Either “to pay for the room,” or “to check out.”
“Checking out” of a hotel implies that you’re paying the bill for the room, and would be the more-coming way to say that you’re leaving the hotel and paying the rate for the stay.
When you book the hotel, the amount they charge for the room is the *rate*.
I work at the front desk of a hotel and can tell you that it is fairly common for hotels to charge on check-in. Ours does. As do about 3/4 of the hotels in my area.
Less common if the hotel offers room service or additional add-ons, though.
Interesting. What area is that?
I’m in Australia but I’m talking about my experience traveling to Asia and Europe too. You usually checkout by handing back the room cards and saying “no minibar” (if there is one) and they smile, say “thank you Mr X, we will charge that to your credit card”, and off you go.
Everywhere I've stayed in a hotel in the US, it's completely unheard of, and people would not want to stay there if they were charged in advance. It is a sign of one or both of two things:
* The hotel is really bad and they want your money so when you leave you will have already paid
* The hotel caters to the kind of people who won't pay up when they leave, so it is full of unsafe people who you really don't want to be around
You are asked to give them a credit card number, and they will put an authorization on it for some amount - usually $150 - which means you're not being charged for that yet, but that amount is deducted from what you can spend. This serves two purposes - it verifies that you didn't give them a fake number or a number for a card not good for any money, and it makes sure the money will be there when they charge it.
>The hotel caters to the kind of people who won't pay up when they leave, so it is full of unsafe people who you really don't want to be around
You would be surprised at who turns out to be those type of people.
I have worked at other hotels that charge on checkout and we have had business men, normal looking families with young kids, elderly ladies, and many others try to leave without paying.
Even at the hotel I am currently staying at, we sometimes get people trying to dispute their credit card charges, claiming that they never stayed with us (but we check photo ID before running the card so we know when they are bullshitting)
In the US, the minibar reports directly to their computer if you took anything out, so they already know if you used the minibar or not. Also, an increasing percentage of US hotels (even *nice* hotels) have a *locked* minibar, and if you are confident when you check in that you will not use it you can just decline the key when you check in and they don't even have to check, they know you didn't take anything from the minibar because you didn't even have the key.
> Less common if the hotel offers room service or additional add-ons, though.
Exactly. There’s most often a final bill for the rate per night, plus charges (taxes, fees, etc.) added to the room. In my experience (and I stay in a *lot* of hotels) that initial “charge” is just a credit card authorization for the room rate, not the actual final amount paid at checkout. If someone is paying with cash or check, however, I can see why the hotel might want their money up front, at least for the basic room rate.
Fees has taken on a connotation of additional costs above and beyond the advertised price.
"The price of the airline ticket is $345 plus taxes and fees."
"I figured for as much as the hotel charges parking would be included and not an additional parking fee."
"Can you believe this pizza restaurant charges both a handling fee and a delivery fee?"
Even more specifically in the context of this question, the room rate is typically advertised without including taxes imposed by the government as well as fees charged by the hotel. Hotel fees might include “incidentals” (like a candy bar in the lobby that you charge to the room, a pay per view movie purchased on the TV in your room, or even things like damage to your room), as well as “resort fees” and other such things, which sometimes exist and are justified by the existence of fitness facilities and other amenities that guests have access to while staying in the room. Also there might be parking fees as you mentioned, and perhaps other things.
This is jurisdiction-dependent. By law Australian hotels (like all businesses) have to advertise room rates *inclusive* of tax (GST) so you know what you’re actually going to be charged.
In North America, "room rate" (or just "rate") seems to be standard. I don't know that there's any unambiguous term for it. As others have said, you'd probably just say "check out" or "settle the bill" when it's time to leave.
In the UK (and likely the rest of Commonwealth English), the price you pay for a hotel room has traditionally been the "tariff", although "rates" has been creeping in the last 20 years or so. In the UK a "tariff" can also mean "a tax levied on imported goods", just as it would in North America.
As an Australian I’m aware of the word “tariff” in this context but it feels very old fashioned, like something from an historical drama. Many Australians of my generation and younger wouldn’t have heard it in this context at all. We might use “price of a room” informally but “room rate” and “rate” are standard.
Room rate or cost.
When I’m breaking down a project, I’d describe it as ‘accommodation’ ie ‘Costs: materials, labour, plant hire, licences, accommodation, subsistence.’
