How to write an email to book a hotel room – A2 English writing

How to write an email to book a hotel room

In this lesson, you will learn how to write an email to book a hotel room. You will learn about different types of rooms, how to start and end your email, and how to ask for specific room features. You’ll also learn some useful phrases to talk about dates and make requests. Read the following email example and check the useful language.

Types of Hotel Rooms

Here are some types of hotel rooms and beds.

• a double room = a room with a double bed or a king size bed
• a single room = a room with a single bed
• a twin room = a room with two single beds
• a triple room = a room with three single beds or a double bed and a single bed
• a family room = a room with beds for four or more people

Other features of rooms and hotels:

• a sea view
• a balcony
• an en suite bathroom
• a pool
• a gym

Tips for writing a perfect email to book a hotel room

Opening and closing lines

You can use the following phrases to start and finish your email:

Start your email:

• Dear Sir/Madam,

Finish your email:

• Regards,
• Yours faithfully,

Write your complete name below.

Requesting a feature

You can use preferably to write about a feature that you would like to have.

• Could I have a double room, preferably with a balcony and sea view?

Would like

You can use the verb phrase would like to book a room. You can use would like + noun or would like + to + verb infinitive.

• I would like a double room. 
• I would like to book a single room. 

Prepositions

Here are some important prepositions for booking rooms.

Use for before the number of nights.

• I would like to book a room for three nights.

Use on to talk about a single date.

• I’d like a room for one night on 15th May.

Use from…to to talk about a number of dates.

• I would like a room from 5th to 7th October.

Use on to talk about floors.

• I’d like a room on the ground floor.

Use with for special features.

• I’d like a room (preferably) with a balcony/en suite bathroom/sea view.

First conditional

We use the first conditional to talk about possibilities in the future. In a first conditional sentence, there are two parts. Use if in one part, and after it, use a verb in the present simple tense. In the other part of the sentence, you can use will + verb (infinitive) or a question with can/could I/you…?

• If there are no family rooms available, we will accept a double room and a triple room.
• We will accept a double room and a triple room if they are next to each other.
• If there are no family rooms available, could I book a double and a twin room?

🔍 Note that the word if can be in the first or the second part of the sentence.

Formal questions

You can make questions more formal by adding an introductory phrase:

• Can/Could you tell me if…?
• Can/Could you let me know if…?
• I would (also) like to know if…

If we ask a question using an introductory phrase, the order of the words after this phrase is the normal order of an affirmative sentence:

• Do you have any rooms available on these dates? ⇒ Could you tell me if you have any rooms available on these dates?
• Is breakfast included in the price? ⇒ I would like to know if breakfast is included in the price.
• Do I need to pay a deposit? ⇒ Can you tell me if I need to pay a deposit?
• Does the hotel have a pool? ⇒ Could you let me know if the hotel has a pool?