Can a US Fodorite help me out on this one? What is meant by a "cookie cutter" hotel room, and how did the term orginate? Just curious.

Ta much.

"Cookie cutter" refers to something that's exactly the same as the rest in its class- in this case, hotel rooms. It would have nothing extraordianry or special to distinguish it from any other hotel room.

Of the origin, I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

Just in case it's not self-explanatory for someone from the UK, where vocabulary can differ: a cookie cutter is what is used to punch out shaped cookies, i.e., all exactly the same.

One additional clarification for our friends "across the pond": our cookie = your biscuit.

The layout and decor of many large chain hotel rooms tend to be the same all over -- the rooms may be modern and functional and convenient but they also often tend to be charmless and characterless, with nothing of the local color. So if you woke up in a hotel room in London it might look virtually the same as one in Kansas. That's what I think of as "cookie cutter."