If you’re going to be traveling to Spanish speaking countries and staying in hotels or hostels, these six Spanish phrases will make checking in a little easier.
Here are two phrases you can use for checking into a hotel. There are other variations, but these are the most common, in my experience.
Hacer el check-in
Registrarse en el hotel
Let’s take a closer look at these.
Hacer el check-in
Yes. You read that correctly, “check-in” just like we say in English. Crazy, right? I was as shocked as you when I first learned this.
Quiero hacer el check-in
I’d like to check-in
While this is certainly convenient and easy to learn, it’s not 100% foolproof.
Hacer el check-in is a great option for hotels that receive a lot of English speaking visitors, especially the larger hotel chains, but if you find yourself staying at a smaller hotel well off the beaten path, the term “check-in” my not be so well known.
In fact, this happened to me in a visit to the Dominican Republic. While the Dominican Republic is no stranger to tourism, I picked a small hotel that was staffed by locals that spoke no English, so my “quiero hacer el check-in”, was met with a bewildered look that left me standing there with no idea of what to say next.
Lucky for me the receptionist was clever enough to realize that I wanted to check-in. It must have been the suitcase that tipped her off.
In fact, it was that incident that lead me to learning the next phrase.
Registrarse en el hotel
This is more like it. This option is standard Spanish that will be understood anywhere.
Quiero registrarme
I want to check in
In fact, you can use registrarse to talk about checking in at the airport counter, hospital or anywhere else a check-in or some type of registration is required.
OK, so now we know how to say we want check-in. Here are a couple of more phrases that you may find useful related to the check-in process.
It’s not uncommon to arrive at your hotel a little early, so these phrases will come in handy.
¿A qué hora es la hora de entrada?
What time is check-in?
¿A qué hora puedo registrarme?
What time can I check-in?
¿Puedo registrarme temprano?
Can I check-in early?
If your attempts at charming your way into an early check-in don’t work, maybe the hotel can hold onto your bags for you.
¿Hay un lugar donde pueda dejar mi equipaje hasta la hora de registrarme?
Is there somewhere we can leave my luggage until it’s time to check-in time?
And that’s it.
If you’d like to learn some additional hotel phrases in Spanish, then take a look at my article on 50+ Spanish hotel phrases. This list is a collection of Spanish hotel phrases I learned out of necessity during my travels, so you’ll find far more than the standard stock hotel phrases in your average guidebook.
What experiences have you had checking into a hotel in Spanish speaking country? Is there a particular phrase or phrases you need or would to share? Leave a me comment below.
BEFORE YOU GO
When you find yourself traveling you’re going to need a lot more than the six Spanish phrases we discussed.
Take a look at the My Spanish Phrasebook app which contains these phrases and over 1900+ useful phrases for travel and conversation.
Developed by me, the application is collection of Spanish phrases I’ve learned and used while traveling and in conversation over the last 13 years.
You can search the list, hear the pronunciation of each phrase, there are notes on usage when needed and it even specifies if a given phrase is particular to a specific region of the Spanish speaking world.
And that’s it for today, Ojalá les sirve.