Hotel English Using Travel English at Hotels
Hi, my name is Olivier.
Welcome to Oxford Online English.
Do you travel abroad, for work or for pleasure?
If so, do you normally stay in hotels?
Are you comfortable using English to reserve
a room, check in or out, and deal with any
problems you have during your stay?
In this lesson, you can learn how to use English
in common hotel situations.
It can also help you if you work in a hotel.
Imagine you’re traveling abroad and you need
to arrange a hotel.
What’s the first thing you need to do?
Nowadays, you’ll often reserve your hotel
room online, but sometimes you might need
to make a reservation by phone, or even in
person.
Let’s see how you can do this:
Hi, I’d like to make a reservation.
Yes, of course.
When would you like to check in?
On the 3rd of November.
And how many nights would that be for?
For three nights.
And what kind of room were you looking for?
A double room.
It’s for my husband and me.
Ok.
We do have one double room available for those
dates.
It’s $80 a night, so that comes to $240
for the three nights.
Yes, that’s fine.
Great.
Can I take your name?
Yes, it’s Sarah Banks
Thank you, Ms. Banks.
Can I just take a credit card from you to
make the booking?
Yes of course, here you are.
Okay Ms. Banks, that’s all finished.
Is there anything else I can help you with?
Yes, could I have a confirmation emailed to
me?
Yes of course, what’s the email?
It’s s dot banks at gmail dot com.
Okay, I’ll send that over to you now.
Excellent, thank you very much.
You’re welcome.
We look forward to seeing you.
Thank you, goodbye
Goodbye.
Let’s look at some key phrases and useful
vocabulary from this section.
You can start the conversation by saying something
like:
I’d like to make a reservation for the 3rd
of November, for three nights, please.
Of course, you can change this to suit your
situation, like this:
I’d like to make a reservation for the 20th
of May for one night, please.
The receptionist might ask you:
What kind of room are you looking for?
What could you say here?
You could ask for a single or a double room.
If you’re travelling with a friend, you
might ask for a twin room, with two separate
beds.
You could also ask for a triple room for three
people, or maybe a family room, which might
have four or even more beds.
Finally, if you need a lot of space, you can
ask for a suite.
A suite is like an apartment, with a living
room, possibly a kitchen, and one or more
bedrooms.
The dialogue you just heard was easy—there
were no problems or surprises—but what if
the hotel is full on the dates you want?
I’d like to make a reservation for
the 20th of May for one night, please.
Very well, sir, and what kind of room do you
need?
I’d like a triple room, please.
I’m sorry sir, but don’t have any triple
rooms available on that date.
It’s a holiday period and we’re almost
fully booked.
I could offer you a family room, which has
four beds.
Would that work for you?
That could work…
How much is it?
It’s $195.
Ah, I see.
That’s more expensive than the triple.
Is there any way you could offer a discount?
I’m sorry sir, as I said before, it’s
a holiday period and we expect to be very
busy at that time.
I see…
Alright, then.
I’ll take it.
That’s fine.
Can I take your name for the reservation?
This time, the conversation didn’t go so
smoothly.
The receptionist said:
We don’t have any triple rooms available
on that date.
The receptionist also gave a reason.
Do you remember what it was?
She said:
It’s a holiday period and we’re almost
fully booked.
Fully booked means that every room has already
been reserved.
You might also hear something like:
I’m afraid we don’t have anything free
on those dates.
Luckily, this time you were able to get a
room, even if it was more expensive than you
were hoping for.
What’s the next step?
You arrive at your hotel and go to reception
to check in.
Do you know what you should say here?
Let’s look together!
Hello, welcome to The Palm Hotel
Hello, I have a reservation; the name’s
Sarah Banks
Yes, I see that here.
I have you in a double room for three nights;
is that correct?
Yes, that’s right.
How many keys would you like?
Two, please.
Okay, here you are.
Enjoy your stay, Ms. Banks.
Thank you.
OK. That seemed easy.
And usually, it should be.
But perhaps there’s a problem.
Let’s look at an example that doesn’t
go so well.
Hello, welcome to The Palm Hotel
Hello, I have a reservation.
What name was it under?
Sarah Banks.
I’m sorry, I don’t have a reservation
under that name.
How did you make the booking?
I did it on the phone.
I actually have a confirmation here with me,
would that help?
Yes, please.
OK, yes, now I see the reservation.
I think there was a problem with the spelling.
I do apologize.
It’s no problem.
Now, you’ve checked in and you’re ready
to enjoy your stay.
What next?
You might need to go back to reception to
arrange extra services, or to ask about the
hotel’s facilities.
Let’s look at our first dialogue:
Is there anything else I can help you with,
Ms. Banks?
Yes, I would like a wake-up call tomorrow,
if possible.
Yes of course; what time would you like the
call?
7.30 please, actually… better make it 7.
Okay, no problem.
I’ll make a note of that.
Also I need to go to the airport on Wednesday
morning.
Do you offer a shuttle service?
Yes, we do.
What time’s your flight?
It’s at 10.30am.
Okay, we have shuttles to the airport every
hour, so I think you could take the 8am shuttle.
Perfect, thank you.
The guest asked for two different things.
Do you remember what they were?
She asked for a wake-up call, and she asked
about the airport shuttle.
A shuttle is a bus which drives between two
places.
