Today’s Business English Podcast lesson is on making a hotel reservation.
It’s something all of us need to do: Whether it’s for a company business trip, or for personal travel – we all need to, at some time or another, call a hotel to reserve a room. Of course, making reservations is not only useful for hotels but also for all sorts of situations – conferences, restaurants, airplane travel, and any other type of event that requires us to book in advance.
That is the skill that we will be practicing in this episode – making reservations. Along the way, we’ll also be learning vocabulary for staying in hotels.
In the listening, Sarah Johnson is going on vacation with her husband. She calls the reservations desk at the Majestic Hotel in New York, where a staff member, Tony, picks up the phone. As you listen, pay attention to the language Sarah uses, and try to answer the following questions.
Listening Questions: BEP 79 INT – Travel: Making a Hotel Reservation
1) What kind of room does Sarah want?
Sarah wants a double-room with a balcony facing the courtyard, non-smoking if possible.
2) What extra request does Sarah have?
She asks the front desk attendant to book them a table in the hotel’s restaurant for 8 p.m.
3) Tony makes a mistake while taking Sarah’s reservation. What is it?
When Tony summarizes Sarah’s information at the end of the call, he says she will be staying from “Thursday, January 10th, to Sunday, January 13th.” From the way Tony has worded this sentence, however, it’s impossible to know whether he means that she will be staying 3 nights, and checking out on Sunday 13th, or staying 4 nights, including Sunday 13th, and checking out on Monday.
