A motel is a hotel designed for motorists, to an open parking area.

Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, a portmanteau of motor and hotel or motorists' hotel, referred initially to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot and, in some circumstances, a common area; or a series of small cabins with common parking. As the United States highway system began to develop in the 1920s, long distance road journeys became more and the need for inexpensive, easily accessible overnight accommodation sited close to the main routes, led to the growth of the motel concept.