What is the difference between a hotel guarantee and a hotel deposit?

Hotel guarantee was originally known as “guaranteeing for late arrival” and meant that the hotel would hold the room for the traveler no matter what time he arrived rather than assuming he wasn’t coming and giving the room away after a certain time. Today, most hotels have a cancellation deadline after which the traveler is obligated to pay for the room whether it is used or not. To support this hotels routinely require “credit card guarantee”. This means that they take your credit card at the time the reservation is made, but no charge is made to the card so long as you check into the hotel as planned or cancel it by the deadline. Should you fail to check in, or cancel after the cancellation deadline, the hotel will charge the credit card given according to their no-show/cancellation policy. A hotel deposit is when the hotel requires that the traveler pre-pay a portion of the rate prior to arrival. This is found primarily with rock-bottom internet rates and with leisure resorts, but rarely with business rates at business hotels.