Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1034.
Making changes to a hotel reservation.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1034.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpodcom, become a member of ESL Podcast and download a learning guide for this episode.
The learning guide gives you a complete transcript of everything we say on the podcast.
This episode is a dialogue between Sally and a person who works for a hotel, and it's about making a hotel reservation.
Let's get started.
Hello, Milton Hotel Reservations.
How may I assist you?
Hi.
I'm calling to make some changes to an existing reservation.
Certainly.
Do you have the reservation number?
Sure.
It's 234-678.
That's a reservation for Sally Menkel, is that right?
Yes, that's right.
I'd like to change the check-in date from September 15th to September 16th.
Certainly, I can make that change for you.
Is that the only change?
No, the checkout date will also change from the 23rd to the 24th.
No problem.
We have you arriving on the 16th of September and departing the 24th of September.
Will there be anything else?
Yes, there will be two people in my party, not just one.
I've made that change.
Anything else I can help you with?
Yes, instead of a courtyard room, I'd like a room with a view, preferably on an upper floor.
I can certainly change that for you. although there will be a change in the room rate.
The new rate is $189 per night.
On second thought, I'd prefer a suite that overlooks the pool.
Is that possible?
Certainly.
The new rate is $249 per night.
Oh, that's really expensive.
I think I'd better stick to my original room.
Alright, I've changed your reservation back to a courtyard room.
Anything else?
Maybe I should shorten my stay.
If I do that, I could afford a suite.
Yes, let's change the dates and the rooms again.
Let me make a suggestion.
Let's cancel this reservation and make a whole new one.
That way, we can make sure everything is correct.
No, no trouble at all.
Our dialogue begins with...
The reservation agent, the employee at the hotel who is in charge of taking reservations, answering the phone by saying Reservations refer to calling up a hotel or perhaps a restaurant and telling the business that you want to reserve.
You want for them to save for you a room, if it's a hotel, or a table for dinner, if it's a restaurant.
Reservations plural is sometimes also used to describe the department or the office that is in charge of taking reservations, especially for a hotel or perhaps a rental car company.
The reservation agent or employee is says how may I assist you?
To assist means the same as to help.
Sally says hi, I'm calling to make some changes to an existing reservation.
Sally already has a reservation, and That's why she refers to it as an existing E-X-I-S-T-I-N-G reservation, one that is already in place.
The agent says, certainly.
Do you have the reservation number?
Many businesses that take reservations give people a number that is used to help the business find that specific reservation in the future in their computer system, for example.
Sally says, sure, it's 234678.
The reservation agent says, after looking it up on his computer, that's a reservation for Sally Menkel.
Is that right?
Is that correct?
Sally says, yes, that's right.
The check-in date is the date when you arrive at the hotel.
It's the first night that you are going to spend sleeping at the hotel.
The opposite of a check-in would be a check-out.
The check-out date is the date that you are leaving the hotel.
Sally is changing her check-in date.
The reservation agent says certainly I can make that change for you.
Is that the only change?
Sally says no.
The checkout date will also change from the 23rd to the 24th.
September 24th, of course, being perhaps the most important day of the year.
The reservation agent then says no problem which is an informal but very common way of saying, of course or yes, especially when someone asks you to do something or thanks you for doing something.
Often people will say, hey, thanks for that.
The other person will say, no problem.
It was nothing.
The reservation agent asks if there are any other changes.
Sally says, yes, there will be two people in my party, not one.
The word party, P-A-R-T-Y, here doesn't mean a celebration like a birthday party.
It refers to a group of people, usually people who are using some service at the same time.
When you go to a nice restaurant, they may ask you, how many are in your party?
That is, how many people are going to be sitting with you?
There was a TV show, actually, oh, I don't know, back in the 1980s, 90s, called Party of Five.
The party there referred to the number of people in the group.
Now, actually, I've told this story before, but it's been a while, so I'll tell it again.
The star of that television show, Party of Five, was a woman by the name of Nev Campbell.
So one day I'm in a Starbucks waiting to order my coffee near one of the big movie studios here in Los Angeles.
And there's a woman in front of me who I don't recognize because I don't watch very much television.
But a little girl comes up to the woman and asks the woman for her autograph, for her signature.
This is something you often do with famous people.
You ask them for their autograph so you can keep it and say, See, I met this famous person.
So anyway, the little girl didn't have a pen.
And Neve Campbell, who I later learned that was her name, said to the girl Oh, I don't have a pen, sorry.
I, of course, being a nice guy, took a pen out of my pocket and gave it to Nev.
And Nev signed her autograph.
I don't know, it was probably on a small piece of paper for the young girl.
I only learned later who she really was.
Now here's the problem, she kept my pen.
Imagine, she makes all of this money as a big Hollywood star, and she steals my pen.
So Nev Campbell, if you're listening to this, bring back my pen.
Okay, back to the dialogue.
Sally tells the reservation agent that there will be two people in her party.
The reservation agent then says I've made the change anything else I can help you with.
Sally says yes instead of a courtyard room I'd like a room with a view preferably on an upper floor.
