An inn; a public house or tavern; a house for entertaining strangers or travelers. St. Louis v. Siegrist, 46 Mo. 594; People v. Jones, 54 Barb. (N. Y.) 316; Cromwell v. Stephens, 2 Daly (N. Y.) 19. Synonyms. In law, there is no difference whatever between the terms “hotel,” “inn,” and “tavern.” except that in some states a statutory definition has been given to the word “hotel, especially with reference to the grant of licenses to sell liquor, as, that it shall contain a certain number of separate rooms for the entertainment of guests, or the like. But none of the three terms mentioned will include a boarding house (because that is a place kept for the entertainment of permanent boarders, while a hotel or inn is for travelers and transient guests), nor a lodging house (because the keeper thereof does not furnish food for guests, which is one of the requisites of a hotel or inn), nor a restaurant or eating-house, which furnishes food only and not lodging. See Martin v. State Ins. Co., 44 N. J. Law, 485, 43 Am. Rep. 397; In re Liquor Licenses, 4 Montg. Co. Law Rep’r (Pa.) 79; Kelly v. Excise Com’rs. 54 How. Prac. (N. Y.) 331; Carpenter v. Taylor, 1 Hilt. (N. Y.) 193: Cromwell v. Stephens, 2 Daly (N. Y.) 23.