Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 655, Staying in a Vacation Rental.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 655.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com, eslpod.com.
Go there to download ESL learning guide for this episode.
That will make your life a little happier, a little brighter, a little longer.
This episode is called Staying in a Vacation Rental.
This is when you go on vacation, but you don't stay in a hotel.
You stay in someone else's house or apartment and Of course, you pay them money to do that.
Let's get started.
I'm kind of nervous staying in a vacation rental for the first time.
Don't worry.
Before I booked this unit, I checked it out thoroughly.
It's pet-friendly and kid-friendly and it sleeps six, so it'll be perfect for the whole family.
But there won't be the same amenities or services as a hotel.
We won't need any of those.
Just think, we'll have the run of the place and there are no adjoining units.
The proximity to town is great and I got a last minute price that's even lower than their low season rate.
Everything sounds good but...
It'll be our home away from home.
Units this close to the beach are scarce, and this one is really affordable.
A little too affordable, if you ask me.
You said that it's just $60 a night?
That's right.
Are there any taxes or cleaning fees?
I didn't ask about that.
Do they require a refundable deposit?
I didn't check that either.
Then maybe it's too good to be true.
Before we get too excited, let's go read the fine print.
George says to his wife Marnie at the beginning of the dialogue...
That's an informal way of saying a little bit.
He's kind of nervous staying in a vacation rental for the first time.
A vacation rental is a home, condominium, or apartment that you rent.
It could also be a room in someone's house.
You rent it for a short period of time just like a hotel room, although usually you have a kitchen and it's more like a regular house.
Vacation rentals have become very popular.
People rent out their houses or their apartments to people who are visiting that area.
I've stayed in vacation rentals many times and really find it much better than staying in a hotel, and often even a little cheaper.
Marnie says to George, don't worry about Before I booked this unit, I checked it out thoroughly.
To book B-O-O-K as a verb means to make a reservation, to call or email or write someone and say I want to stay in your hotel or your vacation rental for this day, through this day.
To book means to reserve.
Marnie says before I booked this unit, meaning this vacation rental.
Sometimes a unit refers to an apartment or a condominium.
That is also a vacation rental or just a regular rental.
Marnie says she checked it out, meaning she investigated it.
She checked it out thoroughly.
It's pet-friendly and kid-friendly.
Pet-friendly is a place where you can take your dog or your cat, or perhaps your pig or goat, if you have those as pets, and you can bring them with you on vacation.
If you bring a cow with you, for example, you don't have to pay for milk.
So that's something to think about.
Pet-friendly, then is a hotel or a vacation rental where you can bring your favorite pet like a snake.
Kid-friendly is a place where you can bring another kind of animal, small children.
So that is also an advantage if you have small children.
If you don't, then it might be a disadvantage if you are staying next door to the place with the small children.
But let's get back to the dialogue.
This place that Marnie found is pet friendly and kid friendly and it sleeps six, meaning six people can sleep in this unit.
There are six beds or beds big enough to fit six people.
She says it's perfect for the whole family, for our entire family, for everyone.
George says but there won't be the same amenities or services as a hotel.
An amenity, A-M-E-N-I-T-Y, is some characteristic that makes something more comfortable or You may go to a hotel that also has a pool and a spa.
That would be a hotel with extra amenities, nice things that will make your stay more comfortable.
Marnie says we don't need any of those, any of those amenities.
Just think...
We'll have the run of the place and there are no adjoining units.
To have the run of the place is a phrase meaning to be able to do whatever you want because no one is watching you, no one is observing you.
In this case, Marnie says they'll have the vacation rental.
They'll be the only people there, so they'll have the run of the place.
And there are no adjoining units.
Adjoining, A-D-J-O-I-N-I-N-G, means next to something.
We might also say adjacent.
It usually means, when we're talking about a condominium or an apartment, that you don't have anyone who shares a wall.
That is, that your wall is the same as the wall for the unit next to you.
Marnie says the proximity to town is great.
Proximity means closeness, nearness.
It's a short distance from town, meaning the main town, wherever they're staying.
She says, and she got a last minute price that's even lower than their low season rate.
The phrase last hyphen minute means without any advance notice.
