For 14 years I sat on the other side of hotel bookings, as a hotel account manager at lastminute.com, negotiating with resorts, city hotels and small boutique properties across Spain. At the same time I was booking holidays for a family of four. So when people ask about hotel vs resort, or what a boutique hotel actually is compared with a luxury hotel, I have two answers: what the label means to the hotel, and what it means when you arrive with two tired kids.
Here’s both, with the places we’ve actually stayed.
One of each, all stayed in by us
Alua Calas de Mallorca Resort – all-inclusive on Mallorca’s east coast, four outdoor pools (two for children), an indoor pool and a kids’ club.
Room Mate Collection Helen Berger, Valencia – 34 rooms in the old town. Small rooms, no parking, a very comfortable bed.
The Biltmore Los Angeles – the 1923 landmark on Pershing Square. Seven nights with two kids, and the Metro across the road.
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Quick answer
- A resort is a hotel where the holiday happens inside the property: pools, restaurants, entertainment, often all-inclusive. Best with young kids.
- A hotel is a place to sleep while the holiday happens outside it. Best for city breaks and road trips.
- A boutique hotel is small and design-led. “Boutique” has no official definition: it’s the hotel’s own marketing word. Expect smaller rooms and no kids’ facilities.
- A luxury hotel is about service and setting, usually 4 or 5 stars. “Luxury” isn’t an official category either; stars are.
Hotel vs resort vs boutique vs luxury at a glance
| Resort | Hotel | Boutique hotel | Luxury hotel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Large, often hundreds of rooms | Any size | Small (Helen Berger in Valencia has 34 rooms) | Any size |
| Where the holiday happens | Inside the property | Outside it | Outside it | Both |
| Rooms for four | Common: family rooms, suites | Sometimes | Rare | Usually, at a price |
| Breakfast | Buffet, often all-inclusive | Usually buffet | Often à la carte | Buffet or à la carte |
| Kids’ club, kids’ pool | Usually | Rarely | Almost never | Sometimes |
| Best for | Toddlers to age 10, beach weeks | City breaks, road trips | Couples, solo trips, a family of three with older kids | Special occasions, or when a good offer appears |
What is the difference between a hotel and a resort?
The difference between a hotel and a resort is where you spend the day. A resort is built so you don’t need to leave: several pools, a few restaurants, a kids’ club, evening shows, often a beach or golf course next door. A hotel gives you a room and a breakfast and expects you to go out.
Neither word is regulated in Spain. Hotels are classified by stars, and the stars are set by each regional government; a “resort” is simply a hotel that markets itself as one. So read the facilities list, not the name.
The best resort stay we’ve had with the kids was Alua Calas de Mallorca (then Sol Calas de Mallorca, by Meliá), four days in October 2019 when Damian was 6 and Marc was 3. Family room on the 9th floor, all-inclusive, four outdoor pools with two for children, an indoor pool, and shows every evening. We barely left. That’s the point of a resort, and also its limit: the village around it was quiet, and without a car we saw very little of Mallorca.
Disclosure: we paid for that stay, at a discounted rate through a Meliá contact from my hotel-industry work. It was not sponsored.
I’ve also stayed at two resorts on work trips: Grand Palladium Palace Ibiza and Royalton Splash Cancún, which has a water park inside the resort. Both were excellent, and both would keep kids busy for a week without a single excursion.
What is a boutique hotel?
A boutique hotel is a small, independently styled hotel where the design and the personal service are the selling point. There’s no official boutique category with rules attached, the way there is for stars. Any hotel can call itself boutique, so the word tells you about the style, not the standard.
The one I know best is Room Mate Collection Helen Berger in Valencia’s old town, where I stayed on a work trip. Thirty-four rooms. Doubles are 16 m², the triple with a balcony is 28 m², and the only rooms that take four people are the two 45 m² penthouses. No parking of its own. Quiet, central, and one of the most comfortable beds I’ve had on a work trip. Perfect for me with a laptop. With two boys and a car, it would have been the wrong hotel.
