Learn how to do housekeeping when a guest is in their room, from a conversation between a hotel staff member and a guest
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden:Hi, everyone. Braden here. |
| Ann: Ann here. Taking a Room Service Order |
| Braden:In this lesson you will learn how to take a room service order. |
| Ann:This conversation takes place at night on the phone. |
| Braden:It’s between a Guest and the room service attendant. |
| Ann:One of the speakers is a guest and the other is a member of the room service staff, so they will be speaking professionally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ann:One of the important things about small talk is that you need to act. |
| Braden:People who are good at small talk initiate the talking, usually by giving a friendly greeting. When you’re talking to a hotel guest, it can sometimes be easier, because you should already know their name. |
| Braden:A friendly greeting would be something like this, “Hello, Mrs. Smith. I hope you’re having a lovely day.” |
| Ann:This is a direct greeting and it’s simple. There are no questions they need answer, just a nice friendly greeting. |
| Braden:If you didn’t have time to learn the guest’s name, you can ask them now by saying something like, |
| Ann:“Hello, ma'am. My name is Mike. May I have your name? Okay, everyone. Now onto the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Ann:Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is |
| Ann:Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Braden:The first phrase is ‘in-room.’ |
| Ann:in-room is a phrase that refers to a service or activity that is provided or takes place in a hotel room. |
| Braden:This phrase is interesting because you won’t find it in many dictionaries or thesauruses. It’s jargon. Jargon refers to a set of terms that are used in a specific industry or discipline, with a specific meaning. |
| Ann:The hotel industry has many unique jargon terms, and you’ll learn many of them in this series. Next is May I take your order? |
| Braden:The phrase “May I take your order?” is a polite phrase used in restaurants, hotels and bars. |
| Ann:In some cases, you may hear “Can I take your order?” which shouldn’t be used in professional situations, as it is grammatically incorrect. Many native English speakers use “can” this way but it is incorrect. |
| Braden:You should always say, “May I take your order, please?” |
| Ann:Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Ann:In this lesson, you’ll learn how to take a room service order. |
| Braden:Taking a room service order can be broken up into three phases. |
| Ann:The first phase is to greet the caller or guest in a polite way. Most hotels stipulate that all phone calls be answered within the first three rings. |
| Braden:After you answer the phone, you immediately identify your department, and introduce yourself by name. |
| Ann:For example, “Good morning, in-room dining. This is Ann. May I assist you?” |
| Braden:Always be sure to be polite and positive while on the phone. It’s a good idea to smile while you’re on the phone, as that affects your voice and makes you sound happier. |
| Ann:In the second phase, you should ask the guest for their name and room number. Most hotels in large cities will have some kind of digital telephone system that will display the guest’s name, and room number. |
| Braden:However, you should still ask, in order to confirm that you are talking to that particular guest. |
| Ann:Next, use the phrase we learned before in our vocabulary and phrases section, “May I take your order? |
| Braden:In phase 3, be sure to listen carefully to the order being placed. Write down the order clearly in the order book, or in the digital ordering system that your hotel uses. |
| Ann:After you have taken their order, reconfirm it and give the guest an estimate for when they can expect their order to be delivered to their room. |
| Braden:An important tip here is to only disconnect the line or hang up after the guest has disconnected on their side. There are two things you should keep in mind during one of these calls. |
| Ann:Number 1 - Understand and know the menu thoroughly. This helps make the call smoother and easier for the guest. |
| Braden:Number 2 - Use suggestive selling. This is a technique you’ll learn more about in later lessons, but the basic idea is that you offer or suggest other menu items to the guest depending on what they order. |
| Ann:An example of suggestive selling is when the guest orders only a main dish. You could suggest that they also order an appetizer or a dessert by saying... |
| Braden:“Will you be having any dessert?” |
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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