In this case, it means something you do right at the very last moment, right before you're about to do something else, or right before something else happens.
So you may call last two days before you are going to leave and ask if you can book the vacation rental.
That would be doing things at the last minute.
Buying your girlfriend a present for Valentine's Day on February 13th is also doing things at the last minute.
So don't wait, gentlemen.
Marnie says they got a rate, a price, even lower than their low season rate.
Low season is the time of year when there are few customers.
There aren't very many people traveling to that area.
Minnesota's low season would be in the wintertime.
Because it's so cold, no one would want to go there.
The low season for other places will depend upon the weather and other things.
George says everything sounds good, but Marnie interrupts him and says it'll be our home away from home.
This vacation rental will be our home away from home, meaning it will feel just like home.
You will feel very comfortable there.
She says units this close to the beach are scarce, and this one is really affordable.
Something that is scarce, S-C-A-R-C-E, is something that is rare, not common, difficult to find.
There are other meanings of scarce.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
We also have some additional explanations of the word sleep, which you will find in the guide as well.
Marnie says this vacation unit, this vacation rental, is very affordable.
Something that is affordable has a low price.
It's inexpensive.
It doesn't cost a lot of money.
George says a little too affordable.
If you ask me meaning, maybe the price is so low because it isn't very good quality.
He's worried about how good the unit is, and he is, we might say, suspicious.
He has doubts about why the price is so low.
He says, you said that it's just $60 a night.
Marnie says, that's right, that's correct.
George says, are there any taxes or cleaning fees?
A cleaning fee.
F-E-E is money that you pay in addition to your rent, meaning extra, and to have the rental unit cleaned when you are done.
Many people who have vacation rentals will charge you a fee to stay there each night, plus a cleaning fee, which might be 25.
It might be $100.
You have to ask.
Marnie says she didn't ask about cleaning fees or taxes.
George then asks, do they require a refundable deposit?
A deposit in this case is money that you give to someone in case something goes wrong, in case you break something.
That way they have some money from you in case you don't pay for it.
At least they have your deposit.
If you don't break anything, then you get your deposit back when you leave.
A refundable deposit means that, let's say, I decide to book a unit here for June and it is currently February.
Well, I decide that in March, I don't want to go, but I have already given them a $500 deposit.
A refundable deposit is one which they say okay, no problem, you canceled, we'll give you your money back.
Some places may have a non-refundable deposit, meaning if you cancel especially if you cancel say, a month or two weeks before the date that you are supposed to arrive you do not get your deposit back.
Marnie didn't check about a refundable deposit.
George then says, then maybe it's too good to be true.
To be too good.
To be true means it appears to be very good, but there are some problems with it that are not immediately obvious.
There are some disadvantages there.
If someone says they will sell you their car for 100 and the car is new, that's too good to be true.
There's probably something else wrong here that should make you be a little suspicious.
George says, before we get too excited, let's go read the fine print.
Fine, F-I-N-E, print, refers to typically the legal language in a contract or agreement.
Sometimes it is printed in a very small size, a very small font size.
We call that fine print, when it's printed very small so you can almost not read it.
You can barely read it.
You may see an advertisement in the newspaper that says that you can buy a new television for $50.
But then if you look at the bottom of the advertisement, in very small print, in very small size lettering, it will say well, only if you also buy a 25000 car.
That would be an example of reading the fine print to get all of the details of this offer or this sale.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'm kind of nervous staying in a vacation rental for the first time.
Don't worry.
Before I booked this unit, I checked it out thoroughly.
It's pet-friendly and kid-friendly, and it sleeps six, so it'll be perfect for the whole family.
But there won't be the same amenities or services as a hotel.
We won't need any of those.
Just think, we'll have the run of the place and there are no adjoining units.
The proximity to town is great and I got a last-minute price that's even lower than their low season rate.
Everything sounds good, but... It'll be our home away from home.
Units this close to the beach are scarce, and this one is really affordable.
A little too affordable, if you ask me.
You said that it's just $60 a night?
That's right.
I didn't ask about that.
I didn't check that either.
Then maybe it's too good to be true.
Before we get too excited, let's go read the fine print.
Our scripts are not too good to be true.
They're just as good as you may think.
That's because they're written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
