9.1 Accommodation: Read Rules, Hear Conditions & Book a Room

Connect three ways of using the same situation

CAPLE lists accommodation instructions in reading and listening, and booking a room, asking factual questions and making simple complaints in speaking. A housing advertisement alone does not teach all those skills. In this section, read a house notice, understand an oral explanation and conduct a booking exchange. The situations and prices are original fictional practice, not current accommodation offers.

Recognise room and household vocabulary

Read the unit attached to a price. Sixty euros per room per night is not necessarily sixty euros for each person. If the information is missing, ask instead of silently assuming. Similarly, incluído and à parte separate what the price covers from an additional charge.

Read the house rules

Original notice:

Bem-vindos à Casa do Jardim. O pequeno-almoço é servido das sete às nove. A cozinha partilhada pode ser utilizada até às dez da noite. Depois das vinte e duas horas, pedimos silêncio. A saída dos quartos deve ser feita até às onze da manhã. Deixe a chave na receção.

Work through the information by function. Breakfast is from 07h00 to 09h00. Kitchen use ends at 22h00. The quiet period starts after 22h00. Room departure is by 11h00, and the key goes to reception. Saída here concerns checkout, not the emergency exit. Até introduces an endpoint; depois introduces what follows it.

A guest planning breakfast at 09h30 is outside the stated period. A guest who leaves the key in the room has not followed the final instruction. These conclusions come from the notice, not from remembered hotel customs. A different property may have different rules.

Hear price and conditions

Have a partner read this original script while you hide the text:

Rececionista: Temos um quarto duplo livre para sexta e sábado. Custa sessenta euros por quarto, por noite. O pequeno-almoço está incluído. A entrada pode ser feita depois das três da tarde.
Cliente: Então, para duas noites são cento e vinte euros?
Rececionista: Sim. A casa de banho é privativa, mas a cozinha é partilhada. Não temos estacionamento.
Cliente: Obrigada. Pode repetir a hora de entrada?

Note the room type, nights, price unit, inclusion, facilities and missing facility. Two nights at €60 per room per night total €120. The script does not charge an additional €60 for each guest. The private facility is the bathroom; the shared facility is the kitchen. Parking is unavailable. Keep the two facilities separate when answering a multiple-choice question.

Book a room with a clear sequence

A booking conversation needs more than Quero um quarto. Practise the date, number of nights, people, room and a relevant question:

Cliente: Boa tarde. Tem um quarto para duas pessoas de sexta a domingo?
Rececionista: Temos um quarto duplo por sessenta euros por noite.
Cliente: O pequeno-almoço está incluído?
Rececionista: Sim. São duas noites, cento e vinte euros no total.
Cliente: Está bem. Queria reservar. A que horas podemos entrar?
Rececionista: Depois das quinze horas.
Cliente: Então chegamos na sexta-feira depois das três. Muito obrigada.

The final line confirms an important detail. De sexta a domingo means two nights in this scenario, not three simply because three calendar days are named. For practice, change the arrival date or number of guests and see whether your partner adjusts the price and reply rather than repeating the model.

State a problem and ask for a solution

Simple complaint patterns are enough for A2 communication:

• Desculpe, não há água quente no quarto. Pode verificar?
• A chave não funciona. Pode ajudar-me?
• O quarto está muito frio. Há outro cobertor?
• Reservei um quarto com casa de banho privativa. Este quarto tem casa de banho partilhada. Pode confirmar a reserva?

Each statement identifies a concrete problem. The request gives the other person a way to respond. Avoid a vague Está tudo mal when you can name the missing facility or broken item. Listen to the proposed action: checking a boiler, changing a key or reviewing a booking are different solutions.

A final mixed-skill drill

Read the house notice again, then put it away. Ask a partner when breakfast ends and where to leave the key. Next listen to the price script and write the total for two nights. Finally conduct the booking without reading. This verifies three performances separately. If you can read cozinha partilhada but cannot recognise it when spoken, keep that as a listening target. If you understand the price but cannot ask a question about it, practise É por pessoa ou por quarto? The repeated context supports learning while the actual tasks remain different.