Making enquiries and booking hotel

accommodation

READING and DISCUSSION EXERCISE:

Here is a typical advertisement you might see in a local newspaper in the United Kingdom.

Budget Hotel
Family Room en suite £70 per night
Double room en suite £55 per night
Single room en suite £35 per night

Breakfast

Served between 7 am and 9:30 am

Full English £8
Continental £5

Restaurant & Bar

Open from 7 pm until 11 pm. Full à la carte menu available.

Secure private parking.

TV, tea and coffee making facilities in all rooms.

For bookings call 0181 628 1212 or fax 0181 628 1213
e-mail: info@budgethotel.co.uk
Website: www.budgethotel.com

READING EXERCISE:
Here is a conversation between a hotel receptionist and someone making an enquiry and then a
reservation:

Good afternoon, Budget Hotel. Can I help you?

Hello, could I book a room for the evening of Monday 16 th June please.
Do you require a family, double or single room?
A single room; en suite if possible.
One moment please. Yes, we do have a room available.
How much is that per night, please?
£35.
Does that include breakfast?
No, that’s room only. Breakfast is available if required. Full English breakfast is £8 per person or you
could have continental breakfast at £5 per person.
What about evening meals? Are they available?
Yes madam. We have an excellent restaurant. It is open every evening and offers a full à la carte
service.
Wonderful. Could I book a single room with full English breakfast? My name is Sarah Jones.
Could you spell that for me please?

Yes it’s S-A-R-A-H J-O-N-E-S.

So, to confirm, that’s a single room for the night of Monday the 16 th June with full English breakfast in
the name of Sarah Jones.

That’s correct.
That will be £43 in total. We do ask that you secure the booking with a credit card. Could you give
me the details please?

Yes, it’s a Visa and the number is 5742 6288 1519 2930. It’s in the name of Miss S Jones and the
expiry date is 05/11.
One moment please. Yes, that’s fine. Your booking reference number is 521521.

Thank you. Goodbye.

Goodbye.

THE ENGLISH ALPHABET

When making a hotel booking you will usually be asked to spell your name. Let’s revise the
pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet.

The English alphabet consists of twenty-six letters:

El alfabeto inglés consta de veintiséis letras:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
(ei) (bii) (sii) (dii) (ii) (ef) (yi) (eitch) (ai) (yei) (kei) (el) (em)
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
(en) (ou) (pi) (kiuu) (ar) (es) (tii) (iuu) (vii) (dabliuu) (eks) (uai) (zed)

ROLE-PLAY EXERCISE:
Using the information in the hotel advertisement (advert) on page 1:

Student 1: Take the part of the customer, making enquiries and/or booking accommodation.
Aim: To gain confidence requesting information, giving personal details and
spellings.

Student 2: Take the part of the hotel receptionist dealing with enquiries and bookings.
Aim: To gain confidence in giving information, requesting personal information and
spellings.
TEACHER’S NOTES

The Hotel Ad

Read through the advertisement with students.

Be prepared to answer any questions they may have. Quite a good discussion can take place,
especially if you are teaching in a country where restaurants are only just filling up when British
restaurants are closing!

Also, another fun activity is discussing the constituents of a ‘full English breakfast’. Students are
amazed that all the ingredients can fit on one plate!

Students are likely to ask you about ‘en suite’ and ‘à la carte’ and this give an opportunity to talk
about and discuss words incorporated into the English language from other nations and cultures.

You could explain that it is more usual to hear the words ‘ad’ and ‘advert’ than ‘advertisement’ in
informal conversation.

Reading Exercise

This works better with one-to-one and small group lessons. Get one student to be the receptionist
and the other to be the customer. Let them read, as best they can, and just make notes on your copy
of any words and pronunciations they have problems with. Then go through those words with them.
That way, the weaker of the two readers (if there is one) is not so disheartened!

The English Alphabet

This is shown for the Spanish speaker. Obviously it can be changed as needed. By this point it is
assumed students will be able to pronounce the English alphabet, but it is always good to have a
reminder, especially when doing a spelling activity.

Role Play

As you probably already know, some students enjoy role play and others find it difficult. You can
help my making the “ring, ring” sound of the call (which seems to put the two participants at ease)
and be prepared to help out when needed with suggestions, for example, “Do you want to park your
car?” “Is breakfast included in the price?”, etc.

ENJOY THE LESSON!