Korean Hotel Vocabulary: 35 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Hotel Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 35 words in five groups of seven. The groups follow a stay: pick the type of lodging, book, check in, choose a room and ask for what you need. It sits in Places and Travel, after Korean Directions Vocabulary, and it supplies the nouns for the sentences on the hotel phrases page.

Most entries are nouns or loanwords. The verbs you need, such as 예약하다 (to book) and 체크인하다 (to check in), are made by adding 하다 to the noun. For the single query on its own, see hotel in korean. The next section says where to start.

Which Hotel Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 예약 (reservation), 체크인 (check-in), 체크아웃 (check-out), 객실 (guest room) and 조식 (breakfast) first. With these five you can confirm a booking, ask for a room and find out when breakfast is served. Add 수건 (towel) and 와이파이 (Wi-Fi) for the first night.

• Words to say at the front desk. 예약, 체크인, 체크아웃, 여권, 열쇠.
• Words to read on a booking page. 숙박, 일박, 보증금, 취소, 조식.
• Words to use in a request. 수건, 에어컨, 와이파이, 청소, 소음.

Start by checking which type of lodging you are booking. Korea has several, and the English name often hides a different meaning. The first group and the table below explain the differences.

Word · 8

1. 1

   호텔

   Play

   hotel

   hotel

2. 2

   예약

   Play

   yeyak

   reservation; booking

3. 3

   체크인

   Play

   chekeuin

   check-in

4. 4

   프런트

   Play

   peureonteu

   front desk

5. 5

   카드키

   Play

   kadeuki

   key card

6. 6

   침대

   Play

   chimdae

   bed

7. 7

   수건

   Play

   sugeon

   towel

8. 8

   에어컨

   Play

   eeokeon

   air conditioner

Types of Lodging

Korean lodging comes in more types than a hotel, and the names do not always match English. These seven words name the places you can book.

Korean uses its own word for each type. A 모텔 is a plain city lodging with a private room, and quality varies; check reviews before you book. A 펜션 is a self-catering house, not a bed-and-breakfast. The 한옥 stay is a traditional house with an ondol floor. The table in the extras section compares them side by side.

Booking

These seven words appear on every booking page and in every confirmation email. The first three are the ones you say; the rest you read.

The counting pattern 이 박 삼 일 (two nights, three days) is how Koreans state the length of a trip. The nights come first, then the days. A one-night stay is 일 박 이 일, and a three-night stay is 삼 박 사 일. Read the numbers with Sino-Korean numerals.

Check-in and Check-Out

These words are what you say at the front desk on arrival and on departure. The first two are English loanwords and the others are everyday nouns.

Notice the two ways of saying key: 열쇠 is the older word and 카드키 is the modern hotel word. The phrase 체크인은 몇 시예요? is worth saying aloud, because the front-desk answer will be a time. A time is read with native Korean numbers for hours and Sino-Korean for minutes, as in 열한 시 (eleven o'clock).

Room Types

Room names in Korean are mostly English loanwords with Korean spelling, plus the uniquely Korean ondol room. The seven words below cover the choices on a booking page.

The 싱글룸, 더블룸 and 트윈룸 trio is the quickest way to state your needs: 트윈룸으로 주세요 (a twin room, please). The 온돌방 is a different kind of room. It has underfloor heating, and guests sleep on a mat laid on the floor, not in a bed. Check the listing, because some rooms offer both a bed and an ondol floor.

Facilities and Requests

The last group names the things you ask for or complain about. The first three are amenities and the last four are the nouns of a problem or a service request.

Notice the two frames in the examples. The request frame is noun + (더) + 주세요 (please give me [more]) or verb + 해 주세요 (please do). The problem frame is noun + 이/가 + 고장 났어요 (the noun has broken). The request forms come from 주다 (줘요) and 하다 (해요).

What Is the Difference between a 호텔, 모텔 and 펜션?

The English word does not always match the Korean one. The table compares the common types, and the notes below the table explain the most important cases.

A 모텔 is not the same as an American roadside motel. In Korea it is usually a basic city lodging with a private room, and quality varies, so read the reviews before you book. A 찜질방 is not a hotel at all. It is a public bath with common sleeping areas, and some guests stay overnight. For the bath on its own, see the Around the City list.

