Tengo una Reserva: Arriving with a Booking
Tengo una reserva immediately explains why you have arrived. Add the booking name and understand a likely request for identification or confirmation details.
Learning objective
State that you have a reservation and give the name used for it.
At a hotel or restaurant desk, begin with Hola, tengo una reserva, meaning Hello, I have a reservation. Tengo means I have, and una reserva means a reservation. This one sentence tells the receptionist why you are there before you supply names, times, or documents.
The next question may be ¿A nombre de quién?, meaning Under whose name? A question word is a word that asks for missing information. Quién is a question word meaning who, and its written accent marks the question form. Reply A nombre de Lee, meaning Under the name Lee, to give the booking name.
You may instead hear ¿Cuál es el nombre?, meaning What is the name? Cuál is a question word used here to ask which name identifies the booking. Answer El nombre es Lee, The name is Lee, or simply Lee when the context is obvious. A short accurate answer is better than a long rehearsed speech.
Names can be difficult across languages and noisy desks. Offer to spell yours: Se escribe L-E-E means It is spelt L-E-E. Se escribe is a fixed neutral frame for saying how a word or name is written. Use Spanish letter names if you know them, speak slowly, and show the written booking when that is clearer.
Bookings may require a confirmation number, identification, or local details, and procedures differ by business. Have the reservation information ready. Your conversation map stays simple: greet, state tengo una reserva, give the booking name, clarify spelling. That sequence lets the staff find the record without unexplained grammar or invented information.
Examples
Hola, tengo una reserva.
Hello, I have a reservation.
Tengo una reserva states the purpose of your arrival.
¿A nombre de quién?
Under whose name?
Listen for nombre as the clue that the booking name is requested.
A nombre de Lee.
Under the name Lee.
This gives the exact name attached to the booking.
Se escribe L-E-E.
It is spelt L-E-E.
The fixed frame introduces a spelling clarification.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- Soy una reserva.
- Try
- Tengo una reserva.
Soy means I am and identifies the speaker, so Soy una reserva would identify the person as a reservation. Spanish uses tengo, I have, for the booking you possess: tengo una reserva.
Practice
Try it yourself
Role-play arriving at a small hotel with a booking under the name Cruz. State the reservation, answer ¿A nombre de quién?, and then spell Cruz after the receptionist asks for clarification.