love hotel

English

Etymology

Calque of Japanese ラブホテル (rabu hoteru), from English love + hotel, probably after the rotating sign of the Hotel Love, an early love hotel in Osaka, Japan.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

love hotel (plural love hotels)

1. A short-stay hotel found in Japan and elsewhere, operated primarily for the purpose of allowing lovers privacy to have sexual intercourse.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:love hotel

   • 2021, Margo DeMello, On the Job: An Encyclopedia of Unique Occupations around the World, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 137:

     Love hotels differ in terms of price (from about $30 per hour and up), decoration (some may offer features such as sex swings, hot tubs, or round beds, and many are themed), and architecture […] .

Descendants

• → Thai: เลิฟโฮเต็ล (lə́əf-hoo-dtel)

Translations

short-stay hotel for sex

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 情侶酒店 / 情侣酒店 (qínglǚ jiǔdiàn), 愛情旅館 / 爱情旅馆 (àiqíng lǚguǎn), 情人旅館 / 情人旅馆 (qíngrén lǚguǎn), 鐘點房 / 钟点房 (zhōngdiǎnfáng) (hourly rate hotel)

• Dutch: shortstay m (Suriname)
• Finnish: tuntihotelli
• French: love hotel (fr) m
• German: Love Hotel n
• Japanese: ラブホテル (ja) (rabu hoteru), ラブホ (ja) (rabuho), 連れ込み宿 (つれこみやど, tsurekomiyado) (dated), ブティックホテル (butikku hoteru) (industry euphemism), ファッションホテル (fasshon hoteru) (industry euphemism)
• Korean: 러브호텔 (ko) (reobeuhotel)
• Marathi: लव्ह होटेल n (lavha hoṭel)
• Portuguese: motel (pt) m
• Russian: любо́вный оте́ль m (ljubóvnyj otɛ́lʹ), мини-гости́ница f (mini-gostínica), гости́ница с почасово́й опла́той f (gostínica s počasovój oplátoj), гости́ница на час f (gostínica na čas)
• Spanish: albergue transitorio (es) m, (Argentina) telo (es) m
• Swedish: kärlekshotell n
• Thai: เลิฟโฮเต็ล (lə́əf-hoo-dtel)