Hotel terminology: 120+ hospitality terms and acronyms

Published April 3, 2025Updated October 9, 2026by Veronica

If you've ever sat in a revenue meeting and nodded along while someone rattled off ADR, GOPPAR, and MLOS in the same sentence, this guide is for you. Hospitality runs on abbreviations and its own jargon. Knowing them cold makes you faster in meetings, sharper with your team, and more credible with OTAs, GDS partners, and ownership groups alike.

Below is a glossary of 120+ hotel terms, acronyms, and room codes, organized by department, so you can find exactly what you need.

Technology & systems

The software stack behind modern hotel operations.

PMS (Property Management System): The central nervous system of a hotel. Manages reservations, check-in/check-out, room assignments, billing, and reporting. Examples include Opera, Mews, and Cloudbeds. See what to look for when switching your PMS.
CM (Channel Manager): Syncs your room availability and rates across all distribution channels in real time, preventing overbooking. Our beginner's guide to channel management explains how it works.
BE (Booking Engine): The direct-booking widget on your own website. A good Booking Engine reduces OTA dependency and commission costs.
CRS (Central Reservation System): Manages room inventory and rate distribution across all channels from a single hub. Often integrated with the PMS.
RMS (Revenue Management System): Uses demand data and algorithms to recommend optimal pricing. Helps you stop leaving money on the table during high-demand periods.
GDS (Global Distribution System): Networks like Sabre, Amadeus, and Galileo that connect hotels to travel agents worldwide. Essential for corporate and group travel segments.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Manages guest profiles, communication history, and loyalty data. Drives personalization and repeat bookings.
CDP (Customer Data Platform): Consolidates guest data from multiple sources into a single profile, enabling more targeted marketing than a standard CRM.
POS (Point of Sale): Processes transactions at the bar, restaurant, spa, and other outlets. Should integrate with your PMS for unified folio management.

Revenue & performance metrics

The KPIs ownership, management, and investors actually care about.

ADR (Average Daily Rate): Total room revenue divided by rooms sold. The primary measure of your pricing power. Formula: Room Revenue ÷ Rooms Sold.
RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room): ADR multiplied by occupancy rate. Combines pricing and fill rate into one number, the most widely used hotel performance benchmark.
GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room): GOP divided by total available rooms. Shows true profitability across the whole property, not just rooms.
TRevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room): Total revenue from all departments (rooms, F&B, spa, etc.) divided by available rooms. A fuller picture than RevPAR alone.
RevPAB (Revenue Per Available Bed): Used mainly in hostels and shared accommodation. More on revenue metrics for hostels.
RevPAG (Revenue Per Available Guest): Crucial for resorts, luxury properties, and properties heavily focused on secondary spend (spa, activities, dining).
RGI (Revenue Generation Index): Your property's RevPAR divided by the competitive set's RevPAR. A number above 1.0 indicates you're outperforming the market.
ADR vs ARR: ADR (Average Daily Rate) is the standard; ARR (Average Room Rate) is sometimes used interchangeably, though ARR can refer to an annual figure.
ARI (Average Rate Index): Measures your property's average daily rate against the competitive set.
ALOS (Average Length of Stay): Total occupied room nights divided by total bookings. Longer ALOS typically means lower distribution costs per booking.
MPI (Market Penetration Index): Your occupancy divided by the competitive set's occupancy. A number above 1.0 means you're winning market share.
OTB (On the Books): Total confirmed reservations for a future date, your starting point for every revenue meeting.
MTD / YTD (Month to Date / Year to Date): Periods used to benchmark current performance against prior years or budget.
GOP (Gross Operating Profit): Revenue minus operating expenses, before fixed costs like debt service and depreciation.
GOR (Gross Operating Revenue): Total revenue before any expenses are deducted.
CPR (Cost Per Room): The operating cost per available room, including labor and maintenance.
CPOR (Cost Per Occupied Room): The operating cost per occupied room, including (cleaning, laundry, utilities, amenities) against actual filled rooms.

What's the difference between CPR and CPOR?

CPR (Cost Per Room) considers the cost of all available rooms, occupied or not, giving a sense of overall efficiency. CPOR (Cost Per Occupied Room) focuses only on the rooms that are actually sold, providing insight into the profitability of each occupied room.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator): The metrics you track to measure performance against targets.

