There is no exact classification of the hotel "line". There are no clearly defined differences between second and third line hotels. We can say that the notorious "first line" of the hotel in advertising brochures and travel agent promises is needed only in order to get more money from the client.
Don't believe the advertisements
Even a "novice" tourist is firmly convinced that a hotel on the first line is good and prestigious, if only because it is much closer to the sea than a hotel on the second or, say, third line. Many travel agencies support this misconception in their clients, because you can get more money for a vacation in a first line hotel.
In fact, any worthy professional can explain to a “novice” tourist that the hotel's benefits are not limited solely to its proximity to the water. In different countries, the phrase "first line hotel" means quite different things. At the same time, “linearity” itself may not mean anything good.
In fact, all resorts can be divided into urban and beach resorts. In the latter, there is the concept of a beach-hotel or "hotel on the beach." In fact, such a hotel is itself a resort, since there are no obstacles between it and the beach itself, except, perhaps, a path to the ocean. So it is better to focus on this definition, and not on the promise of the mythical "first line".
Unpleasant nuances
Urban resorts have their own specifics. Such resorts are included in the urban infrastructure, which means that they are dedicated and subordinated to more than just recreation. Most often, in such resorts in front of the first line hotels there may be a motorway, and maybe a railway. Quite often, expensive hotels in urban-type resorts (mostly European) can have their own underground access to the beach in order to minimize the interaction of guests with a busy road. It should be noted that in many non-European resort cities, even the most luxurious hotels do not have such a passage to the beach, so guests have to move to the beach, bypassing the road, which can be quite dangerous. At the same time, formally, such hotels can be called first line hotels, because there is nothing closer to the sea than the unfortunate highway.
That is why it is very important to find out in detail from the travel agency employee what exactly he means by the "first line hotel". Otherwise, you can overpay an impressive amount of money for the dubious privilege of crossing a busy highway or making an impressive detour to the nearest beach suitable for recreation, because not always a hotel with a sea view suggests that you can swim next to it.
In other words, you should not "be led" on the offer to relax in a luxury hotel on the first line without finding out the details. Otherwise, the rest can be significantly spoiled by minor, but significant shortcomings.
