In or at

Question

Hi,Which one of following sentence is/are correct or it has different meaning? 1. They stay at a hotel.2. They stay in a hotel.3.They stay at the apartment. 4. They stay in the apartment. Thanks.

Laborious · Accepted Answer

All seem possible. "At the hotel" means in premisesof the hotel, while "in the hotel" means inside the hotel. Similarly, "at the apartment" would mean in the premises of the apartment, and "in the apartment" would mean inside the apartment.

Chanakaranathunga · Answer

Thanks.
Let's say, if they went out for some other work & right now they don't stay in the apartment or either same remises. If someone ask about them like below, then how could we say?
1. Where do they stay?

Thanks.

Laborious · Answer

Chanakaranathunga If someone ask about them like below, then how could we say?1. Where do they stay?

Actually, "Where do they stay?" without adding any further information doesn't seem good English. The reason is because the verb "stay" isn't as permanent as the verb "live" is. "Where do they stay (when they are in London / when they come to London / when they visit London)?" seems more natural to me as compared to just saying "Where do they stay?"

If you have just left your hotel, say, to shop, one would rather ask you "Where are you staying?", and in response you could say either "in" or "at", for ex I am staying at the Park Avenue hotel or I am staying in the Park Avenue hote. But I, personally, would prefer "at".

Ivanhr · Answer

First, you really should use the present progressive staying to say that they are only temporarily staying at/in a hotel (both preposition will do).

If you mention the name of a hotel, then you normally should use at.

I'm staying at the Ritz in New York. (at denotes the location of the hotel, so at is used)

With apartment, I'd use in, though I can't dismiss at as impossible in some contexts.

In or at

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions