora to appeal to women. Thomas put in skylights and antique clocks, defying the commonplace notion that a casino should be a timeless space; the following li
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer undresses, either or in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is known as a "stripper" or exotic dancer. In Western countries, the venues where stripteases are performed on a regular basis are now called strip clubs, though they may be performed in venues such as pubs and music halls. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelorette party. In addition to providing adult entertainment, stripping can be a form of sexual play between partners; this can be done as an impromptu event or – for a special occasion – with elaborate planning involving fantasy wear, special lighting, practiced dance moves, or unrehearsed dance moves. Striptease involves a sensuous undressing; the stripper may prolong the undressing with delaying tactics such as the wearing of additional clothes or putting clothes or hands in front of just undressed body parts such as the breasts or genitalia. The emphasis is on the act of undressing along with sexually suggestive movement, rather than the state of being undressed.
In the past, the performance finished as soon as the undressing was finished, though today's strippers continue dancing in the nude. The costume the stripper wears before disrobing can form part of the act. In some cases, audience interaction can form part of the act, with audience urging the stripper to remove more clothing, or the stripper approaching the audience to interact with them. Striptease and public nudity have been subject to legal and cultural prohibitions and other aesthetic considerations and taboos. Restrictions on venues may be through venue licensing requirements and constraints and a wide variety of national and local laws; these laws vary around the world, between different parts of the same country. H. L. Mencken is credited with coining the word ecdysiast – from "ecdysis", meaning "to molt" – in response to a request from striptease artist Georgia Sothern, for a "more dignified" way to refer to her profession. Gypsy Rose Lee, one of the most famous striptease artists of all time, approved of the term.
The origins of striptease as a performance art are disputed and various dates and occasions have been given from ancient Babylonia to 20th century America. The term "striptease" was first recorded in 1932, though "stripping", in the sense of women removing clothing to sexually excite men, seems to go back to at least the late 19th century. There is a stripping aspect in the ancient Sumerian myth of the descent of the goddess Inanna into the Underworld. At each of the seven gates, she removed a piece of jewelry; as long as she remained in hell, the earth was barren. When she returned, fecundity abounded; some believe this myth was embodied in the dance of the seven veils of Salome, who danced for King Herod, as mentioned in the New Testament in Matthew 14:6 and Mark 6:21-22. However, although the Bible records Salome's dance, the first mention of her removing seven veils occurs in Oscar Wilde's play of'Salome', in 1893. In ancient Greece, the lawgiver Solon established several classes of prostitutes in the late 6th century BC.
Among these classes of prostitutes were the auletrides: female dancers and musicians, noted for dancing naked in an alluring fashion in front of audiences of men. In ancient Rome, dance featuring stripping was part of the entertainments at the Floralia, an April festival in honor of the goddess Flora. Empress Theodora, wife of 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian is reported by several ancient sources to have started in life as a courtesan and actress who performed in acts inspired from mythological themes and in which she disrobed "as far as the laws of the day allowed", she was famous for her striptease performance of "Leda and the Swan". From these accounts, it appears that the practice was new, it was, however opposed by the Christian Church, which succeeded in obtaining statutes banning it in the following century. The degree to which these statutes were subsequently enforced is, of course. What is certain is that no practice of the sort is reported in texts of the European Middle Ages.
An early version of strip-tease became popular in England at the time of the Restoration. A strip tease was incorporated into the Restoration comedy The Rover, written by Aphra Behn in 1677; the stripper is a man. The concept of strip-tease was widely known, as can be seen in the reference to it in Thomas Otway's comedy The Soldier's Fortune, where a character says: "Be sure they be lewd, stripping whores". Strip-tease became standard fare in the brothels of 18th century London, where the women, called'posture girls', would strip naked on tables for popular entertainment. Strip-tease was combined with music, as in the 1720 German translation of the French La Guerre D'Espagne, where a galant party of high aristocrats and opera singers has resorted to a small château where they entertain themselves with hunting and music in a three-day turn: The dancers, to please their lovers the more, dropped their clothes and danced naked the nicest entrées and ballets. An Arabic custom, first noted by French colonialists and described by the French novelist Gustave Flaubert may have influenced the French stri
Bellagio (resort)
Bellagio is a resort, luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino. Inspired by the Lake Como town of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is an 8-acre lake between the building and the Strip, which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, a large dancing water fountain synchronized to music. Inside Bellagio, Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 sq ft of the lobby ceiling. Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleil's aquatic production "O"; the main tower of Bellagio, with 3,015 rooms, has 36 floors and a height of 508 ft. The Spa Tower, which opened on December 23, 2004, stands to the south of the main tower, has 33 floors, a height of 392 ft and contains 935 rooms. Bellagio was conceived by Steve Wynn, Atlandia Design managed the design and furnishing of the facility, following the purchase and demolition of the legendary Dunes hotel and casino in October 27, 1993 after the grand opening of Luxor Las Vegas.
