How to Get a Suite Deal by Crossing Language Barrier : Bookings: Knowing the jargon of the reservations desk can help you get exactly the lodging you want, at better than “rack rate.”

That’s not really a separate language that your travel agent and the hotel reservations agent start throwing around whenever you ask about renting a room. It’s just that many of the words you thought you understood in English have different meanings when used in the hotel industry. The more of them you understand, the more likely you are to get a fair deal and a comfortable room. Here’s a sampling.

Being walked: When you arrive at a hotel with a reservation and the clerk informs you that the hotel is overbooked and your reservation has been moved to another hotel, you’ve been “walked.” It happens far more often than hotel representatives like to admit (especially during conventions), and there’s not much a guest can do about it but demand the industry’s standard make-good offer in such circumstances: free transportation to a comparable or superior hotel, a free phone call or two, and the first night’s lodging free.

Continental breakfast: This could be a stale roll and a cup of coffee in a foam cup, or it could be a lavish selection of breads, rolls, pastries, fruits, juices, coffees and teas. Ask ahead of time.

Diamonds: These are how the American Automobile Assn. rates hotels, five diamonds being tops, no diamonds being suspect. Evaluations stress facilities and service, since design and location are harder to quantify.

First class: Often means nothing. In the Official Hotel Guide, the most widely used reference volume among travel agents, “first class” describes a middle-of-the-road property. The guide’s 10 descriptive terms, from most luxurious to least, descend this way: Superior Deluxe, Deluxe, Moderate Deluxe, Superior First Class, First Class, Limited First Class, Moderate First Class, Superior Tourist, Tourist and Moderate Tourist. (The OHG says Moderate Tourist hotels “should only be used in a pinch.” The 1995 Consumer Reports Buying Guide translates that as “this hotel is a dog.”)

Ocean view: Some hoteliers say the “ocean view” label depends on what the guest sees from the middle of his or her room. Others, employing a less-demanding standard, say it depends on what the guest sees when standing on the room’s patio or lanai. And does that mean 180 degrees of ocean, or 60 degrees or what? There are no clear answers. Definitions vary among Hyatt hotels, said spokeswoman Carrie Reckert, but generally ocean-view rooms are described as having “a clear, full view of the ocean, with no obstruction” from the balcony or lanai. At Hilton hotels, too, definitions can vary. Spokeswoman Kendra Walker noted that the chain has recently “cleaned up” its descriptions on the 19 waterfront Hilton resorts in North America, so guests are more clearly told whether they should expect an ocean view, a bay view, beach frontage or something else.

Occupancy rates: In the interplay between supply and demand that determines hotel rates, occupancy rates are the most important measure of demand. Nationwide, year-round rates are about 70%, but they vary widely by area and season. (Las Vegas is often more than 90%; on a slow weekend, Downtown Los Angeles might be half that.) At hotels that participate in half-off membership card discount programs, such as Entertainment and Quest, the best bargains usually aren’t available unless the hotel expects to be less than 80% occupied on the night you’re booking.

Rack rates: Short for “off the rack.” This is the inflated room-rate figure you see on hotel brochures and rate cards, and the first number the reservations agent quotes you when you call a hotel to ask about rates. Disdain it. Rack rates run far higher than a shrewd traveler should pay. Once you hear the rack rate, start asking about special weekend rates, weekday rates, seasonal rates, rates for Auto Club or American Assn. of Retired Persons members, or for corporate guests (generally, all you have to do is show a business card). A good travel agent can play that game for you; or, if you’d rather do it yourself, city reservation services and hotel consolidators, such Hotel Reservations Network (800-964-6835) or Quikbook (800-789-9887), can get you good reduced rates. Half-off membership card programs are another money-saving possibility.

Just how inflated are rack rates? Last year, Consumer Reports editors put these bargaining skills to work in calls to 30 hotels nationwide, and knocked an average of 44% off the highest rate quoted.

Stars: How Mobil and many foreign governments rate hotels. Five stars is generally the top. But beware, especially outside the United States. Many hotels describe themselves as four-star properties but have never been classified that way by an unbiased observer. Government star-rating programs, such as those in France and Italy, usually focus on facilities (rather than service, location or design) and sometimes pay more attention to public areas than private rooms.

Suite: Formerly, a suite was a hotel unit with separate living area and bedroom. But over the last decade, many properties have taken to advertising “junior suites” and “studio suites” that are really just single rooms that happen to be large enough to hold a bed and a love seat. To be sure, ask if there’s a wall separating the sitting and sleeping areas.

Reynolds travels anonymously at the newspaper’s expense, accepting no special discounts or subsidized trips. To reach him, write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.