Verb - to check in - is there one?

[Christa]

I was just wondering what "check in" - as in to check into a hotel - is in Chinese. I asked a Chinese friend of mine and they said that there is no word for it.

 

Can that be true?

 

I see various words listed in the dictionary but my friend said none of them sound right.

 

Can you think of a way to say it? E.g. "I need to check in to my hotel first guys, then I can have fun!" - What would "check-in" be in those circumstances?

[Tomsima]

never trust the old 'there is no word for it'!

 

check in: 入住

check out: 退房

 

in your example sentence this might sound a little stilted; perhaps something along the lines of "找酒店“ would be better in a more casual conversation

[Christa]

5 minutes ago, Tomsima said:

never trust the old 'there is no word for it'!

 

check in: 入住

check out: 退房

 

 

Thanks, Tomsima.

 

Can 入住 be used as a verb?

 

For instance, is it possible to say "我们需要在两点入住酒店" for "we need to check in to the hotel at 2 o'clock"?

[Tomsima]

Yep, use it as a verb and youre good to go

[Lu]

1 hour ago, Christa said:

我们需要在两点入住酒店

Take out the 在 though. 我们要两点入住酒店。

I think I would usually use 入住 and 退房 without 酒店, but I don't know if adding 酒店 is wrong or that I just happened to never have heard it because it is usually superfluous and thus left out.

[Shelley]

2 hours ago, Lu said:

I think I would usually use 入住 and 退房 without 酒店

Probably much as in English we wouldn't bother to say "I am going to check into my hotel", you would just say "I am going to check in."

[abcdefg]

7 hours ago, Christa said:

Can 入住 be used as a verb?

 

Yes. It can be used like that. Use it the same way as you would use 退房。

 

I often wind up calling the front desk to ask whether it would be OK for me to: 晚一点退房，例如一点半？ 

[dtcamero]

i always used 登记 for check-in, and front desk people never gave me a funny look...

 

maybe some enlightened person would tell me whether that's a natural word to use or if i should switch to 入住...

[Tomsima]

登記 is the English 'check in' at an airport, but 'register' at the local police station etc. Using 登記 sounds more formal than 入住 in a hotel situation to my ear, as it suggests you're not only getting a room, but also registering your stay at a temporary residence as it were.

[Publius]

登記 is a natural word to use at the front desk. But too vague if you're making a reservation over the phone, for example. The person at the other end may ask you 您預計幾時入住？

But in the OP's original example, "I need to check in to my hotel first guys, then I can have fun!", neither is appropriate. You probably need to say something like 等我到酒店安頓好了再來找你們玩 or 我得先找個酒店住下再說 if you haven't booked one in advance.

[abcdefg]

6 hours ago, dtcamero said:

i always used 登记 for check-in, and front desk people never gave me a funny look...

 

That works for me too. It's usually not necessary to put too fine a point on it. The front desk clerks realize there is a limited number of reasons that people approach them with luggage. Sometimes I'll add "我已经预订了房间”, since i usually reserve on-line. 

[歐博思]

OP, what does your friend think of the solutions here?

[Christa]

56 minutes ago, 歐博思 said:

OP, what does your friend think of the solutions here?

 

He agrees with Publius. He says it's hard to find a term that works in the same way as the English "check-in" does. He said that he particularly agrees with:

 

17 hours ago, Publius said:

登記 is a natural word to use at the front desk. But too vague if you're making a reservation over the phone, for example.

 

He also says that 入住 sort of works sometimes but, as Publius says, can't be used in all situations where check-in could be used in English.

[abcdefg]

11 hours ago, Christa said:

He agrees with Publius. He says it's hard to find a term that works in the same way as the English "check-in" does.

 

11 hours ago, Christa said:

He also says that 入住 sort of works sometimes but, as Publius says, can't be used in all situations where check-in could be used in English.

 

I'm assuming your friend is a native speaker of Chinese who has learned English and now lives in the U.K. I cannot help but wonder if his guidance is shaped by English being his second language. I cannot help but wonder if his guidance is less than perfect. 

 

The reason I say that is that I'm having a very hard time coming up with examples of situations in which 入住 cannot be used just like "check-in" at a hotel. Perhaps you have (or perhaps I have) misunderstood @Publius.  

 

This certainly is not an earth-shaking question, and I'm not trying to start an argument. 

 

 

[hbuchtel]

I was just thinking that when I say I need to check in to my hotel, practically speaking what I mean is that I need to be able to put my luggage somewhere and maybe freshen up a little. 

 

In addition to the suggestions above, perhaps consider saying something like “等我先把行李放好” to convey your meaning. 

[Publius]

On 6/24/2018 at 7:36 AM, abcdefg said:

I'm having a very hard time coming up with examples of situations in which 入住 cannot be used just like "check-in" at a hotel

Clearly there is a situation in which everybody feels that 入住 is not a suitable word, i.e., "I need to check in to my hotel first guys, then I can have fun!"

The problem with 入住 is it's too formal and specialized. Hotel clerks are expected to speak, and be spoken to, in that way. You may also find the word in a hotel brochure or a news report. That's okay. But it would be very unusual to hear it in a casual conversation between friends.

In the same vein is 登機 'to board the plane'. You hear it all the time at the airport. It's also okay to say 回頭再聊，我這邊已經開始登機了. But it's funny to say 等我登機以後…… It's just pretentious. Your friend would be like 等您登基以後，封我個什麼官做啊？

[abcdefg]

 

7 hours ago, Publius said:

The problem with 入住 is it's too formal and specialized.

 

OK, I see what you mean. 

[Beelzebro]

Ok, so working from the basis that in many situations where English speakers say "check in to our hotel", they actually mean "drop off our luggage and/or freshen up", like in OP's sentence, I'm now wondering if there exists in Chinese an expression similar to "freshen up"? Would 我要先到酒店放好行李什么的，再出来玩 be appropriate, with freshening up being implied in the 什么的?

[abcdefg]

10 hours ago, Beelzebro said:

...I'm now wondering if there exists in Chinese an expression similar to "freshen up"?

 

My ladyfriend uses 洗洗脸。

[dwq]

Another problem with 入住 as in 我们需要在两点入住酒店 is that it does not imply you have a reservation, whereas check-in does.

Usually this is understood within context, but alone 我们需要在两点入住酒店 can also mean "We don't have a hotel room, we need to get one by 2 o'clock".

 

Also, I'd add another situation where English speakers say "check in to our hotel", they mean "show up and register for the room they reserved before the time limit so the hotel doesn't cancel and give it to somebody else".

 

Some more translations for check-in from this thread: 辦理入住；辦住宿手續；報到；到達並登記

 

https://hk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060107000014KK16012