The first hotels were very different from today's hotels. They were small inns built along

the road. Later, as people began to travel by train, hotels were built in the centers of large cities. Usually located near railroad stations, these hotels were many stories tall and had hundreds of rooms.

Although trains were a popular means of travel for some time, automobiles slowly began to take their place. Automobile travel caused problems for city hotels, which did not have enough parking space for so many cars.

People who traveled by automobile needed a different kind of hotel. They needed places to stay that were near highways and had room to park. Motorists did not like to drive in heavy city traffic to reach a hotel. The answer to the motorists' problems came when a new kind of hotel was built. These new buildings were called motels, a word made from the first part of MOTORIST and the last part of HOTELS.

Motels were much smaller than hotels. Built on ground level, often in separate units, they were more convenient for people traveling. The separate units also made them quieter than hotels, best of all, there was more than enough room for cars to park. ,

Now, many big hotels in the cities are being torn down. They can no longer make enough money to stay in business. In their place, many small motels have been built on the outskirts(近郊) of cities. Motels have become a big business in the United States.

The first hotels were built______.

A．with hundreds of rooms

B．around the city centers

C．near railway stations

D．quite close to roads.