In a book I saw this statement.
Before words beginning with h and not accented on the first syllable, an is often used ; as,
An historical , an hotel.
I want to know whether h in hotel is pronounced or not. I would be really grateful if someone can explain this more.
Pronouncing the 'h' in 'hotel is a choice. In modern times in the UK, 'hotel' is very often pronounced with the 'h' sounded, so that the correct preceding indefinite article is 'a'. However, older people, especially of the middle and upper classes, may be used to pronouncing the word with a silent 'h', and thus would use 'an' before. This was common in the 18th and 19th centuries. Another word of this type is 'historic'. This dropped 'h' is not to be confused with the working-class or Cockney 'h' dropped from most words starting with that letter, very common in the UK.
In American English, the h in hotel, historian, etc. is pronounced. Silent initial 'h' is not a feature the way it is in some dialects of British English, though there are a few words that have it. The debate over a/an before pronounced h has pretty firmly settled on a, and not an. It would strike me as old-fashioned and pretentious for someone to use "an historian," and just plain wrong for someone to use "an hotel."