Many hotels offer airport shuttles, which
drive between the airport and the hotel.
Let’s look at some of the polite language
from this dialogue.
To ask for a wake-up call, I said:
I would like a wake-up call tomorrow, if possible.
Adding if possible on the end of the sentence
is not necessary, but it makes it sound more
respectful and polite.
To ask about the airport shuttle, I said:
Do you offer a shuttle service?
You could use this question to ask about other
hotel facilities.
For example:
Do you offer 24-hour room service?
Do you offer a dry-cleaning service?
Do you offer conferencing facilities?
Can you think of anything else you could ask
about here?
Let’s see some more ways to ask about hotel
facilities:
Hello, how can I help you?
Yes, hello.
I need some restaurant recommendations.
Okay, no problem.
Our concierge on the other side of the lobby
can recommend a good restaurant and help you
to make reservations.
Thank you.
Also, I wanted to ask: what kind of gym facilities
do you have?
We have a complete gym and small swimming
pool just down this corridor.
The swimming pool also has a sauna and a steam
room.
Wonderful!
Thanks for your help.
Oh, actually, one last thing: what’s the
WiFi password for the hotel?
It’s Palmbeachhotel.
All one word, with a capital P at the start.
And that works everywhere in the hotel?
Yes, it does.
Thank you very much.
You’re welcome.
Let’s look at some of the useful language
from this dialogue.
A concierge works in a hotel and can help
guests to arrange things in the local area.
For example, a good concierge can help you
to book theatre tickets, find the best Thai
restaurant in town, or organize a sightseeing
tour of the city.
The phrase I wanted to ask is a good way to
introduce a question politely.
You can use it in many ways.
For example:
I wanted to ask: is it possible to check out
one hour late?
I wanted to ask: what time is breakfast?
Okay, at this point, you’ve checked in and
you’re getting comfortable.
But what if something goes wrong?
Hello, do you need any help?
Yes, I have a few problems with my room.
Okay, I’m sorry to hear that, what seems
to be the problem?
Well, first of all there’s an issue with
the heating.
It’s very hot, and I can’t seem to turn
it down.
Okay, I’ll send somebody to take a look
at that.
Was there anything else?
Yes, actually.
I’m not sure if it’s normal, but my key
doesn’t always work in the door.
Sometimes I have to put it in five or six
times before it works.
Am I doing something wrong?
I’m sure you aren’t, madam!
Sometimes, older key cards don’t work so
well.
Let me make you a new key right now.
That’s great; thanks so much for your help.
You’re very welcome.
Here’s a good phrase to use if you have
a problem during your hotel stay:
There’s an issue with…
For example:
There’s an issue with the sink in the bathroom.
Can you think of any other ways you could
say this?
You could say something like:
Something’s wrong with the sink in the bathroom.
I think there’s a problem with the sink.
Next, let’s look at one more example where
things don’t go so well.
Yes, can I help you with something?
I’d like to make a complaint.
My room hasn’t been cleaned properly.
I’m very sorry about that, sir.
What exactly is wrong?
There’s dust everywhere and I found a hair
on the pillow which definitely isn’t mine.
I have to say this is unacceptable.
If I’m paying this much money, the least
I should be able to expect is clean bedding.
I completely agree sir, and once again, I’m
very sorry.
Here’s what I can do for you: I can offer
you a complimentary upgrade to a deluxe room.
I’ll also make sure that housekeeping double-check
the room before you use it, so that we can
be sure it’s perfectly clean.
Well, that’s fine, but still, this sort
of thing shouldn’t happen.
You’re right, of course.
I’ll communicate this issue to our management
so we can investigate and find out exactly
why this happened.
When can I move rooms?
As soon as you’re ready.
Just call reception and we’ll send someone
to help you with your bags.
This time, the situation was a little tenser.
However, you can see some good phrases here
to express anger without being rude.
For example:
I have to say this is unacceptable. This sort of thing shouldn’t happen.
The least I should be able to expect is…
These phrases are interesting, because they’re
quite formal, but they also express quite
strong emotion.
Normally, formal language is cold-sounding
and emotionless, but using phrases like these
shows that you’re really unhappy with the
situation.
Now, your problems have all been solved and
it’s time to go home again.
What’s the last thing you have to do?
Hi, I’d like to check out please.
Yes of course; how was your stay?
Very nice, thank you.
Here is a copy of your bill.
The room and tax are already paid, so these
are just the extras.
That seems fine, can you put it on my credit
card?
Yes of course, I’ll just do that now…
What extras might you have to pay?
You might have to pay for any drinks or snacks
you take from the minibar.
You might also be charged for phone calls,
room service, or movies.
In the dialogue above, everything was fine.
What if there are things on your bill which
you don’t agree with?
Hello, can I help you?
Hi, I’d like to check out please.
Certainly…
Here’s your bill.
The total seems higher than I expected; what
exactly are these additional charges?
Let me have a look.
OK, this payment is for the water and snacks
you had from the minibar, and it looks like
this is a phone call that was made to the
United States.
Right, I see now.
Yes, that’s fine.
I’d like to pay cash, if that’s OK?
Yes, no problem.
Thank you for staying with us.
Now, the next time you stay in a hotel and
need to use English, you should know what
to say in any situation!
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many different topics on our website.
Check it out: Oxford Online English.com.
Thanks for watching!