The hotel-building icon to me looks too ambiguous. Is this representing a city? An apartment complex? An office building?
I think the bed icon clearly demonstrates what you use a hotel for - a place to sleep. This encompasses hotels that aren't several stories tall as well.
In the context of flight / hotel / car / etc., I think hotel-building is very clear. In fact, much clearer than a bed -- after all, having an airline seat represent a plane would be quite confusing, and having a bed represent a hotel is no clearer.
However, outside the context of other reservation-related icons, I agree that the "building" icon is lacking in specificity. The bed icon is slightly better, but still by no means good. It could just as easily mean sleeptime or rest, as opposed to daytime or work.
It's a shame there are no symbols or architecture inherently associated with hotels. Maybe that's why they tend to feel so anonymous and devoid of any soul...
> having an airline seat represent a plane would be quite confusing, and having a bed represent a hotel is no clearer
The distinction here is that you don't get in an airplane to sit in the seats, you get in an airplane so it can fly somewhere with you in it, and the shape of an airplane is very good at conveying that. With a hotel, I don't go there so I can admire the building, I go there so I have somewhere to sleep.
We came to that conclusion too and originally had the silhouette of a bed rather than the exterior or a hotel building[1]. Our client[2], however, had different ideas.
And no, I have no idea why flight plus hotel equals desert island with palm trees...
I think the bed icon clearly demonstrates what you use a hotel for - a place to sleep. This encompasses hotels that aren't several stories tall as well.