I can book a single or double room for the right number of nights, check in at the front desk of a Portuguese hotel, ask about breakfast and the elevator, say that something in the room isn't working, and ask for help.
No hotel
No hotel
A hotel stay has four steps: booking, check-in, a question or complaint, check-out. Speak to the staff formally, in the third person.
Hotels count nights, not days: para uma noite, para duas noites, para três noites. A room is individual (for one) or duplo (for two). The price: “Quanto custa por noite?”
At the desk: “Tenho uma reserva em nome de Sousa.” They'll ask for an ID, and often to spell your last name.
Name the floor with a number: “O quarto é no andar dois.” Portuguese floor numbers start above street level, so andar dois is the US third floor.
Machines take funcionar, not trabalhar: the elevator, the air conditioning, and the internet funcionam or não funcionam. For something missing, use há: “Não há papel.”
Ask for help with the set phrase “Pode ajudar-me?”: -me goes after the verb, with a hyphen.
You pay at the desk when you leave. A suitcase is a mala (the same word means “bag”).
Two sounds: in chave, ch is one sound [ʃ], like sh in “shoe”; in toalha, lh is one sound [ʎ], like lli in “million”, not l + h.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “um quarto para dois dias” → “para duas noites”: hotels count nights.
• NOT “O ar condicionado não trabalha” → “não funciona”: trabalhar is for people.
• NOT “Tenho reserva” → “Tenho uma reserva.”: it needs the article.
• NOT “Eu sou no quarto duzentos e quatro” → “Estou no quarto duzentos e quatro.”
The front desk asks, you answer
Five questions that are enough to check in at any Portuguese hotel.
| Front desk | You | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Boa tarde. Em que nome? | Em nome de Almeida. | Good afternoon. What name is it under? — Under the name Almeida. |
| Quantas noites? | Três noites. | How many nights? — Three nights. |
| O documento, se faz favor. | Claro que sim. Faça favor. | Your ID, please. — Of course. Here you are. |
| Onde fica a sala do pequeno-almoço? | No andar um. | Where's the breakfast room? — On the second floor (in Portuguese, andar um). |
| Vai pagar com cartão? | Vou, sim. | Will you pay by card? — Yes. |
What to say if something's wrong in the room
For machines, say funcionar; for something missing, use há.
| What happened | What to say at the front desk |
|---|---|
| the TV won't turn on | A televisão não funciona. |
| there's no paper in the bathroom | Não há papel na casa de banho. |
| the room is cold | O quarto está frio. |
Lesson notes
No hotel
A hotel stay has four steps: booking, check-in, a question or complaint, check-out. Speak to the staff formally, in the third person.
Hotels count nights, not days: para uma noite, para duas noites, para três noites. A room is individual (for one) or duplo (for two). The price: “Quanto custa por noite?”
At the desk: “Tenho uma reserva em nome de Sousa.” They'll ask for an ID, and often to spell your last name.
Name the floor with a number: “O quarto é no andar dois.” Portuguese floor numbers start above street level, so andar dois is the US third floor.
Machines take funcionar, not trabalhar: the elevator, the air conditioning, and the internet funcionam or não funcionam. For something missing, use há: “Não há papel.”
Ask for help with the set phrase “Pode ajudar-me?”: -me goes after the verb, with a hyphen.
You pay at the desk when you leave. A suitcase is a mala (the same word means “bag”).
Two sounds: in chave, ch is one sound [ʃ], like sh in “shoe”; in toalha, lh is one sound [ʎ], like lli in “million”, not l + h.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “um quarto para dois dias” → “para duas noites”: hotels count nights.
• NOT “O ar condicionado não trabalha” → “não funciona”: trabalhar is for people.
• NOT “Tenho reserva” → “Tenho uma reserva.”: it needs the article.
• NOT “Eu sou no quarto duzentos e quatro” → “Estou no quarto duzentos e quatro.”