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 and common hotel situations it
could 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 put
that before for three nights and what
kind of room were you looking for a
double room it's for my husband and me
okay we do have one double room
available for those dates it's $80 a
nights so that comes to two hundred and
forty dollars for the three nights yes
that's fine great can I take your name
yes it's Sara Thanks thank you miss
banks can I just take a credit card from
you to make the booking yes of course
here you are okay miss banks that's all
finished is there anything else I can
help you with yes could I have a
confirmation emails to me yes of course
what's the email it's s dot banks at
gmail.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 are traveling 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 sleep 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 we 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 a hundred
and ninety five dollars 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 their reservation this time the
conversation didn't go 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
what 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 names
Sara banks yes I see that here I have
you in a double room for 3 nights is
that correct yes that's right how many
keys would you like to please ok here
you are
enjoy your stay miss banks thank you
ok that seemed easy and usually it
should be but perhaps there's a problem
let's look at an example the doesn't go
so well
hello welcome to the Palmer hotel hello
I have a reservation what name was it
under Sara 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 miss 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 7:00 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 is your flight it's
at 10:30 a.m. okay we have shuttles to
the airport every hour so I think you
could take the 8 a.m. shuttle perfect
thank you the guests 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 the 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
Wi-Fi password for the hotel
it's Palm Beach Hotel 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 the
hotel and can help guests to arrange
things in the local area for example a
good concierge can help you book theater
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 Mikey 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-checked
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 languages called
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 state 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 you
bill would 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 okay this payment is for
the water and the 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 okay yes
no problem thank you for staying with us
now the next time you stay in a hotel I
need to use English you should know what
to say in any situation you can find
more free English lessons on many
different topics on our website check it
out Oxford online English calm
thanks for watching