What I saw from the other side: how boutique hotels work with booking sites
When I managed hotel portfolios, the small boutique properties behaved differently from the resorts, and the differences matter when you book with kids:
- Smaller allotments. Hotels release a set number of rooms to each booking site. A boutique hotel has few rooms to begin with, so it gives each site only a handful. They go fast, and the family rooms, if there are any, go first.
- Smaller rooms. Boutique hotels usually sit in converted city buildings, and the rooms are sized by the building, not by a family’s needs. Always check the m².
- No kids’ facilities. No kids’ club, no children’s pool, rarely a play area. That isn’t a flaw; it’s who they’re built for.
- Breakfast is usually à la carte. Instead of a buffet, you order from a menu. Lovely for two adults. With a toddler who wants to see the food before choosing it, a buffet is easier.
Luxury hotel vs boutique hotel: what’s the difference?
The difference between a luxury hotel and a boutique hotel is scale and service. A boutique hotel is small and design-led, at any price. A luxury hotel is about the level of service, the setting and the facilities, usually at 4 or 5 stars, and it can have 30 rooms or 600. A hotel can be both: small, beautifully designed and five-star.
“Luxury” has no official definition either. The star rating is the only regulated part, and it measures facilities, not how a stay feels.
Our luxury stay with the kids was The Biltmore in Los Angeles: seven nights in July 2024 in a 1923 landmark on Pershing Square, with the Metro across the road. We paid €124.41 a night, but that was a travel-trade rate plus a 50% hotel promotion, not a price you’ll be offered. The lesson still holds: a luxury hotel isn’t automatically out of reach. Look for its own promotions before you rule it out.
Luxury hotel vs luxury resort
A luxury hotel is usually in a city and gives you service and a base. A luxury resort gives you the whole holiday on site, at a higher level: better restaurants, quieter pools, a spa. With kids, a luxury resort is the one that pays back its price, because you use what you’re paying for every day. A luxury city hotel you mostly use at night.
Which type of stay is best for families?
- Babies and toddlers: a resort. Buffet breakfast, kids’ pool, a room you can get back to for naps without a taxi.
- Ages 4 to 10: a resort for a beach week, a city hotel with a family room for a city break.
- Teens: anything works. This is the age when a boutique hotel becomes fun instead of stressful.
- A family of three: a boutique hotel can work, because many have a triple room.
- A family of four: check before you fall for a boutique hotel. Rooms for four are rare, and two rooms double the price.
If none of the four fits, an aparthotel gives you a kitchen and separate bedrooms, like our stay at Costa Encantada in Lloret de Mar.
Five questions to ask before you book any of them
- How big is the room, in m², and how many people can sleep in it? “Family room” means different things at every hotel.
- Is breakfast a buffet or à la carte, and is it included? See our guide to hotel meal plans (BB, HB, FB, AI).
- Is there anything for kids? Pool, club, games room, or nothing at all.
- Is there parking, and what does it cost? City-centre boutique hotels often have none.
- Is there a tourist tax on top? Usually yes in Europe. Here are the tourist tax rates for 20 cities.
Ready to compare? Check prices for Alua Calas de Mallorca → or browse our honest hotel reviews.
Hotel vs resort: FAQ
What is the difference between a hotel and a resort?
A resort is built so you spend the holiday inside it, with several pools, restaurants and entertainment, often all-inclusive. A hotel is a place to sleep while you spend the day outside.
What is the difference between a luxury hotel and a boutique hotel?
A boutique hotel is small and design-led, at any price. A luxury hotel is defined by service, setting and facilities, usually at 4 or 5 stars, and can be any size. Some hotels are both.
Is “boutique hotel” an official category?
No. Any hotel can call itself boutique. Star ratings are the official classification, and in Spain they are set by each regional government.
Are boutique hotels good for families?
For a family of three with older kids, often yes. For younger kids or a family of four, usually not: rooms are small, rooms for four are rare, and there are no kids’ facilities.
Is a resort or a hotel better with young kids?
A resort. Kids’ pools, a kids’ club, a buffet and a room close by for naps make the days easier with children under 10.
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