Which sentences do you need for hotel check-in and check-out?
You need three request frames: "I'd like to …", "Could I have …?" and "Could you …?". On top of that come the words for the three moments: arrival with "I have a reservation under the name …", the stay with small requests and problems, departure with "invoice", "receipt" and "luggage".
- You name a reservation with "I have a reservation under the name …", not "on the name".
- An "invoice" is a Rechnung and a "receipt" is a Quittung; you get them with "get" or "have", not with "become".
- Ask about your room with "Is my room ready?", because "free" can be understood as "at no cost".
A2 · Business Travel · 10 minHotel check-in and check-out, taught brick by brick.
A structured lesson for A2 learners who stay in hotels for work. Hear an arrival in context, meet the sentences for check-in, the stay and check-out, then practise them in interactive drills and a final quiz. Three typical stumbling blocks for German speakers are included. It takes about ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
- CEFR levelA2 · Elementary
- Time to completeAbout 10 minutes
- SkillsVocabulary, Listening, Writing, Speaking
- Bricks10 blocks
01 / 06
What you actually need at a hotel
A hotel stay has three moments, and these moments need only a few fixed sentences. First you arrive and check in. During your stay, you ask for things or report a small problem. At the end you check out and settle what the invoice should look like. Imagine you are travelling to a trade fair or a client visit. You do not need long explanations. You need three request frames that are polite enough for a stranger at the reception desk: I'd like to …, Could I have …? and Could you …?. The rest of the vocabulary, such as reservation, nights, breakfast, invoice and luggage, fits into the frames like bricks. This lesson follows your stay in exactly that order, and by the end you will also know which phrases can be tricky for German speakers.
02 / 06
Moment 1: Arriving and checking in
On arrival the staff greet you and you name your reservation: "Good evening. I have a reservation under the name Weber." Then you say what you want: "I'd like to check in, please." Staff may ask you to spell your name, for example with "Could you spell your surname, please?". Then you say the letters one by one: "W-E-B-E-R." If you want to practise spelling, the lesson "Spelling Names and Numbers" helps. To the question "How many nights are you staying?" you answer briefly: "Three nights." or "Three nights, until Friday." Your appointment can supply the story, such as "I'm here for a client visit." or "I'm here for a trade fair." At the end you usually receive your room key or card. Close the scene with a friendly "Thank you". If you did not understand something, say "Sorry, could you say that again, please?". That is a perfectly normal, polite request.
03 / 06
Moment 2: Requests and small problems
During your stay you need two skills: asking politely for things and reporting a small problem. For items you use Could I have …?: "Could I have an extra towel, please?" or "Could I have a quiet room, please?". If you want to know something about your booking, ask directly: "Is breakfast included?" For a problem a simple pattern helps: name the problem first in a plain sentence, then ask for help. "The Wi-Fi isn't working in my room." is the problem, and "Could you send someone to look at it?" is the request. "Could you help me, please?" fits well, too. With Could you …? you ask the other person to do something, with Could I have …? you ask for an item. Both sound friendly and become even softer with please. You do not need to apologise or explain at length. One calm, clear sentence is enough for most small problems.
04 / 06
Moment 3: Checking out, the invoice and luggage
On departure you say "I'd like to check out, please." Then you name what you need for the trip home. On business trips that is often an invoice for the company: "Could I have an invoice for my company?" You can also say more exactly how it should look: "Could you make it out to my company?" Two words matter here. An invoice is a Rechnung, a receipt is a Quittung, proof that you paid. If you only need a record for your expenses, ask for "a receipt". If your company needs an invoice in its name, ask for "an invoice". If your train leaves in the afternoon, ask "Can I leave my luggage here until this afternoon?" or "Could I leave my luggage here?". At the end you say thank you: "Thank you, I enjoyed my stay." What you get and how you get it depend on the hotel. This lesson only gives you the language to ask.
05 / 06
The first two traps: "under the name" and "become"
The first trap is about the reservation. In German you say a room is reserved auf den Namen Weber, so on the name feels natural. In English you say "a reservation under the name Weber". The preposition here is under, not on. You do not need to learn a rule for this; just remember the phrase as one block: under the name. The second trap is a false friend. German bekommen sounds like become, but become means werden. So when you ask for a receipt, you say "Can I get a receipt?" or "Could I have a receipt?", but not "Can I become a receipt?". The sentence with become would mean that you turn into a receipt yourself. Staff will probably still understand you, but the sentence sounds odd. Remember: get and have for things you receive, become only when someone or something changes, for example "I became a manager."
06 / 06
The third trap: "free" can mean "at no cost"
In German you might ask "Ist das Zimmer schon frei?" and mean that it is ready for you. If you translate that literally as "Is the room free?", the sentence can also be understood in English as asking whether the room is at no cost. The word free has both meanings in English. For a room that is prepared for you, "Is my room ready?" fits. If you want to know whether a room can be had at all, ask "Is a room available?" or "Do you have a room available?". Those two questions leave no doubt about what you mean. Finish with the politeness you have learned. Could you …? and Could I have …? sound friendly, and please makes them softer still. A more direct question such as "Is my room ready?" does not sound rude at a hotel as long as you stay calm and friendly. With these bricks you can get through a hotel stay well.