You have just returned from a holiday. You are unhappy with the quality of the hotel you stayed in and want to complain to the travel agency that arranged the holiday. Write a letter to the manager of the travel agency. In your letter: - say about the holiday and where you stayed - mention why you are unhappy about the hotel - where you stayed - say what you would like the travel agency to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I understand that no business likes to hear such complaintsthese kinds of things from their customers, but sometimes, we just can not help but complain about the poor servicepoor or bad service.
I am dissatisfiednot too happy about the hotel that you booked for me recently. The name of the hotelHotel was “Concordia Hotel”, located in the city of Lisbon, and I was supposed to stay there from 5 to 9 Junefrom 5th to 9th June, to enjoy my New Year holidaynew year’s holiday that was arranged by you.
Unfortunately, I had to check out of the hotel after spending only two nights there because of several unpleasant experiencessome unpleasant experience. First of all, I did not find the hotel rooms to be clean enough for the priceprices I paid. The room had a bad odourIt had a bad odour that made my stay uncomfortablemade me irritated throughout my stayas long as I stayed there. Moreover, the hotel did not offer me any free shuttle service anywhere in the city even though that is exactly what I was told.
I did not get the services your travel agency promisedservices that I was promised by your travel agency. Therefore, I believe it is reasonableSo, it is only fair that I receive a full refund of the hotel chargesget a full refund of the money that I paid for the hotel charges.
I hope to hear from you soon regarding this.
Yours faithfully,
Freddy Noble
Why this response received Band 7.5
The complaint is purposeful, appropriately formal, and well developed through specific details about the hotel, the shortened stay, and the requested refund. The main weakness is uneven language precision, with a few awkward collocations and unclear references that slightly reduce fluency. Refine those expressions and make the opening more direct so the complaint sounds consistently professional and concise.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly identifies the holiday and hotel, explains the problems with specific examples, and requests a full refund.
Make the opening immediately identify the booking and complaint instead of beginning with a general comment about businesses receiving complaints.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing and a logical progression from context to problems and remedy make the letter easy to follow.
Strengthen reference clarity by naming the room or hotel directly instead of using an ambiguous pronoun in "It had a bad odour."
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and suitably formal, with effective items such as "bad odour" and "free shuttle service," although some combinations are awkward.
Replace imprecise phrases such as "some unpleasant experience" and "made me irritated" with natural alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures with generally good control, and the remaining errors do not impede communication.
Improve agreement and noun forms in phrases such as "some unpleasant experiences" and check pronoun references carefully.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have just returned from a holiday. You are unhappy with the quality of the hotel you stayed in and want to complain to the travel agency that arranged the holiday. Write a letter to the manager of the travel agency. In your letter:
- say about the holiday and where you stayed
- mention why you are unhappy about the hotel
- where you stayed
- say what you would like the travel agency to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.