What is a kitchenette? A small cooking area with the basics, short of a full kitchen.
A kitchenette is a compact cooking space: typically a sink, a small refrigerator, a countertop and a limited cooking appliance such as a two-burner hob or a microwave, often without a full oven. There is no universal legal definition, so what one listing calls a kitchenette another calls a kitchen.
It turns up in studios, casitas, guest suites, converted garages and older motel-style buildings. In a rental listing it is the honest signal that cooking will be limited; in a sale listing on a second unit it is often what separates a guest room from something a tenant would pay for.
If the second space is meant to be rented, the appliances are not the question. Whether the unit is permitted and whether local rules allow it to be occupied separately are, and both are answerable from the county and city record rather than from the listing.
A worked example
A casita behind the main house with a sink, a bar fridge, a countertop and a microwave, described as a kitchenette. Whether it can be rented separately is answered by the permit record, not by the appliances.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a kitchen and a kitchenette?
Scale and equipment rather than law. A kitchenette is compact and normally lacks a full-size oven or full-size refrigerator. There is no universal definition, so the same room is described both ways in different listings.
Does a kitchenette make a room a separate unit?
No. What makes a second dwelling lawful is permitting and local zoning, not the presence of a sink and a hob. The county and city records answer it and the listing does not.