You recently stayed in a hotel in a large city. The weather was very unusual for the time of year and the heating/cooling system in the hotel was quite inadequate. Write a letter to the manager of the hotel. In your letter: - Give details of what was wrong - Explain what you had to do to overcome the problem at the time - Say what action you would like the manager to take
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,Dear Sir,
I have just returned home after spending three nights at your hotel in Paddington. The staff were very friendly and the location was extremely convenient. However, I feel I must express my disappointment withabout the room.
DeleteAs we all know, London is experiencing a very warm summer this year, with temperatures around 30 °C during my stayaround 30 °C last week, which is quite unusual. As a result, it was very hot in my room on the sixth floor.
Because of the extreme heat in the room, I had to leave the windows open all night and this made the room very noisyand so it was very noisy, as the hotel is on a main road and the traffic never stops in London. Consequently, I got very little sleep over the three nights.
I think it would be a good idea to install an air-conditioningairconditioning system in the hotel. This could also be used as a heating system in the winter and would certainly make the rooms more comfortable. Perhaps you would consider giving me a discount if I stay at your hotel againif I come to your hotel again.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter fully covers the problem, the temporary measure, its consequences, and realistic action for the manager, using a consistently appropriate formal tone. Its strongest feature is the clear, well-developed progression from complaint to remedy; the main limitation is a small amount of lexical imprecision, including the spelling of air conditioning. Preserve this structure while refining the few word-choice and spelling details.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully developed, and the requests for an improved system and a future discount are appropriate.
For even greater precision, identify the room number or booking reference so the manager can investigate the specific stay.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically sequenced in focused paragraphs, with cohesive devices guiding the reader naturally from the problem to its effects and proposed solution.
Refine the transition into the proposed action so the connection between the sleepless stay and the requested remedy is even more direct.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, precise, and natural for a formal complaint, with only a minor spelling issue in 'airconditioning.'
Write 'air-conditioning system' accurately and continue checking compound terms for conventional spelling and hyphenation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used accurately and flexibly, with punctuation and clause control maintained throughout.
Maintain this level of control while varying a few sentence openings to make the polished style even more flexible.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently stayed in a hotel in a large city. The weather was very unusual for the time of year and the heating/cooling system in the hotel was quite inadequate. Write a letter to the manager of the hotel. In your letter:
- Give details of what was wrong
- Explain what you had to do to overcome the problem at the time
- Say what action you would like the manager to take
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.