Distribution & booking channels

OTA (Online Travel Agency): Third-party booking platforms such as Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb. Convenient for demand, but commissions (typically 15–25%) erode margin. See the complete list of OTAs with commission rates by platform.
BAR (Best Available Rate): The lowest publicly available rate for a given night. Your baseline from which other rates (corporate, group, package) are derived.
RFP (Request for Proposal): A formal document from a corporate account or event planner asking for your rates and availability for a contracted period.
LNR (Local Negotiated Rate): A discounted rate agreed with a local business in exchange for guaranteed room nights. Common for airports, hospitals, and corporate campuses nearby.
Net Rate: The base room rate given to wholesalers or agents before they apply their own markup.
IBR (Internet Booking Rate): The rate published specifically through your direct online channel.
Extranet: The back-end portal OTAs provide for you to update availability, rates, and property information.
CTA / CTD (Closed to Arrival / Closed to Departure): Restrictions that prevent new bookings from being made for certain dates, either for arrival (CTA) or departure (CTD).
Stop sell: Closing a room type or rate on one or more channels so no new bookings come in, even though rooms may still be available.
Allotment: A number of rooms given to a tour operator, travel agent, or OTA to sell for a set period.
Rate parity: Offering the same rate for the same room on every channel, including your own website. Many OTA contracts include parity clauses.
Comp set (Competitive Set): The group of nearby properties you benchmark your rates and performance against. Used for RGI, ARI, and MPI.
Displacement: The revenue lost when a group or discounted booking takes rooms that could have sold at a higher rate.
Wash: The difference between the rooms a group blocked and the rooms it actually used.

Front office & reservations

FO (Front Office): The hub of guest-facing operations: reservations, check-in, check-out, concierge.
FOM (Front Office Manager): Responsible for the front desk team, guest satisfaction scores, and room assignment.
MOD (Manager on Duty): The manager responsible for the whole property during a shift, especially evenings and weekends. Handles escalations and emergencies.
GRE / GRA (Guest Relations Executive / Guest Relations Agent): Front office staff focused on welcoming guests, handling requests, and resolving complaints.
GSA / GSO (Guest Service Agent / Guest Service Officer): Common titles for front desk staff who check guests in and out and handle payments.
VIP (Very Important Person): A guest flagged for special attention, such as a loyalty member, a regular, or a corporate account holder.
OOO (Out of Order): A room removed from saleable inventory due to maintenance.
ETA / ETD (Estimated Time of Arrival / Departure): Used to manage housekeeping schedules and room readiness.
DND (Do Not Disturb): Guest preference to not be disturbed. Must be tracked in the PMS.
LOS (Length of Stay): Total nights in a single reservation.
MLOS (Minimum Length of Stay): A restriction that prevents one-night bookings during high-demand periods, protecting the nights around it.
PAX: Industry shorthand for passenger or guest count.
No-Show: A guest who fails to arrive without cancelling. Should trigger your no-show fee policy.
Walk-in: A guest who arrives without a reservation.
Walking a guest: Moving a guest with a confirmed reservation to another property because no room is available, usually at the hotel's cost. The result of an overbooking that didn't work out.
Skipper: A guest who leaves without checking out or paying the bill.
Sleeper: A room shown as occupied in the system although the guest has already left. Usually caught when housekeeping and front desk compare room status.
Day use: A room sold for a few hours during the day, without an overnight stay.
Early departure: A guest who checks out before the date in their reservation.
ROH (Run of House): A rate where the room type is assigned at check-in rather than booked in advance. Common for group blocks.
Comp (Complimentary): A room or service given free of charge, for example to a VIP or to resolve a complaint.
HU (House Use): A room used by the property itself, for example by staff or management, and not sold.
Overbooking: Deliberately accepting more reservations than available rooms to offset expected no-shows and cancellations. Not to be confused with accidental double booking.
Folio: The itemized bill of all charges against a guest's stay. It's an overview of the financial aspects of the stay (e.g. accommodation, taxes, and additional services).
Rack Rate: The standard undiscounted price for a room. Rarely paid, but used as the anchor for all discounting.
Cutoff Date: The deadline by which a group block must be released back to general inventory.

Room types & room abbreviations

Short codes you will see on OTA extranets, in your PMS, and on booking confirmations.

SGL (Single): A room for one guest, usually with one single bed.
DBL (Double): A room for two guests with one double bed.
TWN (Twin): A room for two guests with two separate beds.
TRP / TPL (Triple): A room for three guests.
QUAD: A room for four guests.
STE (Suite): A larger room, usually with a separate living area.
DLX / SUP (Deluxe / Superior): Room categories above standard. What they include varies by property.
K / Q (King / Queen): Bed size, often combined with the room type, such as "DLX K".
EB (Extra Bed): An additional bed added to a room, often charged separately.
Connecting rooms: Two rooms with a door between them. Adjoining rooms sit next to each other without a connecting door.
Room type: A group of rooms sold at the same rate with the same features. OTAs receive availability per room type, not per physical room. More on this in room types vs. individual rooms.

