| Good morning, Clare House Hotel. |
| Andrew speaking. |
| I'm the Events Manager. |
| Good morning, Andrew. |
| My name's Samantha. |
| I'm arranging a party for my parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary, |
| and I'm ringing to ask about hiring a room some time next September. |
| Also my parents and several of the guests will need accommodation. |
| OK, I'm sure we can help you with that. |
| Will you be having a sit-down meal or a buffet? |
| Probably a sit-down. |
| And do you know how many people there'll be? |
| Around eighty, I think. |
| Well we have two rooms that can hold that number. |
| One is the Adelphi Room. |
| That can seat 85, or hold over a hundred if people are standing for a buffet. |
| Right. |
| If you have live music, there's room for four or five musicians in the gallery overlooking the room. |
| Our guests usually appreciate the fact that the music can be loud enough for dancing, |
| but not too loud for conversation. |
| Yes, I really don't like it when you can't talk. |
| Exactly. |
| Now the Adelphi Room is at the back of the hotel, |
| and there are French windows leading out onto the terrace. |
| This has a beautiful display of pots of roses at that time of the year. |
| Which direction does it face? |
| Southwest, |
| so that side of the hotel gets the sun in the afternoon and early evening. |
| Very nice. |
| From the terrace you can see the area of trees within the grounds of the hotel, |
| or you can stroll through there to the river - that's on the far side, |
| so it isn't visible from the hotel. |
| OK. |
| Then another option is the Carlton Room. |
| This is a bit bigger - it can hold up to 110 people |
| and it has the advantage of a stage, which is useful if you have any entertainment, |
| or indeed a small band can fit onto it. |
| And can you go outside from the room? |
| No, the Carlton Room is on the first floor, |
| but on one side the windows look out onto the lake. |
| Lovely. |
| I think either of those rooms would be suitable. |
| Can I tell you about some of the options we offer in addition? |
| Please do. |
| As well as a meal, you can have an MC, a Master of Ceremonies, |
| who'll be with you throughout the party. |
| What exactly is the MC's function? |
| I suppose they make a speech during the meal if we need one, do they? |
| That's right. |
| All our MCs are trained as public speakers, |
| so they can easily get people's attention - |
| many guests are glad to have someone who can make themselves heard above the chatter! |
| And they're also your support - |
| if anything goes wrong, the MC will deal with it, so you can relax. |
| Great! |
| I'll need to ask you about food, |
| but something else that's important is accommodation. |
| You obviously have rooms in the hotel, |
| but do you also have any other accommodation, like cabins, for example? |
| Yes, there are five in the grounds, all self-contained. |
| They each sleep two to four people and have their own living room, bathroom and small kitchen. |
| That sounds perfect for what we'll need. |
| Now you have various facilities, don't you? |
| Are they all included in the price of hiring the room? |
| The pool, for instance. |
| Normally you'd be able to use it, |
| but it'll be closed throughout September for refurbishment, I'm afraid. |
| The gym will be available, though, at no extra charge. |
| That's open all day, from six in the morning until midnight. |
| Right. |
| And the tennis courts, but there is a small additional payment for those. |
| We have four courts, and it's worth booking in advance if you possibly can, |
| as there can be quite a long waiting list for them! |
| Right. |
| Now could we discuss the food? |
| This would be dinner, around seven o'clock... |