hotel english

[Lynne Hand]

Dear Teddy

A couple of tips for anyone working in the hotel industry - Use would or could in question forms to make them more polite?

Say "Excuse me..." to attract the attention of members of hotel staff. I would never call someone "Waiter" or "Driver" as it seems extremely rude (I am British though).

What do you call the people who:-

(1) work at the front desk who check guests in and out, take reservations - RECEPTIONIST (UK) CHECK-IN CLERK / DESK CLERK (US)
(2) carry guests' baggage to their room - PORTER (UK) BELLHOP/BELLBOY (US)
(3) clean the rooms, make beds - CHAMBERMAID or HOUSEKEEPER or CLEANING PERSON (rare)

As you can see there is quite a difference between British (UK) and American (US) English in the catering industry.

You could also listen and watch a video with some vocabulary you may find useful on Ten Days a short course onthe BBC web site-

I hope this helps. 8)

Lynne Hand

[teddy]

Hi. Thank you for your help. Yes. It helped me a lot. And thank you for the great link. Do you happen to know any American websites equivalent of the one you gave me? I'd like to look further into how British and American English differ like you said.

Thank you.