Hi,
My dictionaries say that ‘self-catering’ as in ‘self-catering apartments/accommodation’ is a UK term but do not give an American equivalent. Is there one?
Thanks.
.
I am not familiar with the term.
.
There is no American term, because in North America the default assumption is that no meals are included with accommodation. If meals are provided with a room, American brochures specifically mention it. If no meals are provided, American brochures say nothing, because people usually assume that food is not provided with a hotel room. So, in a sense, the American equivalent of “self-catering” is silence. You might put in parentheses somewhere “(Meals not included.)”, if you really want to be clear, but not even mentioning meals is enough.
Also, there seems to be a difference in the way the British and the Americans use the term “catering”. In the US, “catering” means to provide food professionally for a special event. Weddings are catered. Lectures on the rubber chicken circuit are catered. Catering does not include meals that one provides to oneself in one’s own home or at a hotel. Therefore, to American ears, the term “self-catering” can sound comical, as if someone put on a funny uniform, stood behind a buffet table, and politely offered food to himself.
Hi,
Catering is also used in the same way in the UK and the peope who provide this service are called caterers. I don’t think ‘self catering’ would ever be offered in a hotel. It is more often used for houses/flats that people rent for their holiday and are in the UK mostly found in seaside resorts or in the countryside. Surely the same must exist in the USA?
Alan
Hi,
Many UK universities offer places in ‘fully catered’ and ‘self-catered’ halls of residence.
All the best
EU
Yes. It’s the same here.
In the US, hotel visitors are generally on their own as to deciding where and what to eat. Some hotels offer a “continental breakfast” buffet, but most of them do not, so breakfast and other meals are not included in the price of the room. You can eat in the hotel restaurant (if the hotel has a restaurant), you can go to another restaurant, or you can bring food to the room and eat it. But face it: If you’re at a Sheraton in downtown Toronto, with 50 million amazing restaurants within walking distance, are you really going to eat at the hotel?
Vacation cottages usually have a small kitchen for people to fix their own meals in, but because “meals not included” is the default assumption, you won’t see any announcement advertising “self-catered” cottages or rooms, because people just automatically know that the guest is on his own for meals.
Of course such rentals exist, but they are simply advertised as having a kitchen or a fully equipped kitchen, for example.
I agree with Jamie that ‘self-catering’ would sound pretty comical in the US.
.
Hi,
What would Americans think about this:
All the best
EU
We wouldn’t understand it.
American universities offer dormitories with and without food service.
Thanks very much everyone especially Jamie (K). The answers exceeded my expectations.
Hi EU,
Your
sounds a bit weird to me,too.
Alan
Come to think about it, does ‘self service’ cause the same merriment?
Alan
Hi Alan,
Do you mean that the terms ‘fully catered’ and ‘self-catered’ sound weird?
All the best
EU
No, that expression doesn’t sound funny to me. However, it would appear to include not just meals, but the absence laundry and maid service, which is the norm here anyway.
.
Hi Alan
Are you saying that there are “self-service” apartments/flats in the UK?
…
Hi Jamie
Have you ever actually seen the term ‘self-service’ used in this context in the US?
.
Hi,
Do you think these sentences are strange:
All the best
EU
Yes.
Hi Alan,
I suppose we will have to consult David Crystal…
All the best
EU
.
Alan, was your “Yes” doing double duty as a response to both of the questions preceding it?
.
I think I’ll go and cut the grass. This is all getting too complicated for me. All I know is that ‘self-catering’ means catering for yourself, ‘self-supporting’ means supporting yourself and self-regulating means regulating itself. In the words of my favourite English poet, John Keats:
Alan