Tasks to the text:

Task 1. Complete the sentences about Grand Hotel Europe.

1. The history of the Grand Hotel Europe dates ...

2. It is located ....

3. The renovation of the Hotel ...

4. If you come to do business in St Petersburg the Hotel can provide you ...

5. The Hotel's private function rooms are ideal for...

6. The Banqueting team are always ready to....

7. The Grand Hotel Europe can also organize...

Task 2. You are a successful businessman & often travel to St. Petersburg on business. This time you decided to stay at Grand Hotel Europe. Read “Room Description” and choose a room. Give your grounds for the choice.

Grand Hotel Europe

Room description

Standard Classic room: $260-300

• Grand lit

• Twin

• Double

• No real triple exists

• Tastefully decorated in yellow and green

• Two armchairs

• Writing desk

• Mini-Safe

• Mini-Bar

• Heated tiled bathroom floor

• Satellite TV/remote control

• One telephone set/two points

• Hair dryer

• Small entrance foyer

Belle Chambres: $340-380

• Double

• Twin

• Two Grand Lit

• Parquet floors

• Partly historical furniture and paintings

• More quest supplies

• View facing Nevski Prospect

Penthouses: $450-490

• Modern “high tech”

• Split level

Suites: $1000

• Different in size, location, views

• More guest supplies

The following expressions may be helpful:

I’d prefer…; I’d rather…; I’d better…; I’d like to…; I find it cosy (inconvenient, noisy, etc.)…; as for…; to my mind… .

F. Watch the film “Family Album USA” (Episode 15 “Second Honeymoon”). Follow the directions in the Appendix “Traditions and Habits of American People.”

G. Read the dialogues and dramatize them.

Dialogue 1.

Cl (clerk): Hello. Welcome to "Holiday Inn!" We're happy to have you stay with us. Please, fill out the registration forms. You all have single rooms...

H: Are we on the same floor?

Cl: No. Our vacant rooms are on the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors.

E: Oh, I never stay higher than the third floor. Normally I choose a room on the first or second.

Cl: All right. I'll see what I can do.

M: Did you say "single room"? I always make a reservation for a suite.

Cl: No problem, ma'am. Let me see what I can find for you.

H: Personally I don't like being on my own. Will anybody share a room with me?

Sc: I don't mind sharing. Do you snore?

H: No, I don't. But sometimes I talk in my sleep.

Sc: So much the better. I'll interview you. (To the clerk.) Do you have a double?

Cl: Let me see... Yes, we do.

H: Thank you.

L: I don't travel very often. I rarely reserve a hotel room. Anyway, we're only here for a couple of days. So I don't really care. Anything will do for me. If only there is a telephone, a television and a bathroom.

Cl: Naturally, each room has a bathroom, sir. Here are your keys. The elevators are over there.

Dialogue 2.

Sc: Uuhh...Where is Room 613, please?

Ma (maid): Come with me. Here's your room, sir.

The maid unlocks the door with the master key.

Ma: Here's the bathroom, the shower...

H: Oh, it's green! Good. Green is my favorite color. I like it when the walls match the floor, the bathtub, the sink and the towels.

Sc: Is there a mini bar?

Ma_: Yes, there is. It's in the cabinet on the right by the window.

Sc: Yipee! It's big! There's no ice bucket.

Ma: I'll bring one right away. Would you like some extra pillows or blankets?

H: I wonder if there is room service.

Sc: Let’s look it up in the directory. Here . “Room Service-0015.” Why?

H: I’d like to have breakfast in the room.

Sc: Hm, breakfast in bed – not bad. How early?

H: At ten.

Sc: An early bird catches the worm, you know.

Dialogue 3.

A: Good morning. Midland Hotel.

B: Good morning. This is Gane Stevens from Daxia. I'm trying to arrange accommodation for a number of visiting businessmen from abroad, and I'd like to know a little about the facilities that your hotel has to offer.

A: Well, the Midland is a 3-star hotel and we are situated five minutes from centre of town.

B: Uh-huh. And are you on the main road?

A: No, we're on a side street, and all the rooms are very quiet.

B: And what about a restaurant?

A: Well, we find that most of our clients prefer to eat out, and as there are plenty of restaurants in the vicinity, we have only a small restaurant – but we do serve hot food in the evening.

B: I see.

A: Of course we do have a bar – the Cellar Bar – which has a very intimate atmosphere.

B: Well, thanks very much for the information. Bye.

A: Bye.

Dialogue 4.

Receptionist: Good afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?

Visitor: We are Russian businessmen. Reservations have been made to accommodate 16 people.