A courtyard, C-O-U-R-T-Y-A-R-D, one word, is an open area that is surrounded by the walls of a building.
Often in a courtyard, you'll have plants or trees and places for people to sit.
This design for buildings is not that common in the United States.
It's much more common in other countries, particularly in Europe.
But there are buildings that have courtyards and courtyards That's what this hotel has.
It has a courtyard, and Sally wants something that is not a courtyard room.
Instead, she wants a room with a view.
A view, V-I-E-W, here means something pretty or interesting to look at.
If you go to a hotel in Paris and you can see the Eiffel Tower from your room, that would definitely be a room with a good view, or at least a view of the Eiffel Tower, if that's what you really want to see.
So Sally is asking for a room with a view.
Of course, not all hotels have very interesting views.
The views are only as interesting as the place where the hotel is located.
But Sally wants a room with a view preferably on an upper floor.
Preferably means that would be her first choice.
An upper floor would be one of the higher levels or higher floors of the hotel, not on the first floor which remember, in the United States is the same as the ground floor, the first floor that you come into as you walk into the hotel.
Sally doesn't want a room down there.
She wants a room up high on an upper floor.
The agent says I can certainly change that for you, although there will be a change in the room rate.
The room rate, R-A-T-E, is the price of the room.
We often use that word when we're talking about the price of renting something for a certain amount of time.
If you say, I got a good rate on my rental car, you mean you got a good price, a low price.
The agent tells Sally that the new room rate will be $189 per night.
Sally then says, on second thought, I'd prefer a suite that overlooks the pool.
Is that possible?
On second thought is a common phrase used when you change your mind and you want to let the other person know that you've changed your mind.
If you say to your wife, I'd like to go to the movies.
No, wait, on second thought, let's go to the beach instead.
You're changing your mind and then telling the other person that you changed your mind.
Sally says on second thought, I'd prefer a suite that overlooks the pool.
A suite, S-U-I-T-E, is a group of connected rooms in a hotel.
Usually a very large room with a bedroom and perhaps a kitchen or even other rooms.
Hotel suites are obviously more expensive than a single hotel room.
Sally wants a room that overlooks the pool.
To overlook means to offer a view of something, usually above it.
When you use this verb to overlook, you're normally talking about someplace that is high up, high above the ground, above whatever it is that it overlooks.
If you are overlooking the pool, meaning the swimming pool.
Your room is above the swimming pool in the building and you can see the swimming pool from your room, from your room's window.
The reservation agent says certainly the new rate is $249 per night.
A suite, again, is more expensive.
Sally says, oh, that's really expensive.
I think I'd better stick to my original room.
To stick to something means to decide not to change your plans, to go with your original idea, your original plan.
The agent says, all right, I've changed your reservation back to a courtyard room.
Anything else?
Sally says, maybe I should shorten my stay.
She's suggesting that perhaps she won't stay as many days as she had originally planned.
She says, if I do that, I could afford a suite.
Yes, let's change the dates and the rooms again.
The agent says, let me make a suggestion.
Let's cancel this reservation and make a whole new one.
To cancel C-A-N-C-E-L means to decide that you're not going to continue doing something, or that some event that was supposed to take place will not take place.
The agent suggests canceling the reservation completely and starting a whole new one.
Sally says, oh, that's not too much trouble for you, is it?
I'd hate to be a bother, B-O-T-H-E-R.
When you say that you hate to be a bother, you mean that you don't want to cause difficulties for the other person.
You don't want to cause problems for the other person.
I don't want to be a bother.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, Milton Hotel Reservations.
How may I assist you?
Hi, I'm calling to make some changes to an existing reservation.
Certainly.
Do you have the reservation number?
Sure.
It's 234-678.
That's a reservation for Sally Menkel, is that right?
Yes, that's right.
I'd like to change the check-in date from September 15th to September 16th.
Certainly, I can make that change for you.
Is that the only change?
No, the check-out date will also change from the 23rd to the 24th.
No problem.
We have you arriving on the 16th of September and departing the 24th of September.
Will there be anything else?
Yes, there will be two people in my party, not just one.
I've made that change.
Anything else I can help you with?
Yes, instead of a courtyard room, I'd like a room with a view, preferably on an upper floor.
I can certainly change that for you, although there will be a change in the room rate.
The new rate is $189 per night.
On second thought, I prefer a suite that overlooks the pool.
Is that possible?
Certainly.
The new rate is $249 per night.
Oh, that's really expensive.
I think I'd better stick to my original room.
All right.
I've changed your reservation back to the courtyard room.
Anything else?
Maybe I should shorten my stay.
If I do that, I could afford a suite.
Yes, let's change the dates and the rooms again.
Let me make a suggestion Let's cancel this reservation and make a whole new one.
That way we can make sure everything is correct.
Oh, that's not too much trouble for you, is it?
I'd hate to be a bother.
No, no trouble at all.
We're not going to get a new scriptwriter here at ESL Podcast.
We're going to stick to the one we have, the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
