Hotel Vocabulary and Phrases

This page is designed to give a crash course in hotel vocabulary and basic 敬語 expressions.
Work In progress. To be updated rapidly for a friend.

Vocab

Specific Terminology

• アライバルチェック (Also known as あらいば) – Arrival check. Not necessarily todays arrivals.
• アメニティー – Amenities
• OTA  (オーティーエー) – Online Travel Agency 
• インバウンド – Inbound Guests (Foreign)
• 外出中 – Currently out of (Hotel)
• 清掃 – Cleaning
• 清掃チーム – Cleaning Team
• 清掃中 – In cleaning.
• ベッドメイク – Making the bed.
• ホウレンソウ – Report, Contact, Discuss – In other words, communication. 

Common Items/Expressions

• お盆 – Tray
• デュヴェイ – Duvet. A thick comforter type thing.
• 検温 – Temperature Check
• 全館 – Entire hotel
• 禁煙 – No smoking
• 喫煙スペース – Smoking Area
• 非常出口 – Emergency Exit
• 非常階段 – Emergency Stairs
• 非常はしご – Emergency Ladder
• 自動ドア – Automatic Door

Keigo

• 失礼します/失礼いたします (Choose one)
  Said every time you move past a guest, or encounter a guest, or at the start of a conversation with a guest. 
• どうぞこちらへをおかけになってください –
  Please have a sear here. (Pull out the chair)
• よろしければこちらへおかけになって少々お待ちください
  Please have a seat and wait.
• 全てのお客様に検温へのご協力をお願いいたしております
  We are asking all guests for  cooperation with a temperature check.
• 全館禁煙でございます
  There’s no smoking anywhere in the hotel.
• そちらの出口を出て左側の喫煙スペースをご利用くださいませ
  Please use the smoking area outside that automatic door and to the left.

Phone Calls

By far the most stressful part.

• Received calls begin with “Hotel Name + Nameでございます。
• Placed calls to Business partners begin with “いつもを世話になっております、Hotel Name + Nameでございます
• Calls to guests not in the hotel begin: Hotel Name + Name でございます
• Calls to guests in the hotel NOT after 10:00p.m. Begin with: フロントでございます。 お寛ぎのところを大変失礼しますが。。 
• Calls to guests after 10:00 p.m.: Don’t. Or “夜分遅くに大変失礼しますが。。”
• Phone calls you have no idea about (Business): 担当はただいま席を外しております。改めてお電話を折り返しいたします。 Take a note as best you can, record number. (Additional reading on this)
• Phone calls from guests you are clueless about: 確認いたしますので少々お待ちいただけないでしょうか。
• Phone calls you don’t know about where someone else is there who does know: 担当に代わりますので少々お待ちください。

Behavior

Guest Interactions

1. Always be mindful of presentation. 
2. Do not let guests see you in anything other than a suit.
3. Do not let guests see the back-office workings of a hotel. Paperwork, towels, etc. 
4. Do not let guests see you with a towel or cleaning basket
5. Slowly Ring the doorbell (Long press), wait, then knock Twice. Wait. Then Enter (if they aren’t there).
   Do not knock once. Do not knock 3 times. Knocking 3 times “is like a bathroom”.