R: Oh, yes, sir. 8 double rooms, for a fortnight.

V: Sorry, but we now need 7 double rooms and 2 single rooms.

R: I’m sorry, sir, but we’re having a big international conference here this week,

and we are completely booked out. You should really have mentioned the change when you

confirmed your reservation.

V: Yes, I suppose I should have, but do you think you could do something now?

We need the single rooms for our top executives.

R: Top executives… Are they going to stay for a fortnight?

V: No, about a week.

R: Then you can have two single rooms on the first floor.

V: Thank you, you’ve been very helpful. I hope the rooms are not noisy.

R: They’re very quiet. They face the garden.

V: Good. Are all rooms with private baths?

R: All rooms are with private baths, telephones and background music.

V: What about television?

R: There is a television room on the ground floor, sir. By the way,you can have our central papers free every morning.

V: How much are the rooms?

R: Singles are $... and double: $... a day. Have you filled in your arrival card? Good. Then sign here, please. Here is your key. When you go out, please leave the key at the reception desk.

V: Sure, and what if we want to extend out stay?

R: You’ll have to contact the chief receptionist at least 24 hours before the original date of your departure.

V: Thank you.

Dialogue 5.

Visitor: May I have my key, please, room 325.

Receptionist: Here you are, sir. There's a message for you.

V: Thank you (reads the massage). It looks as if we'll have to leave tomorrow.

R: Shall we have your bills ready, for tomorrow?

V: No. We are leaving for a couple of days, but we are not checking out.

R: I can understand you not wanting to check out, accommodation is difficult to get.

V: We are leaving tomorrow, early in the morning. Could you wake me up at a quarter to six? I'm 'afraid I may oversleep, you know.

R: Don't worry, sir. I'll call you at a quarter to six.

H. Act as an interpreter. Translate the sentences from Russian into English and from English into Russian.

1.

R: Hello, what can I do for you?

V: Я хотел бы остановиться в вашей гостинице. Есть ли свободные номера?

R: What room would you prefer: single or double?

V: Одноместный с ванной и холодильником.

R: We have a single room on the third floor. Unfortunately it faces a parking lot.

V: Это не имеет значения. Могу ли я завтракать в номере?

R; Sure. We have an excellent room service in our hotel.

V: Сколько стоит такой номер в сутки?

R: $200 per night. If you want TV or PC you'll have to pay extra. Morning papers and 10 o'clock tea are our hotel compliments.

V: Спасибо, это меня устраивает.

2.

V: Добрый день, я хотел бы забронировать номера в вашей гостинице для делегации из 5 человек.

R: It's possible. We have singles, doubles and twins. Or you may prefer suites?

V: Номер-люкс для шефа и два духместных номера с двумя кроватями.

R: How long are you going to stay?

V: Две недели. Сколько стоят сутки?

R: $250 per night twins and $750 - a suite. All rooms are with private baths, TV and a fridge.

V: Спасибо. Делегация прибывает 16 апреля. Нужно ли мне подтвердить бронь?

R: Yes, confirm your reservation not later than the 14^th of April, afternoon.

V: Спасибо, я обязательно позвоню 14 апреля.

3.

R: Good morning! Welcome to our hotel! What can I do for you?

V: Добрый день. Я хотел бы узнать об условиях размещения в вашей

гостинице. Я жду партнеров по бизнесу.

R: We are a 3-Crown hotel and the hotel is well equipped. We offer a lot of services to our clients: restaurants, bars, hairdressers' and barbers', dry cleaning services, laundry and a lot of others.

V: Есть ли у вас конференц-залы или помещения для проведения официальных встреч?

R: Certainly. We can also offer our guests a number of sorts and leasure facilities: tennis courts, billiard rooms, bowling, sauna and a swimming pool.

V: А что включается в стоимость проживания?

R: The price of the room with all its facilities and breakfast.

V: Спасибо за информацию. Можно ли заказать бронь по телефону.

R: Certainly. You can also use E-mail and fax. Here is our business card.

Now illustrate the following situations in the dialogues of your own.

1. At the Reception. You don’t have a reservation but you need a room in this hotel.

2. You share a hotel room with a stranger. He doesn’t like the hotel. You try to persuade him that the hotel is not as bad as he imagines.

3. You have some problems while staying at a hotel and trying to solve them with the hotel officials.

4. You want to extend your stay at the hotel but there are some problems. The hotel is completely booked out. The Chief receptionist is trying to help you.

5. You and your family are going to spend a week in Moscow and are choosing a hotel to stay at. Give the grounds for your suggestions (location, category, facilities, services, prices, etc.).