| Describe a hotel you have stayed in. You should say:
and explain what makes the hotel special. |
Follow-up questions
- What are some good hotels in your city?
- What are the differences between staying in a hotel and staying in a relative’s house?
- What qualities make a hotel a good one?
Possible answer 1 for the above speaking cue cards
Is it cheating if I tell you about a Bed and Breakfast I stayed in rather than a hotel? I’m going to risk it, and tell you all about a place I stayed on holiday, what it was like and why it was so special to me.
Many years ago I lost my job. I’d been covering a post while someone was on maternity leave, but then they came back and I found I didn’t have a job. Anymore! To cheer me up, two good friends of mine suggested we went away for a weekend break. One of them had found a really nice Bed and Breakfast in Anglesey, which is an Island off the coast of Wales. Nowadays it doesn’t feel so much like an island anymore because it is permanently attached to the mainland by the very famous ‘Menai Bridge’. She chose the place partly because of its spectacular location – it is surrounded by sea – but also because it was vegetarian (we all were too) and offered horse riding, which was a hobby we had in common.
The B&B as we call them in the UK, was, well, pretty eccentric. It was a lovely old house, with quirky rooms, dubious cleanliness and an assortment of dogs, cats, hens, ducks, ponies, people – pretty chaotic. From the house, you could see across the Menai Straits, the stretch of sea between Anglesey and the mainland, to the snow-topped mountains of Snowdonia. It was glorious. The proprietor was one of those people who very much spoke her mind, but took you as you were, she quickly involved us in life on her small holding, feeding animals, heading off to the beach and drunkenly putting the world to rights in front of an open fire in the evening. We walked the dogs, fed the hens and galloped the horses along deserted beaches.
When the woman who owned the B&B found I didn’t have a job, she said quite simply ‘well, why don’t you come and work for me?’ I was flabbergasted, I’d never really considered that sort of a job, and I’d come on holiday not looking for employment. I hesitated, but she persisted. ‘If you like it you can stay, if you don’t you can leave – where is the risk in that?’ To cut a long story short, with unusual spontaneity and recklessness I agreed. For the next two years, I worked at the B&B looking after the horses and guests, taking out rides along the beautiful Welsh beaches and enjoying a rural lifestyle. It was brilliant, I learned a lot about animals, people and myself, and had many adventures along the way. I didn’t earn much, but I lived well in a caravan in the middle of a field with hens clucking around outside and ponies scratching their bottoms on the door of my accommodation in the mornings!
So for me, that remote Anglesey B&B will always be very special, because it introduced me to a different way of living and working, and gave me an appreciation of the countryside that I hadn’t really been able to experience before. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much doing a job as I did staying there!
Possible answer 2 for the above speaking cue cards
The hotel that I stayed in 2 years back while my visit to India is Westin. I had an official tour to Pune, India and my office arranged the stay in Westin. The reason I stayed in this particular hotel is mostly because my office arranged our stay there. But that was a really great experience. Since Westin is a renowned hotel chain and I have experienced their superb service in our country, I was excited to be in Westin in Pune as well.
The hotel has been placed in a distinctive location in the beautiful Koregaon Park along the Mula Mutha River and is just five kilometres from the airport. Westin is also in the vicinity is Magarpatta and Hadapsar, an information technology hotspot. Industrial parks lie within a 25-kilometer radius of this hotel. The staying rooms are subtly designed and give comfort to be there. The hotel includes club rooms, attractive and heavenly spa and workout gym, meeting room and exclusive restaurant. The rooms feature soft and comfortable bed and an eye-catching view overlooking green surroundings Mula Mutha River.
The Westin is a renowned hotel chain that offers exclusive customer experience. The view, the stay, the foods and facilities make the hotel a different experience.
How to answer this cue card?
You need to describe a hotel where you have stayed. If you pick a famous hotel, your description should be close to the original facts regarding this hotel. But you are free to pick a hotel and give a superficial description as well. Mention the name of the hotel first and then tell your reason for staying there. People usually stay at hotels when they visit a place where they have no relatives. Sometimes they go to a foreign country or a distant city of the same country and stay at a hotel. The stay usually lasts for few days and then people take their departure after the intended task is done. You can mention a trip you took and stayed in a hotel or maybe you can state that your office arranged a business trip and picked the hotel for you.
Describe the following information to answer this cue card correctly:
- Name and location of the hotel. If this is 4 stars / 5 stars hotel, mention that as well.
- Specify the reason you stayed there.
- How long you stayed there.
- What type of room you stayed in and the facilities you got from the hotel.
- Mention if this was the first time you stayed there or went there before.
- Say if you have stayed there on your own choice or because the trip planner, office authority arranged that.
- Give some interior and exterior description as well as the surrounding of the hotel.
- There must be some distinctive points and things about the hotel;
mention those. For instance: the food was delicious, the cost was very
reasonable, they offered some free services, the location was excellent,
the staffs were very cordial etc.
If you can talk about this cue card, you should be able to answer the following cue cards as well:
- Describe a building that attracted you.
- Describe a tour you have taken.
- Describe a hotel which you like.
- Talk about a hotel in your city that you would recommend to others.
- Describe a hotel you often go to.
Related IELTS Resources
Take a practice test to find out what is your current weakness in terms of IELTS scale and allow more time to improve your weak spots. The following IELTS resources will help you to develop your skills faster: