Mandarin Monday: Defining the Different Chinese Words for Hotel

In Mandarin 酒店 jiǔdiàn, 饭店 fàndiàn, 宾馆 bīnguǎn, 旅馆, lǚguǎn can all be translated as “hotel” in English but what’s the real difference between these four words? 

Well, as can often be the case with Chinese, the answer isn’t entirely straight forward, with some words having different meanings depending on region, having a different historical meaning or sometimes just coming down to a someone’s personal associations. However, there are some general key differences between the words, so let’s have a look at what they are. 

Nowadays, jiudian is one of the most commonly used words for hotel. Generally jiudian can be seen as what you would think as a “modern” hotel, with multiple facilities such as restaurants and bars etc. Jiudian also usually refers to more high-end hotels, and most 4/5 star hotels will normally use this name. Sometimes the word 大 dà (big) will also be added to the name of more upscale hotels to emphasize they’re more luxurious than an average hotel, for example Beijing’s China World Summit Wing Hotel is called 北京国贸大酒店 Běijīng guómào dà jiǔdiàn in Chinese. 

In China today fandian normally refers to a restaurant rather than a hotel. Although in the past it was more commonly used for hotels, and there are still some hotels in Beijing that use this name such as Beijing Hotel Nuo 北京饭店诺金 Běijīng fàndiàn nuò jīn. These hotels tend to be historic hotels, with Beijing Hotel Nuo having been established way back in 1917. Whereas the majority of hotels now opt to use jiudian instead to avoid confusion.