In the Dining Room

When you go in for the first time, you wait by the door for the head waiter to come up to you and show you to your table. As a rule the head waiter does none of the actual waiting. He takes your order, passes it on to the table waiter arranges the seating and sees that everything runs smoothly.

The table you are given at your first meal is generally yours for the rest of your stay.

Leaving

It is a hotel rule guests must vacate their rooms by twelve midday on the day they are leaving. But if you ask the receptionist or the hall porter you can arrange to have your cases kept in the hotel until you want to collect them.

You are not expected to carry your own cases downstairs!

Tipping

A generally agreed fair proportion of the bill to divide among the staff who have done anything for you is 12 ½ per cent for a week’s stay, more for just a couple of nights, less for a fortnight’s stay.

Vocabulary

Obligatory words and phrases

Types of hotels

hotel (a, an) – a building run as a business, in which persons, esp. travellers or holidaymakers, are given lodging and usu. food in return for payment. – гостиница;отель

The Astoria Hotel – Гостиница«Астория»

Note: Mind the definite article before the name of hotels: the Metropol Hotel; the National, etc.

chain hotel – one of a number of hotels under the same ownership and management. – одинизрядаоднотипныхотелей,принадлежащихкакой-либофирмеилиодномувладельцу

expensive hotel – costing a lot of money – дорогаягостиница

cheap hotel – low in price – дешеваягостиница

top/top quality/top class hotel – of highest quality – гостиницавысшейкатегории

luxury hotel – of great comfort provided without any consideration of the cost (perhaps suggesting ostentations rather than real comfort, etc.) – роскошнаягостиница

five-star hotel – of the highest standard or quality – пятизвездочнаягостиница

hostel – a building, usu. not run for profit, in which certain types of people can obtain cheap board and lodging, such as students, young people working away from home, etc. – общежитие

a youth hostel

motel – a motor hotel, i.e. a hotel for travelling motorists, usu. on a single level with space for a car near each room – мотель;гостиницадляпутешествующихнаавтомобиле

AmE: motor lodge

They stayed at a motel just off the highway.

boarding house – a private house, not a hotel, that provides board and lodging – пансион

The inside of a hotel

hotel lobby/foyer/reception hall – a large area of a hotel where the reception desk is located – холлгостиницы

reception desk – the office, desk, or department that receives visitors at a hotel – столдежурногоадминистратора

AmE: front desk

rack with pigeon holes – a frame or shelf with a set of boxlike divisions in it on a wall for putting papers, or letters, or keys in – полкасячейками

key rack; letter rack

cashier’s desk – a desk where a person in charge of money and payment works – касса

newspaper stall/news-stand – a table in a public place from which newspapers and sometimes magazines and books are sold – газетныйкиоск

restaurant – ресторан

bar – бар

lift – лифт

AmE: elevator

fitness centre/AmE: center – a place or building intended for going in for sports – спортивныйцентр

business center – a place intended for carrying out business activity – деловойцентрдлябизнесменов

conference hall – a hall for a formal meeting - залдляпроведенияконференций

meeting room – a room for a gathering or people for a purpose – комнатыдляделовыхвстреч

swimming-pool – бассейн

sauna – сауна

sporting facilities – спортивные сооружения