Housekeeping & operations

HK (Housekeeping): Responsible for room cleaning, turndown service, and linen management.
Turnover: Preparing a room for the next arrival after a checkout.
Stayover: A room occupied by a guest who is not checking out that day.
VC / VD (Vacant Clean / Vacant Dirty): Room status codes. A VC room is ready to sell; a VD room still needs cleaning.
OC / OD (Occupied Clean / Occupied Dirty): The same status codes for rooms with a guest in them.
MUR (Make Up Room): A guest request to have the room cleaned, or a housekeeping task to clean an occupied room.
OOS (Out of Service): A room temporarily blocked for a minor issue. Unlike an OOO room, it usually stays in your inventory count.
SO (Sleep Out): A guest who is registered but did not sleep in the room.
Turndown Service: An evening service that prepares the room for the night: straightening linens, dimming lights, and placing amenities.
SOP (Standard Operating Procedure): Documented step-by-step instructions for recurring tasks. The foundation of consistent service.
Night Audit: The daily financial reconciliation of all hotel transactions, typically run overnight. Closes the business day in the PMS and generates key reports.
Daily / Monthly Audit: Operational review sessions to track performance, identify issues, and realign the team.

Food, beverage & events

F&B (Food and Beverage): The department covering restaurants, bars, room service, and banqueting.
MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions): The corporate events segment, often one of the most lucrative for full-service hotels.
SMERF (Social, Military, Educational, Religious & Fraternal): A group travel market segment known for booking during shoulder seasons and being rate-sensitive.
AI (All-Inclusive): A package covering accommodation, meals, drinks, and activities.
HB (Half Board): Accommodation with breakfast and dinner included.
FB (Full Board): All three meals included.
BB (Bed and Breakfast): Accommodation with breakfast included.
RO (Room Only): Accommodation without any meals.
EP / CP / MAP / AP (European Plan / Continental Plan / Modified American Plan / American Plan): Meal plan names used especially in India and North America. EP is room only, CP includes breakfast, MAP includes breakfast and one main meal, and AP includes all three meals.
FIFO (First In, First Out): Inventory management principle ensuring older stock is used before newer stock, critical for F&B to control waste.

Short-term rental & vacation rental terms

Vacation rentals share most hotel terms, but they have some of their own.

STR (Short-Term Rental): A property rented for short stays, usually by the night, through platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
STL (Short-Term Let): The UK term for a short-term rental. Also called a holiday let.
FHL (Furnished Holiday Let): A UK tax category for holiday lets. The special tax regime for FHLs was abolished from April 2025.
PMC (Property Management Company): A company that manages rentals on behalf of owners, usually for a percentage of revenue.
Co-host: A person who helps a host manage a listing, often handling guest messages, check-ins, and cleaning.
Changeover / Turnover: Cleaning and preparing the property between two stays.
Cleaning fee: A one-off charge per stay to cover changeover costs, shown separately from the nightly rate.
Min stay: The vacation rental term for MLOS, the minimum number of nights per booking.
Instant Book: An Airbnb setting that confirms bookings automatically, without the host approving each request.
iCal: A calendar file format many rental platforms use to share availability. It is simple but slow and does not sync rates. See iCal vs. API connections.

Staff, management & general

GM (General Manager): The senior leader responsible for all hotel operations and P&L.
FOH (Front of House): All guest-facing areas: lobby, reception, restaurant floor.
R&R (Rest and Relaxation): Typically used to describe leisure-focused guests or itineraries.
FIT (Free Independent Traveler): A guest traveling alone without a group package.
GIT (Group Inclusive Tour): A packaged group booking including accommodation and activities.
FAM Trip (Familiarization Trip): A hosted visit for travel agents, journalists, or corporate buyers to experience the property firsthand. Generates referrals and media coverage.
Shoulder Season: The period between peak and low season. Demand is moderate and rates are negotiable.
Lead Time: The gap between booking date and arrival date. Short lead times (under 7 days) typically require different pricing strategies than bookings made weeks in advance.
Upselling / Cross-selling: Upselling moves a guest to a higher room category or package; cross-selling promotes other services (spa, parking, F&B). See 5 things your front desk should be upselling.
Yield Management: The practice of adjusting room rates dynamically based on demand, time to arrival, and competitive positioning, the precursor to modern RMS software.
Occupancy Rate: Rooms occupied ÷ rooms available × 100. The most fundamental measure of demand.
City Tax: A per-night, per-guest tax levied by local governments, separate from room rate and collected on their behalf.
Commission: The fee paid to an OTA, travel agent, or GDS for a booking, expressed as a percentage of the room rate.
Pickup: The number of new reservations added for a specific future date within a given period. Tracked daily in revenue meetings.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): EU data privacy law affecting how you collect, store, and use guest data. Non-compliance carries significant fines.

Understanding this vocabulary is half the battle. The other half is having systems that put these metrics in front of you automatically, so you spend less time pulling reports and more time acting on them.

If you found this glossary useful, share it with your front office and revenue team. And if you think a term is missing, drop us a line at [email protected], we update this list regularly.