At a restaurant/hotel: hitori vs ichimei

I notice that many language books tell you to use "mei" at restaurants and hotels, instead of the usual person counters (hitori, futari, etc).

If a hotel or restaurant service person asks me "nanmei-sama desuka", and I answer "hitori desu" (for example), would it be considered rude?

Ze~nzen OK desu!

If a hotel or restaurant service person asks me "nanmei-sama desuka", and I answer "hitori desu" (for example), would it be considered rude?

No, not at all. These have the same meaning, but only with a slight difference of tone.
Generally speaking, yamato kotoba (original japanese words, ghitorih in this case) give a softer and more familiar, therefore everyday life tone than kango/kanjigo (sino-japanese words, gichimeih in this case) which give possibly a less soft and more formal, therefore businesslike tone. You are a guest, therefore you donft have to be in tune with his/her professional way of speaking.

Yamato kotoba: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_kotoba
Kango/Kanjigo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Japanese_vocabulary

Just make sure to show a little guilt with your eyes. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDL8yu34fz0&t=0m55s

Thanks, everyone!

:-)
maa maa maa
ohto to to to