Ей нравится брать тапочки в поездку, чтобы в гостинице чувствовать себя как дома.

Because нравиться works differently from English to like.

Russian uses this pattern:

• X нравится Y = Y is pleasing to X

So in Ей нравится брать тапочки в поездку:

• ей = to her (dative case)
• нравится = is pleasing / is liked
• брать тапочки в поездку = taking slippers on a trip

Literally, the sentence is something like:

• Taking slippers on a trip is pleasing to her

That is why ей is in the dative, not она in the nominative.

Because the thing being liked here is not тапочки by themselves. The whole action брать тапочки в поездку is what she likes.

An infinitive phrase like брать тапочки в поездку behaves like a single idea, so Russian uses singular нравится.

Compare:

• Ей нравятся тапочки. = She likes the slippers.
• Ей нравится брать тапочки в поездку. = She likes taking slippers on a trip.

In the first sentence, the subject is тапочки (plural), so нравятся is plural. In the second, the subject is the whole infinitive phrase, so нравится stays singular.

Брать is imperfective, and that fits the meaning here.

The sentence is talking about a general habit or preference:

• she likes taking slippers on trips
• this is something she tends to do

For repeated, habitual, or general actions, Russian usually prefers the imperfective.

So:

• брать = to take, to be in the habit of taking
• взять = to take once, as a completed action

If you were talking about one specific trip, взять might be possible in a different structure, for example:

• Она решила взять тапочки в эту поездку. = She decided to take slippers on this trip.

But in the original sentence, брать is the natural choice.

Тапочки means slippers or house slippers.

A few useful details:

• singular: тапочка = one slipper
• plural: тапочки = slippers

In practice, Russian often uses the plural because slippers usually come as a pair, just like English often does.

So брать тапочки в поездку means to take slippers on a trip, usually with the idea of comfortable indoor footwear for the hotel.

Because в поездку uses the accusative and expresses direction or purpose: for/on a trip.

Here the idea is:

• she takes slippers along for the trip

So в поездку answers something like for what context / into what situation?

Compare:

• в поездку = for a trip / on a trip / to take along on a trip
• в поездке = during the trip / while on the trip

Examples:

• Она берет лекарства в поездку. = She takes medicine on a trip.
• В поездке ей было скучно. = She was bored during the trip.

So в поездку is correct because the slippers are being packed or taken along for that trip.

Чтобы introduces a purpose clause. It means so that, in order to, or so as to.

In this sentence:

• чтобы в гостинице чувствовать себя как дома
• so that she can feel at home in the hotel
• or more naturally: to feel at home in the hotel

So the logic is:

• She likes taking slippers on a trip
• in order to feel at home in the hotel

This is a very common use of чтобы in Russian.

Good question. Russian can use чтобы with an infinitive when the subject is the same and is understood from context.

Here, the person who likes taking slippers and the person who wants to feel at home are the same person: she.

So чтобы чувствовать себя как дома is a natural compressed way of saying:

• чтобы она чувствовала себя как дома

Both are possible, but the infinitive version is often more concise and natural when the subject is the same.

So:

• чтобы + infinitive = often used when the subject is the same
• чтобы + finite verb = often used when the subject is different, or when you want to state it explicitly

Because чувствовать себя is the normal Russian expression for to feel in the sense of to feel a certain way.

So:

• чувствовать by itself usually means to feel/sense something
• чувствовать себя means to feel oneself / to feel in terms of one’s state or condition

Examples:

• Я чувствую холод. = I feel coldness / I feel the cold.
• Я чувствую себя хорошо. = I feel good.

In your sentence:

• чувствовать себя как дома = to feel at home

Without себя, the phrase would sound incomplete or wrong for this meaning.

Как дома is an idiomatic expression meaning:

• like at home
• at home
• comfortable, relaxed, in familiar surroundings

The word дома here is an adverb meaning at home.

So:

• Я дома. = I am at home.
• чувствовать себя как дома = to feel at home

This is a fixed expression, so learners should really remember it as a chunk:

• как дома = like at home

You do not say как дом here. And although доме exists in forms like в доме = in the house, that is not the idiom used here.

Yes, the word order could be different. Russian word order is flexible.

In the original sentence:

• чтобы в гостинице чувствовать себя как дома

the phrase в гостинице comes early to set the location: in the hotel.

But Russian could also say:

• чтобы чувствовать себя в гостинице как дома

This is also correct.

The original version sounds natural because it introduces the setting first, then the action/state. Russian often moves elements around for rhythm, emphasis, or style more freely than English does.

They are very close in meaning.

• гостиница = hotel
• отель = hotel

In many contexts they are interchangeable. However, отель can sometimes sound a bit more modern, international, or associated with a certain type of hotel, while гостиница is the more traditional native Russian word.

So in this sentence, either could work:

• в гостинице
• в отеле

But в гостинице is completely natural and neutral.

Yes, that literal breakdown is actually helpful for understanding the grammar.

Word-for-word-ish:

• Ей = to her
• нравится = is pleasing / pleases
• брать тапочки в поездку = to take slippers on a trip
• чтобы = so that / in order to
• в гостинице = in the hotel
• чувствовать себя как дома = feel at home

So a very literal reading would be:

• To her, taking slippers on a trip is pleasing, so as to feel at home in the hotel.

That is not natural English, but it shows how the Russian grammar is built. A natural translation is:

• She likes taking slippers on trips so that she can feel at home in the hotel.