Checking into a hotel in Chinese: booking, passport, room
A Chinese hotel front desk is the easiest place in the country to speak bad Chinese: the conversation is a fixed script about bookings, passports, floors and breakfast times, and the staff have it hundreds of times a week.
One thing to know before you arrive: every hotel in China registers its guests with the local police, and hotels that accept foreign guests copy your passport and visa page at check-in. That's routine, not suspicion — but it's also why a cheap hotel that can't register foreigners may refuse your booking at the door.
8 steps · 8 phrases · tap any phrase to hear it
Listen to all 8
Hands-free playback — good for a taxi, a queue, or the plane.
Back-to-back Chinese — good once the phrases are familiar.
- 1
Say you have a booking
You may hear
请问订房的名字是？
Qǐngwèn dìngfáng de míngzi shì?
May I ask what name the room was booked under?
Give the name exactly as it appears on the booking — the romanisation matters less than the spelling, and the clerk will spell it back to you on screen. Having the confirmation open on your phone shortens this step to pointing.
- 2
Ask to check in
You may hear
请出示护照。
Qǐng chūshì hùzhào.
Please show your passport.
One passport per guest, including children. If your booking is in a partner's name, expect them to need a passport too — the registration is per person, not per room.
- 3
Hand over your passport
You may hear
好的，请稍等。
Hǎo de, qǐng shāoděng.
OK, one moment please.
While they copy the passport they'll usually ask for a deposit (押金, yājīn), taken as a card pre-authorisation or a QR payment and returned at check-out. It's normal — ask for 押金多少 if you want the number up front.
- 4
Find out which floor
You may hear
五楼，这是房卡。
Wǔ lóu, zhè shì fángkǎ.
Fifth floor — here's your key card.
一楼 (yī lóu) is the ground floor, and lifts label it 1F — so a room on 五楼 is four levels up from the street. 房卡 (fángkǎ) is the key card; many hotels also need it in a slot inside the room before the lights work.
- 5
Get the Wi-Fi sorted
You may hear
密码在房卡上。
Mìmǎ zài fángkǎ shàng.
The password is on the key card.
Wi-Fi passwords are printed on the key card sleeve or on a card in the room as often as at the desk. Worth knowing: hotel Wi-Fi in China may not reach Google, WhatsApp or Instagram at all — set up your own data or a roaming eSIM before you rely on it.
- 6
Check the breakfast window
You may hear
早上七点到十点。
Zǎoshang qī diǎn dào shí diǎn.
From seven to ten in the morning.
Hotel breakfast in China is usually a 自助餐 (zìzhùcān, buffet) and closes sharply — the last half hour is cleared early. The same 几点 question asks opening and closing times for anything: 泳池几点开 (what time does the pool open).
- 7
Leave your bags after check-out
You may hear
可以，放这儿吧。
Kěyǐ, fàng zhèr ba.
Sure — leave them here.
Most hotels store bags for free on your last day, which is what makes an evening flight workable. Ask at the desk on the way out, not when you check out in a hurry.
- 8
Check out
You may hear
房卡给我，稍等。
Fángkǎ gěi wǒ, shāoděng.
Give me the key card, one moment.
Hand the card over while you say it. Two things to check before you go: the deposit has been released, and you haven't been charged for the minibar — the bill on screen is the one to read, not the one on paper.
Also worth having ready
Not part of the flow, but the ones people wish they'd practised before this situation.
Common questions
- How do you say “I have a booking” in Chinese?
- 我订了房间 (Wǒ dìng le fángjiān) — literally “I booked a room”. The 了 marks it as already done. Have your confirmation on screen: the clerk will ask 请问订房的名字是 (what name is the booking under?) and match it against the computer.
- Do hotels in China ask for your passport?
- Yes. Every hotel registers guests with the local police, and hotels that can accept foreign guests copy your passport and visa page at check-in. It's a legal requirement rather than a choice, so it happens at five-star hotels and hostels alike.
- What should I ask at a Chinese hotel front desk?
- The questions that save the most time: 有 Wi-Fi 吗 (is there Wi-Fi?), 早餐几点开始 (what time does breakfast start?), 房间在几楼 (what floor is the room on?) and 可以寄存行李吗 (can I store my luggage?). All four are on this page with audio.
Every phrase used here, in full
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