The term motel is a combination of ‘motor’ and ‘hotel.’ Motels first appeared in the United States along highways, providing lodging for long-distance drivers. As automobiles became widely available through mass production in the 1920s, the US began building a highway system, and motels started to appear along these highways.
Unlike urban hotels, where guests access rooms through a lobby, motel rooms have direct access from outdoor parking areas. This direct access necessitated that motels were mostly built as low-rise buildings with fewer rooms compared to urban hotels. They were typically located near highway-side restaurants, gas stations, and other facilities, offering minimal amenities and lower room rates. Some motels featured kitchens in their rooms, which resulted in relatively higher prices.
The rapid increase in motels along the expansive highway network also provided a foundation for the creation of hotel brands. Best Western emerged as a shared marketing platform for motels, and Holiday Inn quickly grew as a motel franchise brand. Today, most global hotel brands own mid-to-low-priced motel brands, predominantly operating under a franchise structure.
In Korea, newly built yeogwans with dedicated parking started using the term ‘motel’ in their names in the 1980s, thereby referring to yeogwans with modern facilities. These yeogwans, rebranded as motels, began to replace outdated lodging establishments and saw a rapid increase in supply. Although the number of motels has been declining steadily since the 2000s, general lodgings, which include yeogwans, still represent the largest proportion of lodging establishments in the country.
