Learn how to properly serve drinks, from a conversation between a hotel staff member and a guest
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden:Hi, everyone. Braden here. |
| Ann: Ann here. Turning a Guest Away When Fully Booked. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to turn away a guest because your hotel is fully booked. |
| Braden:This conversation takes place on the phone in the afternoon. |
| Ann:The conversation is between the Guest and the reservation specialist. |
| Braden:The speakers have a staff-customer relationship, so they will be speaking professionally. |
| Ann:Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ann:One of the difficulties that many people have with small talk, is not knowing what type of language to use. All languages have formal language and polite language, and impolite language and casual language. |
| Braden:In a hotel and as a staff member, when you’re speaking to guests, you should always speak professionally. Speaking professionally is polite in English. |
| Ann:There are some phrases that you should never use when talking to a hotel guest, even though they are good to use in other situations. For example, “What’s up?” |
| Braden:The phrase “what’s up?” is very casual street slang. Many people say it especially between friends; however, when speaking professionally, it is inappropriate. Another example is, “How ya doin?” |
| Ann:Again, this is very casual language and appropriate when talking to your friends. However, when speaking to hotel guests, this is seen as lazy. You should say, “How are you?” |
| Braden:Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Ann:Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. First we’ll look at the phrase “best phone number to reach you.” |
| Braden:The phrase “best phone number to reach you” is a very common phrase, and something front desk agents will use often. |
| Ann:This phrase is constructed this way for many reasons. One of those reasons is that most people can be reached at several different phone numbers. |
| Braden:That’s right. For example, they have a house phone, a cell phone, and usually at least one if not many more work phone numbers. |
| Ann:The “best phone number to reach you” is also focused on the guest and not on the company they work for, their parents or children, or anyone else. It’s the best phone number to reach YOU. |
| Braden:The next phrase we’ll look at is “fully booked.” |
| Ann:The phrase “fully booked” means that the hotel is full. “To book” means to reserve something, or to purchase it in advance. |
| Braden:To say that the hotel is booked means that all the rooms have been reserved. |
| Ann:Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Ann:In this lesson, you’ll learn how to turn away a guest. |
| Braden:In the dialog, we heard the phrase - “I regret to inform you, sir, but our hotel is fully booked those days.” |
| Ann:In this lesson we’ll look at the possibility of turning away a potential guest. There are many reasons why a guest might be turned away at a hotel. In the dialog, is was because the hotel was full for the entire period of time the guest wanted to stay at the hotel. |
| Braden:Some of the other reasons that a guest might be turned away is because the room type the guest wants is fully booked, even though the hotel has other rooms available. |
| Ann:Another rare reason is when a particular person or company has been blacklisted by the hotel. To be blacklisted means that the blacklisted parties are not allowed to use any of the services the hotel provides. |
| Braden:In general, the pattern and steps are the same as when you accept a reservation. First, within three rings, you answer the call. Be sure to smile as that makes the guest feel more comfortable. |
| Ann:That’s right. For example, “Hello, Hotel Innovative. This is Michael speaking. How may I help you?” |
| Braden:Second, request the planned arrival and departure dates by saying, “And what dates were you planning on staying with us?” or “And what date will you be checking in?” and “And what date do you plan to check out?” |
| Ann:Fourth, check on the availability for those dates. It’s common to put the guest on hold while you check but this depends on the system your hotel uses. This is where the reservation specialist in our dialog realized that there was a problem. |
| Braden:That’s right. She returned and said, “I regret to inform you, sir, but our hotel is fully booked those days. Would you like to reserve for another day?” The first part of this sentence, “I regret to inform you” is a polite way of saying “I’m sorry to tell you.” |
| Ann:Exactly. This is followed by the reason you need to turn away the guest. In the dialog, it was because the hotel was fully booked, but it could be for any number of reasons. |
| Braden:For example, maybe the room type is fully booked, or maybe the entire hotel is under renovation that week. |
| Ann:Whatever the reason, you should always ask to see if there are different dates that will work. In the dialog, she asks, “Would you like to reserve for another day?” |
Outro |
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| Braden:That’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone! |
| Ann:And we’ll see you next time! |
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