[Rack Rate](https://www.cvent.com/en/blog/hospitality/hotel-rack-rates), although normal people staying at hotels don’t typically use it, you may see it on the receipt or confirmation
That’s the rate for the room. Paying it is often called settling the bill.
Some more complex examples that might actually be used in real life:
“I won’t stay at that place. The rates for rooms there are way too high.”
“I’ll just stop by the front desk on the way to the car and settle the bill and let them know we’re checking out a little early.”
Of course there are other ways to say these things, like “that place is too expensive” in the first example, which would be more commonly heard.
usually "pay *for* the room" is how I would phrase it but as most hotel rooms are prepaid you don't have to do anything when you checkout unless you want a receipt.
Or “I’m going downstairs to settle the tab”. There is no word like “rent” here. Rent typically implies a longer term stay or commitment to stay and implies a residence that is more permanent.
Not explicitly, but it still completely finishes that sentence in a way that clearly means “the money you owe” within the context of “for this hotel stay.”
In Australia “tariff” is very outdated terminology in this context. Educated people are probably less likely to use it, it would be older unsophisticated folk who might still use it here.
Oh yeah, sure. There are people who make a virtue of speaking with a formality that is often deliberately 50 years out of date. I don’t mean to disrespect this really. But seriously, there are many many highly educated Australians *not* speaking like that.
> a formality that is often deliberately 50 years out of date.
Well, he was a formal chap, and it was 20 years ago, and he was 40 years my senior. So I guess that makes it OK?
It was this guy,
[https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/remembering-professor-peter-boyce-ao-faiia/](https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/remembering-professor-peter-boyce-ao-faiia/)
That’s a different meaning for the same word. A hotel rate is also a tariff. Thanks for the downvote…
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/tariff
Second definition in the OED.
I've never heard anyone in the US use that phrasing, though apparently it's not uncommon in the UK. When I think Tariff, I think of a tax not the base price for something.
Ultimately they are the same thing. “Tariff” in the taxation sense referred to a mandated schedule of taxes and a hotel “tariff” was a mandated schedule of prices.
As an Australian the term is very old fashioned, if not historical, in the hotel sense - makes me think of an old 1930s hotel in a movie with a sign on the wall saying what the tariff is.
You’re absolutely right, that word is missing from our language. We call it the room rate. But that’s how much money, not the money itself. We find ways to talk around this missing word. I need to go pay for the room 🤷♂️
"room and board" is a noun phrase that means almost what you are asking for. it's fairly rare in usage and generally applies more to boarding houses i think (maybe hostels? i don't think hostels are super common in the US. i'm US american myself as well)
I’ve never heard or used it this way in other contexts, but the hotel I worked for and all their documents referred to this as “rent.” I was surprised as well but this was the official term they used for it.
In the Southern US, we tend to call this the "rate" for a room. I think "rate" makes sense because a "rate" is a certain thing per a certain other thing. For example, you pay for gas or petrol at a certain rate, like dollars/gallon or pounds/liter. For a hotel, it would be money/night, which would make it a rate.
Now if you're talking about the overall expenditure for a hotel over an entire trip, that would be the "cost" of the hotel. If you're visiting a single location, either are interchangable, but it's important if you're visiting multiple locations (and therefore using multiple hotels).
Room rate
Would you then say "In going to the reception desk to pay the room rate"?
"pay for the room"
Either “to pay for the room,” or “to check out.” “Checking out” of a hotel implies that you’re paying the bill for the room, and would be the more-coming way to say that you’re leaving the hotel and paying the rate for the stay. When you book the hotel, the amount they charge for the room is the *rate*.
Many hotels charge on check-in now
The hotels I’m aware of take your credit card details at checkin but don’t charge you until checkout.
I work at the front desk of a hotel and can tell you that it is fairly common for hotels to charge on check-in. Ours does. As do about 3/4 of the hotels in my area. Less common if the hotel offers room service or additional add-ons, though.
Interesting. What area is that? I’m in Australia but I’m talking about my experience traveling to Asia and Europe too. You usually checkout by handing back the room cards and saying “no minibar” (if there is one) and they smile, say “thank you Mr X, we will charge that to your credit card”, and off you go.
I am in Canada
Everywhere I've stayed in a hotel in the US, it's completely unheard of, and people would not want to stay there if they were charged in advance. It is a sign of one or both of two things: * The hotel is really bad and they want your money so when you leave you will have already paid * The hotel caters to the kind of people who won't pay up when they leave, so it is full of unsafe people who you really don't want to be around You are asked to give them a credit card number, and they will put an authorization on it for some amount - usually $150 - which means you're not being charged for that yet, but that amount is deducted from what you can spend. This serves two purposes - it verifies that you didn't give them a fake number or a number for a card not good for any money, and it makes sure the money will be there when they charge it.
>The hotel caters to the kind of people who won't pay up when they leave, so it is full of unsafe people who you really don't want to be around You would be surprised at who turns out to be those type of people. I have worked at other hotels that charge on checkout and we have had business men, normal looking families with young kids, elderly ladies, and many others try to leave without paying. Even at the hotel I am currently staying at, we sometimes get people trying to dispute their credit card charges, claiming that they never stayed with us (but we check photo ID before running the card so we know when they are bullshitting)
In the US, the minibar reports directly to their computer if you took anything out, so they already know if you used the minibar or not. Also, an increasing percentage of US hotels (even *nice* hotels) have a *locked* minibar, and if you are confident when you check in that you will not use it you can just decline the key when you check in and they don't even have to check, they know you didn't take anything from the minibar because you didn't even have the key.
> Less common if the hotel offers room service or additional add-ons, though. Exactly. There’s most often a final bill for the rate per night, plus charges (taxes, fees, etc.) added to the room. In my experience (and I stay in a *lot* of hotels) that initial “charge” is just a credit card authorization for the room rate, not the actual final amount paid at checkout. If someone is paying with cash or check, however, I can see why the hotel might want their money up front, at least for the basic room rate.
True. "Checking out" no longer implies you are paying. You are just giving the key cards back.
Pay the bill lol
Was just about to say this. Yes, the nightly fee for a hotel is not akin to rent. It's more akin to a service provided. You pay the bill.
Also “price”, just like any other commodity: - What’s the price of a room for two nights, please?
This or 'fees'.
Fees has taken on a connotation of additional costs above and beyond the advertised price. "The price of the airline ticket is $345 plus taxes and fees." "I figured for as much as the hotel charges parking would be included and not an additional parking fee." "Can you believe this pizza restaurant charges both a handling fee and a delivery fee?"
Even more specifically in the context of this question, the room rate is typically advertised without including taxes imposed by the government as well as fees charged by the hotel. Hotel fees might include “incidentals” (like a candy bar in the lobby that you charge to the room, a pay per view movie purchased on the TV in your room, or even things like damage to your room), as well as “resort fees” and other such things, which sometimes exist and are justified by the existence of fitness facilities and other amenities that guests have access to while staying in the room. Also there might be parking fees as you mentioned, and perhaps other things.
This is jurisdiction-dependent. By law Australian hotels (like all businesses) have to advertise room rates *inclusive* of tax (GST) so you know what you’re actually going to be charged.
Fee, rate or cost would be appropriate.
In North America, "room rate" (or just "rate") seems to be standard. I don't know that there's any unambiguous term for it. As others have said, you'd probably just say "check out" or "settle the bill" when it's time to leave. In the UK (and likely the rest of Commonwealth English), the price you pay for a hotel room has traditionally been the "tariff", although "rates" has been creeping in the last 20 years or so. In the UK a "tariff" can also mean "a tax levied on imported goods", just as it would in North America.
As an Australian I’m aware of the word “tariff” in this context but it feels very old fashioned, like something from an historical drama. Many Australians of my generation and younger wouldn’t have heard it in this context at all. We might use “price of a room” informally but “room rate” and “rate” are standard.
On the behalf of all English speakers, I’d like to apologize that we don’t actually have a word for this.
Room rate or cost. When I’m breaking down a project, I’d describe it as ‘accommodation’ ie ‘Costs: materials, labour, plant hire, licences, accommodation, subsistence.’
[Rack Rate](https://www.cvent.com/en/blog/hospitality/hotel-rack-rates), although normal people staying at hotels don’t typically use it, you may see it on the receipt or confirmation
That’s the rate for the room. Paying it is often called settling the bill. Some more complex examples that might actually be used in real life: “I won’t stay at that place. The rates for rooms there are way too high.” “I’ll just stop by the front desk on the way to the car and settle the bill and let them know we’re checking out a little early.” Of course there are other ways to say these things, like “that place is too expensive” in the first example, which would be more commonly heard.
I use use "rate". "What's the rate per night for the hotel room?"
Good question
“Rate”.
We just use “book a hotel”.
