Serious. I hear this a lot, especially regarding some hotels in San Francisco. I have not been to Europe.

What is the difference between European and regular?

XXX

It is being used as an adjective, not unlike "tropical" or "casual" or "art-deco" ambiance. Or it could just mean old with very small rooms!

It's rather like "cozy" in a real estate ad - could mean charming but also (cynics would say more likely) can indicate cramped.
Most places I've stayed that called themselves "European" tend to have rooms that are less cookie-cutter than the big chain hotels, of varying sizes from tiny to cavernous within the same property. Think of renovating an existing building (from mansion to commercial space) for use as a hotel.
One word of caution - the term is also sometimes used to indicate shared bathrooms - be sure to ask if this is important to you.

XXX...

I'd just you post this question on the Europe board for a wider response.

No, no Robin that's not the point.
People on the Euro board won't answer this question any more accurately because the real question is what AMERICAN hoteliers MEAN when they say "European", not are these hotels ACTUALLY European in flavor.

Calling a US hotel European style is a creative advertising term, (not as extreme as when they say "cozy" instead of cramped, "rustic" instead of run down), but what they're really saying is that the rooms are smaller than current US standards, almost always because the hotel is quite old and was built in an era when most hotel rooms were in fact small and meant for sleeping and little else.

Can a US "European style" hotel be upscale and well done? Sure. But that's not the case the majority of the time.
To tell the difference, you only need look at the room rate. If it's a relatively inexpensive rate compared to local competition, then "European" is a bit of an embellishment.

I always take "european-style" to mean "in need of a makeover" -- you know, lots of older carpet, dark wood panelling, the decor you used to see in the '70s.

Not that this is a bad thing. Sometimes these places actually have a bit of charm, European-style charm.

Can someone give me an example of a low budget European style hotel here in America? I recently stayed in NYC at the Plaza Athenee which is a European style hotel and I absolutely loved it. I've never thought European style to mean "small, cozy, cramped and in need of major renovations".

I think of "European style" to mean that whatever property we're talking about is an American equivilent to rooms in typical European hotels. I must not be staying in typical European hotels. I think of European style to mean exactly what Janus said. They are typically random in size and decoration. In other words you won't find 300 rooms all having the same furniture and softgoods.

I stayed in a "European style" hotel in NYC a year or so ago. Basically, it meant (at that hotel) that the room was MUCH smaller than the norm.

What I meant by European style hotel - smallish rooms, usually a shared bath, cute touches like oriental rugs, antique paintings and mirrors, brass beds, etc. Definitely not the Ritz, but some are very nice indeed.

No washcloths.

RMC it's amazing that you just mentioned the Plaza Athenee...I was about to add a comment in my note that the PA is an example of an upscale European style hotel in the US, but thought the additional detail unnecessary.
But the PA is a rare example of a well done, very enjoyable Euro style US hotel.
Low budget examples abound, but I can't tell you I have great experience staying in them. They are typically located in older cities (northeast US, Chicago, SF) on the fringes of the best tourist areas.

European can mean less room in the hotel unlike the 1,000 room hotels found in major cities.Euroean can mean better more personalized service, smaller rooms, more perks,I prefer European style,but sometimes you pay more ... just depends on your taste.

It oftens means shared bath down the hall. If you've ever stayed in some of the lodgings at Wawona or Yosemite Lodge area, their "European" rooms meant just that -- shared bath.

So if you were to ask a European what "European Style Hotel" means, what would they say?

Just curious.

European hotels are small, run-down, homely, and antiquated. The staff have bed crooked teeth and foul body odor. The phones are still rotary dial and the drapes a dingy white tone. The bellhops usually wear white sneakers with black pants and some sort of loud shirt. You're probably going to have to share a bathroom in a European style hotel. All the rooms are smoking rooms and the restaurant serves everything with heavy mayonaise and biscotti.

You do hear this a lot in San Francisco because they are trying to appeal to a certain market. I think it usually just means a smaller hotel, probably not brand new but renovated within an older building, although there are some new Eur style which usually can mean the same as "boutique hotel", also. I never thought about the decor issue, but perhaps some variation in decor and roomsize (the size goes with it being a renovated older building, usuallly) although Eur. hotels do tend to have similar decor in the rooms, it's not totally random and different in every room. I've heard them claim it also means personalized service but that isn't accurate IMO, lots of Eur hotels don't have personal or any high level of service and plenty of American ones do, I think that's more an issue of price. Hotels in NY tend to have small rooms, anyway, whether they call themselves European or not, but I can see how they think that will make it seem ok after you check in and find out how small it is.

While we're on the subject:

Has anyone heard of European double beds? We were told that the smaller-than-normal double beds at one hotel were "European doubles." Of course, they didn't tell us this when we reserved or mention it on thier website. They were a little too small to comfortably share.

Just wondered if this is an actual term or the hotel made it up.

Just substitute the words "small" or "inferior" any time you see the word "European" in the hotel business. You won't go wrong or be fooled that way.
The servings of food at Picasso in Bellagio-Las Vegas are European in proportion.
European beds are of Lilliputian proportions.
Europeans are smaller than Americans so they don't need all that extra mattress space.
"They got little noses, and tiny little feet, they wear platform shoes on their nasty little feet...you've got to pick them up just to say hello....don't want no short people 'round here" (Randy Newman).