Free guide · 6 min read
Korean for the hotel
Checking in, asking for things, reporting what is broken and checking out. Staff at large hotels in Seoul and Busan usually speak English, so this guide earns its keep in the places where they may not: guesthouses, motels and small hotels outside the big cities.
Hotel Korean is request Korean. Nearly everything you need is a noun plus 주세요, a noun plus 있어요?, or a noun plus 안 돼요, the patterns from days 6, 7 and 11 of the daily course. The vocabulary changes from room to room; the sentence shapes hardly do.
Checking in
At the desk:
Check-in is usually from 3 pm and check-out at 11 am or noon, and written times use the 24-hour clock, so 15:00 on a booking is 3 pm. Expect to be asked for your passport. 예약 (yeyak) 'reservation' is the word you will hear most at any front desk. Korean motels, 모텔, are ordinary cheap hotels, widely used by travellers and usually clean, though many also rent rooms by the hour, which is called 대실.
Asking for things
A noun and 주세요, or a noun and 있어요?:
Since 2024, larger hotels have stopped putting out free single-use toiletries, so a toothbrush may be on sale at the desk or need a trip to the 편의점. Smaller places often still provide them. The wifi password is usually printed on the key card sleeve or on a sticker on the router, but asking is quicker. 비밀번호 (bimilbeonho) means any password or PIN, including the code on a door lock.
Problems in the room
Name the thing, then say what is wrong with it:
안 돼요 (an dwaeyo) 'it doesn't work' covers almost anything broken: say the item, add 이/가 from day 4, and finish with 안 돼요. Many Korean rooms are heated through the floor, a system called 온돌 (ondol), and the panel on the wall sets the floor temperature rather than the air, so a cold room may just need the floor turned up and some patience. The key card usually has to sit in a slot by the door for the lights and air conditioning to work.
Checking out
On the way out:
Leaving luggage at the desk after checking out is normal and free at most hotels and many guesthouses; 짐 (jim) is 'luggage'. The front desk will call a taxi for you. Nobody expects a tip at a Korean hotel, not the porter and not the cleaning staff.
These phrases get built into real conversation in the daily lessons. The first thirty days need no account, and the Hangul course will have you reading every sign in the guide.