You recently spent the night at an expensive hotel. There was a problem with your room, but the hotel staff could not do anything about it. Write a letter to the hotel manager. In your letter: - Describe the problem. - Explain what happened - when you asked the hotel staff for help. - Say what you would like the manager to do.
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing this letter to let you know the problem I faced during my stay at your hotel a week ago. I hope you will consider this and do the needful.
Let me explain in more detail. As I was having a meeting with a potential investor for my business, I booked a room in your five-star hotel assuming that there will not be any minor loopholes. To my disappointment, as soon as I arrived, I observed that the chairs were broken in the room and I immediately informed the reporting manager to replace those because my clients were likely to sit on those chairs the very next day. Indeed, they came and monitored the situation; however, they told me that the hotel is full and they are not having any alternative options currently. I was so depressed that I could not sleep at night and had to cancel the meeting.
Though I can understand that exceptions are there, it was not expected from a lavish hotel like yours. It would be great if I can get compensation for this because I faced a huge business loss due to this incident.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use formal wording Original: let you know Suggested revision: inform you about Why it matters: This phrase is more suitable for a formal complaint to a hotel manager.
- 2. State action clearly Original: do the needful Suggested revision: take appropriate action Why it matters: The original is vague and does not clearly convey the requested response.
- 3. Use natural verb Original: observed Suggested revision: noticed Why it matters: 'Noticed' is the natural verb for discovering the broken chairs on arrival.
- 4. Place modifier clearly Original: the chairs were broken in the room Suggested revision: the chairs in the room were broken Why it matters: Moving the location phrase next to 'chairs' removes possible attachment ambiguity.
- 5. Name hotel role Original: reporting Suggested revision: duty Why it matters: 'Duty manager' is the appropriate term for the responsible hotel staff member.
- 6. Use object pronoun Original: those Suggested revision: them Why it matters: An object pronoun is needed to refer back naturally to the chairs.
- 7. Use precise verb Original: monitored Suggested revision: inspected Why it matters: The staff inspected the damaged chairs rather than continuously monitoring them.
- 8. Match past narrative Original: is Suggested revision: was Why it matters: The reported explanation should remain in the past tense with the surrounding narrative.
- 9. Correct stative form Original: are not having Suggested revision: did not have Why it matters: 'Have' is a stative verb here and should use the simple past form.
- 10. Specify the alternative Original: options Suggested revision: rooms Why it matters: Naming rooms makes the unavailable alternative precise and avoids redundancy.
- 11. Use past time reference Original: currently Suggested revision: at that time Why it matters: The time expression should refer to the past incident rather than the present.
- 12. Choose accurate emotion Original: depressed Suggested revision: upset Why it matters: 'Upset' accurately conveys the immediate reaction without implying a clinical condition.
Suggested Rewrites
- let you know inform you about
- do the needful take appropriate action
- observed noticed
- the chairs were broken in the room the chairs in the room were broken
- reporting duty
- those them
Why this response received Band 7.0
The complaint has a clear purpose and develops every required point with a specific room problem, the staff response, and a requested remedy. Organisation is easy to follow, but unnatural vocabulary choices and recurring grammatical slips weaken the otherwise professional message; the highest priority is to replace awkward expressions with precise hotel-service language and tighten the long central paragraph.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly describes the broken chairs, explains the staff's inability to resolve the issue, and requests compensation in an appropriate formal register.
Specify the form or amount of compensation sought and explain the practical impact without overstating the emotional reaction.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a logical complaint sequence and uses paragraphing and linking words effectively, although the central paragraph is overloaded.
Divide the long account into separate paragraphs for the room problem and the staff response to sharpen progression.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for a formal complaint, but expressions such as 'minor loopholes,' 'reporting manager,' and 'lavish hotel' are imprecise or unnatural.
Use standard service vocabulary such as 'defects,' 'duty manager,' and 'luxury hotel' to improve precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses varied complex structures with generally clear meaning, but tense, pronoun, and verb-form errors occur noticeably.
Review reported past events and conditional requests, using forms such as 'there would be no problems' and 'I would appreciate compensation.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently spent the night at an expensive hotel. There was a problem with your room, but the hotel staff could not do anything about it. Write a letter to the hotel manager. In your letter:
- Describe the problem.
- Explain what happened
- when you asked the hotel staff for help.
- Say what you would like the manager to do.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.