The primary distinction between boarding and lodging is that lodging only encompasses accommodation, while boarding includes both accommodation and food.
Key Takeaways
- Lodging refers to temporary accommodation without the provision of regular meals, such as hotels, motels, inns, guest houses, or homestays.
- Boarding refers to a place that provides both accommodation and regular meals, often involving longer stays when compared to lodging, such as boarding schools and boarding houses.
- The main difference between boarding and lodging is that lodging only includes accommodation, while boarding includes both accommodation and food.
What is Lodging?
Lodging refers to a place that provides temporary accommodation without the provision of regular meals. In other words, a lodge is a place that provides accommodation for a short period without the facility of food. This could be a hotel, motel, inn, guest house, or homestay, among other commercial accommodations. Lodging can also include campsites or short-term apartment rentals.
For example, one pays for lodging when he stays overnight in a hotel. Room tariff that a hotel charges is for providing a safe room for rest, sleep, shelter, and comfort. It also means safe storage of your luggage. Generally, people who travel and stay away from their homes for more than a day need lodging.
What is Boarding?
Boarding, on the other hand, refers to a place that provides both accommodation and regular meals. Boarding often involves longer stays when compared to lodging. Boarding houses and boarding schools are two popular examples of boarding. This type of accommodation is often used by students who are pursuing higher education in a distant place and require both lodging and food. Hostels for these students often provide both boarding and lodging.
Some hotels have this practice of pointing out boarding and lodging fees separately in their bill, which is very confusing for guests. Though technically, these hotels are right; once they have charged for boarding, there is no need to charge separately for lodging as lodging is included in boarding, isn’t it? If you are one of the boarders at a guest house, you also get meals provided by the place, whereas a lodger in a lodge pays just for the accommodation he gets at the place.
Note that the word boarding also refers to the act of providing a place to stay and meals for horses, pets, or livestock. This term is commonly used in the context of horse riding and agriculture.
What is the Difference Between Boarding and Lodging?
One key difference between boarding and lodging is the provision of food. When paying for lodging, one only pays for a safe place to stay, whereas boarding includes both accommodation and regular meals.
Another notable difference between boarding and lodging pertains to the duration of stay. Lodging is temporary and for short durations only, whereas boarding is more permanent in nature, as is reflected by the use of the word in boarding schools.
Summary – Boarding vs Lodging
Though both lodging and boarding imply staying at a place, lodging pertains to accommodation only, while boarding implies both accommodation and food. Lodging is temporary in nature and refers to a short stay at a guest house or a hotel, whereas boarding implies staying at a place for a long period, such as a boarding school. This is the key difference between boarding and lodging.
Reference:1. “Lodging.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.Image Courtesy:1. “To travel hotel room hotel-room” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “Food-sandwich-sardine-bread-oil” (CC0) via Pixabay