What Do You Say at Check-In?

A check-in follows a short script. The sentences use the words on this page, plus the basic verbs 하다 and 주다.

The first line uses 예약하다 in the past tense, 예약했어요. The number in the second line is read digit by digit. The last line uses the pattern noun + 더 + 주세요. For more sentences, see the hotel phrases page and the travel phrases section.

How Do You Report a Problem Politely?

Korean hotel staff expect a soft, specific request. Name the problem noun, then say it has broken or ask for the fix. Three frames cover most cases.

• Something is broken. 에어컨이 고장 났어요. (The air conditioner has broken down.)
• Something is too loud. 옆방 소음이 심해요. (The noise from the next room is severe.)
• Something is needed. 방을 청소해 주세요. (Please clean the room.)

The polite ending -요 is enough in a hotel. Adding 죄송하지만 (sorry, but) at the start softens a request: 죄송하지만 수건 더 주세요. Keep the sentence short, name the room, and point to the problem if the words fail. A complaint is easier to handle when you state the room number: 삼백오 호입니다 means this is room 305.

How Do You Pronounce Korean Hotel Words?

Hotel words contain several sound changes that the spelling hides. The Revised Romanization of Korean records the spelling and ignores many of these changes. The standard pronunciation rules published by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) give the spoken form.

The tense sounds in 숙박, 객실 and 욕실 are the most common slip. Say the second consonant tight, with no puff of air. The Hangul does not show the change, so use the audio as your guide.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each headword and each example sentence has its own audio clip. The clips below replay the trickiest words at a slower pace. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Hotel Words?

These five mistakes come up most when learners book a Korean stay.

1. Booking a 모텔 and expecting a roadside motel. In Korea it is a basic city lodging. Read the reviews.
2. Reading 이 박 삼 일 as three nights. It means two nights and three days. The first number counts nights.
3. Looking for 방 on a booking page. Booking pages and hotel signs use the formal 객실. 방 is the everyday word you say at the desk.
4. Expecting a bed in an 온돌방. The room has a heated floor and bedding on the floor. Check the listing.
5. Saying 열쇠 for a card. A hotel door usually opens with a 카드키.

If you remember only one, remember that nights come before days, because it changes how long you pay for.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you know each of the 35 words. Second, switch to listening mode and answer from the audio alone. Third, take the quiz. The deck covers all 35 words with audio, and your progress stays in your browser. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, copy the 35 words by hand and write the meaning next to each. Write a three-line check-in script with your own name and dates.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with hotel phrases for the full sentences, or Travel and Airport for the words you need before you arrive. For finding the hotel, see Korean Directions Vocabulary. For the single query on its own, see hotel in korean. To move up a level, return to Places and Travel.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Hotel in Korean?

Hotel is 호텔 (hotel). It is a loanword from English and is written in Hangul as 호텔. Say ho-tel, with a short [o] and an [l] sound at the end. In a sentence: 호텔을 예약했어요 (I booked a hotel).

How Do You Say Reservation in Korean?

Reservation is 예약 (yeyak). The verb is 예약하다, and the polite past tense is 예약했어요 (I have booked), which is also the first thing you say at check-in. To ask the number, say 예약 번호가 뭐예요? Use 예약 for hotels, restaurants and tickets.

How Do You Say Check-in in Korean?

Check-in is 체크인 (chekeuin), a loanword. To ask the time, say 체크인은 몇 시예요? The check-out is 체크아웃 (chekeuaut). Both are written in Hangul and used in everyday speech, and both become verbs with 하다, as in 체크인했어요 (I have checked in).

How Do You Pronounce 호텔?

Say ho-tel. The first syllable has the vowel [o], and the second syllable has [te] followed by a light [l] at the end. There is no sound change. Play the 호텔 clip in the lodging table, and compare it with 모텔, which differs only in the first consonant.

What Is an 온돌방?

An 온돌방 (ondolbang) is a room with underfloor heating, where guests sleep on bedding laid on the floor. It is a traditional Korean style of room. If you prefer a bed, choose a 싱글룸, 더블룸 or 트윈룸, or check whether the listing offers both.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid and does not mark every sound change, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.