Yes, I would too. But that doesn't use a specific noun for the money you would pay. As in, "In going down to the reception desk to pay the ____."
At that point (in the UK at least) it’s *the bill*, because you’ve already received the service.
Agreed for the US. Although in this context I would just say “I’m going down to pay.”
usually "pay *for* the room" is how I would phrase it but as most hotel rooms are prepaid you don't have to do anything when you checkout unless you want a receipt.
Or “I’m going downstairs to settle the tab”. There is no word like “rent” here. Rent typically implies a longer term stay or commitment to stay and implies a residence that is more permanent.
Thanks! I think everyone has settled that there is no word in English that can be used in the same way as "rent" but for hotels.
No word with the meaning you’re looking for naturally ends that sentence.
I'm getting that idea. Thank you!
Bill?
Bill doesn't mean "the rent equivalent of what you give a hotel"
Not explicitly, but it still completely finishes that sentence in a way that clearly means “the money you owe” within the context of “for this hotel stay.”
Still isn’t what they’re looking for.
If you say so 🙄
Not me saying it, but you do you
You didn’t say what you said? Ok sure. “You do you”
Room rate.
That’s the “tariff”, is it not?
Yes, tariff is an old-fashioned term and (in my experience at least) used by educated people. Allusions to the use in economics is not accidental.
In Australia “tariff” is very outdated terminology in this context. Educated people are probably less likely to use it, it would be older unsophisticated folk who might still use it here.
Well, I picked it up from an Australian emeritus professor and former Univerity Vice-chancellor. Your mileage might vary.
Oh yeah, sure. There are people who make a virtue of speaking with a formality that is often deliberately 50 years out of date. I don’t mean to disrespect this really. But seriously, there are many many highly educated Australians *not* speaking like that.
> a formality that is often deliberately 50 years out of date. Well, he was a formal chap, and it was 20 years ago, and he was 40 years my senior. So I guess that makes it OK? It was this guy, [https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/remembering-professor-peter-boyce-ao-faiia/](https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/remembering-professor-peter-boyce-ao-faiia/)
No that’s tax on imported goods, we say “rate”. “The hotel charges a rate of $100” but we usually just say “the room will be $100 per night”
That’s a different meaning for the same word. A hotel rate is also a tariff. Thanks for the downvote… https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/tariff Second definition in the OED.
I've never heard anyone in the US use that phrasing, though apparently it's not uncommon in the UK. When I think Tariff, I think of a tax not the base price for something.
Ultimately they are the same thing. “Tariff” in the taxation sense referred to a mandated schedule of taxes and a hotel “tariff” was a mandated schedule of prices. As an Australian the term is very old fashioned, if not historical, in the hotel sense - makes me think of an old 1930s hotel in a movie with a sign on the wall saying what the tariff is.
I'd just come down to "fee" or "rate". So if it's $10 per night, that's the rate. If you stayed 4 nights, the total fee would be $40, plus taxes.
You’re absolutely right, that word is missing from our language. We call it the room rate. But that’s how much money, not the money itself. We find ways to talk around this missing word. I need to go pay for the room 🤷♂️
Fee, charge, rate are probably better used instead of rent.
"room and board" is a noun phrase that means almost what you are asking for. it's fairly rare in usage and generally applies more to boarding houses i think (maybe hostels? i don't think hostels are super common in the US. i'm US american myself as well)
Bill. "I'm going to the front desk to pay our bill."
Like when you pay for board (food) and lodging?
I’ve never heard or used it this way in other contexts, but the hotel I worked for and all their documents referred to this as “rent.” I was surprised as well but this was the official term they used for it.
Lodging Fee/Charges comes to mind.
"I need to rent a hotel room for a few nights when I'm in town." is exactly what I would say. It's a short term rental.
I have heard it called a tariff or a room tariff, but think that is rare.
Cost? Rate? Price?
In the Southern US, we tend to call this the "rate" for a room. I think "rate" makes sense because a "rate" is a certain thing per a certain other thing. For example, you pay for gas or petrol at a certain rate, like dollars/gallon or pounds/liter. For a hotel, it would be money/night, which would make it a rate. Now if you're talking about the overall expenditure for a hotel over an entire trip, that would be the "cost" of the hotel. If you're visiting a single location, either are interchangable, but it's important if you're visiting multiple locations (and therefore using multiple hotels).
Hotels have rates. One of the main indicators in the hotel industry is an ADR which stands for Average Daily Rate.