How to Check into a Hotel in Chinese

Can you check into a hotel using only Chinese? In this lesson, we will learn some words and phrases which come in handy when traveling in China.

Check in is called 入住 [rù zhù] in Chinese, so when you enter a hotel you can tell the 前台接待员 [qián tái jiē dài yuán](front desk receptionist) this:

宾馆 [bīn guǎn] here means guesthouse. Let’s have a look at some related words:

• 酒店 [jiǔ diàn] – hotel
• 旅馆 [lǚ guǎn] – inn
• 旅舍 [lǚ shè] – hostel
• 青年旅舍 [qīng nián lǚ shè] – youth hostel

If you have booked a room you just need to inform the receptionist and everything will go smoothly. Here’s an example of what you might say:

Subj. + 叫 (jiào) + [Name] my name is…

叫 (jiào) means ”to call” or ”to be called”. You can use like this:

• 她叫李好。[tā jiào lǐhǎo.] – Her name is Lihao.
• 我爸爸叫汤姆。[wǒ bàba jiào tāngmǔ.] – My father’s name is Tom.

If you don’t have a reservation on the other hand, you can ask the 前台接待员 [qián tái jiē dài yuán] for a room like this:

Other room types

• 单人房 [dān rén fáng] – single room
• 双人房 [shuāng rén fáng] – double room
• 三人房 [sān rén fáng] – three bedded room
• 家庭房 [jiā tíng fáng] – family room
• 标准房 [biāo zhǔn fáng] – standard room
• 商务房 [shuāng wù fáng] – business room

Next you better learn what to say when you want to check out, right?

When checking into a hotel in China, many will require that you show your passport. 

However, some hotels cannot accommodate foreigner guests because they do not have the machine for scanning passports, so you must be careful.

Now that the check in is done, you might want 叫醒服务 [jiào xǐng fú wù]（wake-up call service）.

请 + time + 叫醒我, means “I would like a wake-up call for (time)”.

Finally, let’s see some other words you may come across while staying at a hotel.

• 停车场 [tíng chē chǎng] – parking lot
• 餐厅 [cān tīng] – restaurant
• 前台 [qián tái] – front desk
• 电梯 [diàn tī] – elevator
• 行李 [xíng lǐ] – luggage

Ok, now you can go relax in your room! Please enjoy!

This is the accompanying blog post for our newbie lesson “Checking into a Guesthouse“.