Reception room is the room of a hotel (but it could be other buildings too) used for parties and meetings. Parlor is a dated word to mean a sitting room in a private house. Generally it means a room in a public building used to receive guests; it could also be a room in a convent.

The one ceilingless room serves for kitchen, bedroom, and reception room . Adjoining it was a reception room, where hosts and hostesses could meet their guests. Near the entrance, on the left, we entered the reception room . In the reception room of the institution, she awaited in dread the outcome of a more thorough examination.