Learn how and when to use "please" and "thank you," from a conversation between a hotel staff member and a guest
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everybody! Eric here! |
| Becky: And I’m Becky. Politely Refusing a Guest. |
| Eric: In this lesson you will learn how to politely decline an offer from a customer. |
| Becky: This conversation takes place in a hallway in the early evening. |
| Eric: It’s between a hotel staff member and a guest. |
| Becky: The speakers share a professional relationship, so they’ll be using formal English. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Customer: Hello, I was wondering if you could help me find someplace in the area to eat. |
| Staff: I would be happy to. There are quite a few restaurants around. Are you looking for anything specific... a certain kind of cuisine, a certain price range, anything like that? |
| Customer: It's my last night here, so I'd like to have a few drinks and maybe enjoy a bit of the night life. |
| Staff: In that case, I would actually recommend the hotel restaurant, it's on the 15th floor. They have a great bar, and the prices are pretty reasonable. It also has all window seats so you can check out the surrounding area and scope out a nice place to go for an after-dinner walk in case you want to get out of the hotel. |
| Customer I probably won't go for a walk, but what time do you get off? Would you like to join me for a drink or two when you’re done? |
| Staff: Oh! I’m flattered, but unfortunately the hotel doesn't allow us to pursue personal relationships with guests. |
| Customer: Oh I see…Well, thanks anyways! |
| Staff: No problem sir, please enjoy your dinner! |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Customer: Hello, I was wondering if you could help me find somewhere in the area to eat. |
| Staff: I would be happy to. There are quite a few restaurants around. Are you looking for anything specific...a certain kind of cuisine, a certain price range, anything like that? |
| Customer: It's my last night here, I'd like to have a few drinks and maybe enjoy a bit of the night life. |
| Staff: In that case I would actually recommend the hotel restaurant, it's on the 15th floor. They have a great bar, and the prices are pretty reasonable. It also has all window seats so you can check out the surrounding area and scope out a nice place to go for an after-dinner walk in case you want to get out of the hotel. |
| Customer I probably won't go for a walk, but what time do you get off? Would you like to join me for a drink or two when you’re done? |
| Staff: Oh! I’m so flattered, but unfortunately, the hotel doesn't allow us to pursue personal relationships with guests. |
| Customer: Oh I see…Well, thanks anyways! |
| Staff: No problem sir, please enjoy your dinner! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Listeners, one important thing to know about working at a hotel is that guests may hit on you or invite you on a date. |
| Becky: Since the woman in this dialogue is working at the hotel and the man is a guest, it would be inappropriate for him to ask her out. |
| Eric: That’s right. Usually the best and easiest way to get out of situations like these is to do what the staff member did in the dialogue. |
| Becky: Exactly. You should inform the guest that the hotel has strict policies against pursuing personal relationships with guests. Even if your hotel doesn’t have this policy, you can still use this excuse, or offer another reason such as “I’m married.” |
| Eric: But keep in mind that from the guest’s standpoint, the invitation was probably meant as a compliment. So you should thank them and then shift the responsibility to the hotel or some other higher authority. |
| Becky: That’s right. For example, you could say "Thank you for the invitation, but our hotel doesn't allow me to meet with guests outside of work." Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first phrase we'll see is... |
| Eric: in the area [natural native speed] |
| Becky: nearby, close, around here |
| Eric: in the area [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Eric: in the area [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Eric: cuisine [natural native speed] |
| Becky: food |
| Eric: cuisine [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Eric: cuisine [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Eric: price range [natural native speed] |
| Becky: distribution of prices |
| Eric: price range [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Eric: price range [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Eric: night life [natural native speed] |
| Becky: activities in an area which happen at night |
| Eric: night life [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Eric: night life [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Eric: window seats [natural native speed] |
| Becky: seats near the window |
| Eric: window seats [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Eric: window seats [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last we have... |
| Eric: get off [natural native speed] |
| Becky: leave work, end one’s shift at work |
| Eric: get off [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Eric: get off [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Eric: The first phrase we’ll look at is "get off." |
| Becky: The idea behind this phrase actually refers to another phrase, which is "on the clock." "On the clock" just means that you are at work. |
| Eric: Which is why "get off" means "to leave work." You’re getting “off the clock.” |
| Becky: A good example sentence for this would be "I’ll get off of work in three hours." |
| Eric: The next phrase we’ll look at is "night life." |
| Becky: "Night life" refers to the activities that are available at night in a particular area. Usually, this means things like parties, nightclubs, or bars. |
| Eric: That’s right. However, it can also include other things depending on the area. In the dialogue, the guest used the phrase "night life" to suggest that he was interested in going to a bar or a similar venue. |
| Becky: Some other example sentences using the phrase "night life" would be "I would like to sample the night life of New Orleans" and "There isn't much night life around here." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to deal with advances from guests. |
| Becky: In the dialogue we heard the phrase "Would you like to join me for a drink or two when you’re done?" |
| Eric: When you’re a staff member at a hotel, guests will pay attention to you. However, some guests might give you more attention than you want, or even more than is appropriate. |
| Becky: In English, we have several phrases to describe this behavior when guests might express romantic interest in you. For example, we use the phrases "hitting on," "flirting with," "coming onto," and "making a pass." |
| Eric: Now, with the exception of "making a pass," these phrases are fairly neutral. For example, "are you hitting on me?" can sound positive or negative depending on your tone. |
| Becky: The difference between “hitting” on someone and the phrase "making a pass" at someone is that making a pass usually has a negative connotation. |
| Eric: That’s right. For example, if a staff member were to say "she made a pass at me," that would mean that the woman had definitely done something inappropriate. Now we’ll give you some tips to help you to deal with these situations. |
| Becky: That’s right. The best method is to remove the responsibility of saying “no” from yourself by putting it onto the hotel. |
| Eric: In the dialogue, that’s exactly what the staff member did. She said, "Oh! I'm so flattered, but unfortunately the hotel doesn’t allow us to pursue personal relationships with guests." |
| Becky: The staff member was able to indirectly thank the guest for hitting on her, but she still said no. |
| Eric: The tone of voice you use is very important in these kinds of situations. Specifically, you should avoid using any kind of irritated, frustrated, or patronizing tone. |
| Becky: Exactly. If the guest were to think that you’re irritated or angry at them, they would probably feel rejected and embarrassed. |
| Eric: And guests who feel embarrassed rarely return to the hotel, so that would be bad for business! What’s worse, sometimes they may retaliate by reporting you to your supervisor or manager for some superficial reason. |
| Becky: So, to avoid this, always speak with a positive, sincere, and sometimes even a slightly apologetic tone of voice. For example, you can say "Thank you for the invitation, but I’m not allowed to meet privately with guests." |
| Eric: Talking like this lets the guest know that their flirting and advances are not appropriate nor allowed, but that you're still on friendly terms with them, which is very important. |
| Becky: This is a tricky situation that, if handled incorrectly, can lead to awkward or negative outcomes. In order to prevent this, it is important to handle these situations maturely. |
| Eric: Hopefully the guest will accept your answer and that is the end of it. Of course if a guest won’t accept your answer and continues to be pushy, you should tell your manager. |
Outro |
| Eric: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening! |
| Becky: And we’ll see ya next time! Bye! |
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