Rocket Spanish Newsletter Series:
"El Hotel" (The Hotel)
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Conversation Practice
Hello, and welcome to today's newsletter! Today we're going to follow the further adventures of Carlos and Carmona. They’ve been planning this trip to Ecuador for ages and are hoping see many new things. Last time you saw them, they'd found their way through the airport and were headed to their hotel in a rickety taxi. In this newsletter, they discover that their reservations have been lost.
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The taxi drops Carlos and Carmona off on a bustling avenue with wide streets and buses zipping crazily back and forth. They lug their suitcases through the entrance of a tall, dark building. The receptionist looks up as they enter. Follow along with their conversation by playing the audio. |
| Click on the arrow to listen. Click again to stop. |
| Recepcionista: | Buenos días, señor. ¿En qué le puedo ayudar? |
| Carlos: | Tengo una reservación para dos. Me llamo Carlos Morales. |
| Recepcionista: | ¿Para cuándo es la reservación? |
| Carlos: | Para hoy, el tres de agosto. |
| Recepcionista: | Lo siento, señor. No tengo su nombre en el libro. |
| Carlos: | ¿ No está bajo del nombre de mi esposa, Carmona Morales? |
| Recepcionista: | No. Lo siento, señor. |
Now, play the conversation again, trying to hear each word and phrase in terms of its English meaning.
| Receptionist: | Good morning, sir. How can I help you? |
| Carlos: | I have a reservation for two. My name is Carlos Morales. |
| Receptionist: | For when is the reservation? |
| Carlos: | For today, the third of August. |
| Receptionist: | I’m sorry, sir. I don’t have your name in the book. |
| Carlos: | It’s not under the name of my wife, Carmona Morales? |
| Receptionist: | No. I’m sorry, sir. |
Here are some of the important words and phrases that you should be able to pick out of the conversation.
| Listen along. |
| ¿en que le puedo ayudar? | How can I help you? |
| tengo / no tengo | I have / I don’t have |
| una reservación | a reservation |
| para | for |
| me llamo… | My name is… |
| hoy | today |
| el nombre | the name |
| su | yours, his, hers |
| bajo de | under, beneath |
| la esposa | the wife |
| mi | my |
Carlos looks back at Carmona grimly. She looks tired. It was a long flight, and both of them just want a shower and a nap. Carlos turns back to the receptionist.
| Listen along. |
| Carlos: | ¿ Tiene otra habitación? |
| Recepcionista: | ¿Qué necesita? ¿Una habitación para dos? |
| Carlos: | Sí. |
| Recepcionista: | ¿Cama matrimonial? |
| Carlos: | Sí, por favor. |
The receptionist looks through her book, shaking her head.
| Recepcionista: | No hay, lo siento. |
| Carlos: | Una habitación con dos camas está bien. |
| Recepcionista: | A ver... No hay tampoco. Hay una habitación individual. |
| Carlos: | Bueno, tomamos esa. |
| Recepcionista: | Es una habitación muy pequeña. |
| Carlos: | No me importa. |
Here’s their conversation in English. Play the conversation again as you follow along with the English words.
| Carlos: | Do you have another room? |
| Receptionist: | What do you need? A room for two? |
| Carlos: | Yes. |
| Receptionist: | A double bed? |
| Carlos: | Yes, please. |
| Receptionist: | There isn’t one, I’m sorry. |
| Carlos: | A room with two beds is okay. |
| Receptionist: | Let's see... There isn’t one either. There’s a single room. |
| Carlos: | Well, we’ll take that one. |
| Receptionist: | It’s a very small room. |
| Carlos: | I don’t care. |
Here are some of the important words and phrases that you should be able to pick out of the conversation.
| Listen along. |
| ¿tiene otro? | Do you have another? |
| ¿qué necesita? | What do you need? |
| doble | double, also a room with twin beds |
| cama matrimonial | double bed (literally, marital bed) |
| hay / no hay | there is/are, there isn’t/aren’t |
| tampoco | either |
| individual | single, individual |
| eso/esa | that one |
| pequeño | small |
| no me importa | I don’t care |
Carmona watches gratefully as the receptionist starts writing their details in the book. “We can change hotels tomorrow,” she tells Carlos. The receptionist hands Carlos a sheet of paper to fill in.
| Listen along. |
| Recepcionista: | ¿Cómo desea pagar? ¿Por crédito, por cheque, o en efectivo? |
| Carlos: | Por crédito, por favor. |
| Recepcionista: | ¿Me puede dar su tarjeta de crédito? |
| Carlos: | Aquí está. |
He gives the receptionist his credit card.
| Recepcionista: | Ustedes estarán en la habitación número cinco. Aquí está la llave. Las puertas al edificio se cierran a las once de la noche. Después de eso hay que timbrar para entrar. Tienen que salir a las diez de la mañana. |
| Carlos: | Gracias. |
| Recepcionista: | ¿Necesitan ustedes ayuda con las maletas? |
| Carlos: | No, gracias. |
Now, look at the conversation again, this time in English.
| Receptionist: | How would you like to pay? By credit, check, or cash? |
| Carlos: | By credit, please. |
| Receptionist: | Could you give me your credit card? |
| Carlos: | Here it is. |
| Receptionist: | You will be in room number five. Here is the key. The doors to the building close at eleven o’clock at night. After that you’ll have to ring the bell to enter. You have to leave at ten o’clock in the morning. |
| Carlos: | Thank you. |
| Receptionist: | Do you need help with the suitcases? |
| Carlos: | No, thanks. |
Here are some of the important words and phrases that you should be able to pick out of the conversation.
| Listen along. |
| ¿cómo desea pagar? | how would you like to pay? |
| por crédito | by credit |
| por cheque | by check |
| en efectivo | cash |
| ¿me puede dar? | can you give me? |
| la tarjeta de crédito | the credit card |
| aquí está | here it is |
| habitación número cinco | room number five |
| la llave | the key |
| las puertas | the doors |
| el edificio | the building |
| de la noche / de la mañana | at night / in the morning |
| hay que | you have to, one has to |
| timbrar | ring (the bell) |
| entrar | to enter |
| salir | to exit, to leave |
Wearily, Carlos and Carmona carry their bags up to their room. “After a nap,” Carlos promises, “we’re going to explore the city!”
I hope that this lesson has given you lots of useful words and phrases. Getting a hotel room can be a difficult and scary task in a Latin American country … especially if the receptionist doesn’t know any English!
From my experience, most major hotels either have someone who knows a little English or can offer you a printed list of their rooms and services in English. However, be warned: sometimes the person who knows a little English can be worse than the person who knows no English. My friend Amy says that she's been in hostels where the receptionist was certain that he was speaking English to her, but she found it completely incomprehensible!
Well, that’s it for now. In just a few weeks, you'll get to learn what happens to Carlos and Carmona as they take to the streets and see just what Quito can offer them.
Until then!
Mauricio Evlampieff
Rocket Spanish
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P.P.P.S Let’s see how good you would do if you had to get a room in a hotel! Fill in the blanks in the conversation below.
| Receptionist: | Buenos días. ¿En qué le puedo ayudar? |
| You : | Necesito ________________________ (a room). |
| Receptionist: | ¿Para cuántas personas? |
| You : | Para _________________________ (two people). |
| Receptionist: | ¿Cama matrimonial o dos camas? |
| You : | ______________________________ (Double bed). |
| Receptionist: | ¿Su nombre? |
| You : | ___________________________ (My name is …). |
| Receptionist: | ¿Cómo desea usted pagar? |
| You : | _______________________________ (By cash). |
| Receptionist: | Gracias. Aquí está su llave. |
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