How to Use Spanish in a Hotel

When checking into a hotel in a Spanish-speaking country, you can ease the difficulties of communication by knowing how to state your questions in Spanish. Following are some simple phrases you can use, followed by phonetic spelling in parentheses, to help you approximate accurate Spanish sounds. Where the phonetic spelling is in capital letters, that indicates where you should stress the word more as you say it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Start with the polite request word "I would like" which is "Quisiera" (kee-see-AIR-ah). You can add various elements to such a phrase. One of the first things you'll want to do is ask for a SINGLE ROOM-HABITACIÓN SIMPLE (ah-bee-tah-see-OWN SEEM-play) or a DOUBLE ROOM-HABITACIÓN DOBLE (ah-bee-tah-see-OWN DOH-blay).

2. Determine if the room has a television by saying "¿Hay televisor en la habitación?" (ay tay-lay-bee-SOHR ehn lah ah-bee-tah-see-OWN). Ask if there is a phone in the room by saying "¿Hay teléfono en la habitación?" (ay tay-LAY-foh-noh ehn lah ah-bee-tah-see-OWN).

3. Find out what time you can enter by saying "¿Cuál es la hora de entrada?" (kwahl ehs lah OH-rah day ehn-TRAH-dah). Ask what time you have to leave by saying "¿Cuál es la hora de salida?" (kwahl ehs lah OH-rah day sah-LEE-dah).

4. Question if there is room service by saying "¿Tiene servicio de habitación?" (tee-EH-nay sare-BEE-see-oh day ah-bee-tah-see-OWN). Ask if there is a wake-up call by saying "¿Tiene servicio de despertador?" (tee-EH-nay sare-BEE-see-oh day day-spare-tah-DOR).

5. Ask if there is laundry service by saying "¿Hay lavandería?" (ay lah-vahn-day-REE-ah). Ask if there is a strong box by saying "¿Hay caja fuerte?" (ay cah-hah FWEAR-tay).

6. Verify that they serve breakfast by saying "¿Sirven desayuno?" (SEER-ben day-sah-YOO-noh). Ask where the cafeteria is by saying "¿Dónde está la cafetería?" (DOHN-day eh-STAH lah kah-fay-tay-REE-ah).

7. Ascertain where the taxi stops by saying "¿Por dónde para el taxi?" (pour DOHN-day PAH-rah ehl TAH-ksee). Ask where the bus stops by saying "¿Por dónde para el autobús?" (pour DOHN-day PAH-rah ehl out-oh-BOOS).

Resources

• A nice site to help you increase your vocabulary