"Raději bychom spali v hotelu."

Translation: We would rather sleep in a hotel.

[vor23]

The translation "we would rather sleep in the hotel" should also be accepted. For example, a group checked into a hotel and is now backpacking. It gets late. So they ask themselves: shall we spend the night here, or go back to the hotel? A couple answer, "we would rather sleep in the hotel." Which hotel? The one they already checked into, which is a very specific hotel and thus requires the use of "the."

[VladaFu]

What about when they are standing in front of a hotel and it is clear it is probably the only one in the town? A or the?

[vor23]

In that case, "the" or "this" would be most natural to use. Using "a" in this context would imply that another hotel is an option.

[imaldastar]

i thought raději meant more like prefer. could this sentence also be translated to "we would prefer to sleep in a hotel?"

[VladaFu]

yes