Bellagio's design architect was DeRuyter Butler, Peter Smith was the project executive. Construction on the Bellagio began in May 1996. Bellagio had an original design and construction cost of US$1.6 billion. The interior design on the Bellagio was designed by Architectural Digest 100 four-time winner Roger Thomas. Roger Thomas is the executive vice president of design for Wynn Design & Development, principal of the Roger Thomas Collection. Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998, just before 11 pm, in a ceremony, reported to cost US$88 million; the VIPs invited to the grand opening were expected to donate to The Foundation Fighting Blindness US$1,000 a person or US$3,500 a couple, which entitled them to an overnight stay at Bellagio's suite rooms. Opening night's entertainment began with Steve Wynn giving a 40-minute welcome speech followed by the opening of the Cirque du Soleil production O. Performing in Bellagio lounges that night were New York cabaret and recording artist Michael Feinstein, George Bugatti, John Pizarrelli.
When it opened, it was the most expensive hotel built. In 2000 it became an MGM Mirage property when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. to create MGM Mirage. In 2010, the company was renamed MGM Resorts International in a move to go worldwide with its brands. Bellagio employs 8,000 people. In the Autumn of 2006, the casino floor was remodeled and new uniforms were issued, changing the original color scheme to a more subdued beige theme. On December 15, 2010, a helmet-wearing gunman robbed the casino of $1.5 million in chips. In August 2011, he was sentenced to a prison term of 9–27 years. In the early morning hours of March 25, 2017, the Rolex jewelry store was robbed by men in pig masks. On April 13, 2017, part of the roof caught fire. Many professional poker players prefer to play at the Bellagio poker room, calling it their home base due to the high table limits, including the high-stakes Big Game located in "Bobby's Room", named after Bobby Baldwin; the stakes at the Big Game can range up to $4,000/$8,000, are frequented by such poker pros as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman.
It is reported. Bellagio has partnered with the World Poker Tour to host several of their tournaments. There are 14 restaurants inside Bellagio as well as private dining, in-room dining, poolside dining options: Lago by Julian Serrano Harvest by Roy Ellamar Spago Fix Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant Prime Steakhouse Le Cirque Picasso Michael Mina The Buffet Jasmine Cafe Bellagio Noodles Bellagio Patisserie - home of the world's tallest chocolate fountain Sadelle's The Fountains of Bellagio is a vast, choreographed water feature with performances set to light and music; the performances take place in front of the Bellagio hotel and are visible from numerous vantage points on the Strip, both from the street and neighboring structures. The show takes place every 30 minutes in the afternoons and early evenings, every 15 minutes from 8 pm to midnight. Two minutes before a water show starts, the nozzles begin to break the water surface and the lights illuminating the hotel tower turn to a purple hue, or red-white-and-blue for certain music.
Shows may be cancelled without warning because of high wind, although shows run with less power in face of wind. A single show may be skipped to avoid interference with a planned event. Additional shows can occur for special occasions including weddings; the fountain display is choreographed to various pieces of music, including “The Star Spangled Banner” by Witney Houston as the first show of the day, "Time To Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli, "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood, "Your Song" by Elton John, "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis Presley, "Luck Be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra, "My Heart Will Go On" by Céline Dion, A 3 song medley by Tiesto and "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed. The fountains are set in a 8-acre manmade lake. Contrary to urban myth, the lake is not filled with treated greywater from the hotel; the lake is serviced by a freshwater well, drilled decades prior to irrigate a golf course that existed on the site. The fountains use less water than irrigating the golf course did, they incorporate a network of pipes with more than 1,200 nozzles that make it possible to stage fountain displays coordinated with more than 4,500 lights.
It is estimated. The fountains were created by WET, a design firm specializing
Winchester, Nevada
Winchester is an unincorporated town and census-designated place and part of Las Vegas Township in Clark County, United States that contains part of the Las Vegas Strip. It is one of a number of CDPs in the unincorporated urbanized area directly south of Las Vegas; the population was 27,978 at the 2010 census. It is governed by the Clark County Commission with advice from the Winchester Town Advisory Board. "Winchester, NV" does not appear in postal addresses. Founded as Paradise A in April 1951, the town was renamed Winchester in 1953. Winchester sits in the east-central part of the Las Vegas Valley. To the north it borders Las Vegas, to the west and south is the CDP of Paradise, to the east is Sunrise Manor. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.3 square miles, all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 26,958 people, 11,986 households, 6,052 families residing in the CDP; the population density was 6,253.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 13,535 housing units at an average density of 3,139.6 inhabitants per square mile.
The racial makeup of the CDP was 71.83% White, 7.03% African American, 0.87% Native American, 5.36% Asian, 0.44% Pacific Islander, 9.66% from other races, 4.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29.01% of the population. There were 11,986 households out of which 20.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.3% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 49.5% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 3.01. In the CDP, the population was spread out with 19.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,251, the median income for a family was $39,451.
Males had a median income of $27,886 versus $22,453 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $20,615. About 11.4% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over. Winchester Town Advisory Board Homepage
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refrigerator and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a flat screen television, en-suite bathrooms. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, business centre, childcare and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, restaurants, day spa, social function services. Hotel rooms are numbered to allow guests to identify their room; some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part of a board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all guests within certain stated hours. In Japan, capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities.
The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travelers. Inns began to cater to richer clients in the mid-18th century. One of the first hotels in a modern sense was opened in Exeter in 1768. Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the early 19th century, luxury hotels began to spring up in the part of the 19th century. Hotel operations vary in size, function and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set industry standards to classify hotel types. An upscale full-service hotel facility offers luxury amenities, full service accommodations, an on-site restaurant, the highest level of personalized service, such as a concierge, room service, clothes pressing staff. Full service hotels contain upscale full-service facilities with a large number of full service accommodations, an on-site full service restaurant, a variety of on-site amenities.
Boutique hotels are smaller independent, non-branded hotels that contain upscale facilities. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments offer a limited amount of on-site amenities. Economy hotels are small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer basic accommodations with little to no services. Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer longer-term full service accommodations compared to a traditional hotel. Timeshare and destination clubs are a form of property ownership involving ownership of an individual unit of accommodation for seasonal usage. A motel is a small-sized low-rise lodging with direct access to individual rooms from the car park. Boutique hotels are hotels with a unique environment or intimate setting. A number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, such as the Ritz Hotel in London; some hotels are built as a destination in itself, for example at casinos and holiday resorts. Most hotel establishments are run by a General Manager who serves as the head executive, department heads who oversee various departments within a hotel, middle managers, administrative staff, line-level supervisors.
The organizational chart and volume of job positions and hierarchy varies by hotel size and class, is determined by hotel ownership and managing companies. The word hotel is derived from the French hôtel, which referred to a French version of a building seeing frequent visitors, providing care, rather than a place offering accommodation. In contemporary French usage, hôtel now has the same meaning as the English term, hôtel particulier is used for the old meaning, as well as "hôtel" in some place names such as Hôtel-Dieu, a hospital since the Middle Ages; the French spelling, with the circumflex, was used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the's' found in the earlier hostel spelling, which over time took on a new, but related meaning. Grammatically, hotels take the definite article – hence "The Astoria Hotel" or "The Astoria." Facilities offering hospitality to travellers have been a feature of the earliest civilizations. In Greco-Roman culture and ancient Persia, hospitals for recuperation and rest were built at thermal baths.
Japan's Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, founded in 705, was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the oldest hotel in the world. During the Middle Ages, various religious orders at monasteries and abbeys would offer accommodation for travellers on the road; the precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe dating back to the rule of Ancient Rome. These would provide for the needs of travellers, including food and lodging and fodder for the traveller's horse and fresh horses for the mail coach. Famous London examples of inns include the Tabard. A typical layout of an inn had an inner court with bedrooms on the two sides, with the kitchen and parlour at the front and the stables at the back. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travellers. Coaching inns stabled teams of horses for stagecoaches and mail coaches and replaced tired teams with fresh teams. Traditionally they were seven miles apart, but this depended much on the terrain.
Some English towns had as many as ten such inns and rivalry between them was intense, not only for the income from the stagecoach operators but for the revenu
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