Hotel check-in
You arrive at a hotel to check in, but there is an issue with your reservation. Resolve it politely.
A beginner-level session of about 5 minutes.
From across the lobby this is a solved problem: a guest, a receptionist, a keycard being programmed. That is the trap. The receptionist has a queue behind you, a screen that disagrees with your booking, and one easy way to resolve it that is not the way you want, and after a long journey saying nothing is what most people manage. The exchange is short and it moves quickly. They type, they say something about what is available tonight, and there is a two-second gap in which you either stay in the conversation or it moves on to the guest behind you. The English needed is ordinary. Holding your place while tired, in a queue, opposite someone who is perfectly polite and also busy, is the part worth practising.
Angles worth taking
- Keep your booking source and reference in one short line, so the gap where the conversation can move on stays small.
- If a queue builds behind you, step half aside but stay at the counter, since walking away means starting again with whoever is free later.
- Ask what is available rather than describing the problem twice; the second description almost never changes the screen.
- If you are offered something smaller than you booked, take it for tonight and say clearly what you want fixed tomorrow.
- Get the name of the person helping you, so the next conversation about this does not start from nothing.
Who is in the room
You play
A guest checking in after a long journey
You speak with
A hotel receptionist dealing with a busy evening
Phrases to reach for
These are shown to you before the session starts. They are what you are asked to use, not a list the scorer is checking off.
Ready to speak?
Free to start. You need a TalkDrill account to speak — reading this page does not.
Browse all roleplay scenariosThe format
Modes
Learn (guided) · Mock (exam-real)
How a roleplay session works
Read your brief
Your role, the situation, and what a good outcome looks like. The counterpart has their own brief, and you do not get to read it.
Open the conversation
You speak first in most scenarios. How you open sets what you can ask for later, which is most of the exercise.
Handle the turn
Somewhere in the middle it stops going your way — a refusal, a counter-offer, a rebuttal you did not prepare for. That moment is the scenario.
Read the report
Outcome, the phrases you used and the ones you missed, fluency and clarity, and the specific line worth rewriting.
What you're scored on
Across every roleplay, the report looks at the same four things — because they are what makes a real conversation work or fail.
Sort out a booking issue and check in successfully.
Task outcome
Whether you got what the brief asked for: the refund, the extension, the concession, the point conceded.
Appropriacy
Whether the register fits. A complaint that is too soft gets nothing; the same complaint too hard gets a manager and no refund.
Recovery
What you do with the unexpected turn — repair, rephrase, push back, or stall. This is where most of the marks move.
Delivery
Fluency, pronunciation and pace, judged in conversation rather than in a prepared monologue.
More roleplay scenarios
All roleplay scenarios · Travel scenarios · All speaking practice