| Sandra, I seem to remember you had some family visitors staying with you recently. |
| Yeah, that's right. |
| My brother and his family were here a couple of months ago. |
| Okay, good. |
| Well, I wanted to ask for your advice. |
| I've got my cousin and her family visiting next month |
| and as I don't have kids, I've no idea where to take them. |
| Right. |
| What about accommodation? |
| Are they going to stay with you in your flat? |
| No, thankfully, there wouldn't be room. |
| My cousin wants me to recommend a hotel. |
| Do you know anywhere? |
| Yes, I do actually. |
| I always recommend people stay at the King's Hotel. |
| Where's that near? |
| It's about five minutes walk from Murray Station, so nice and central. |
| It's actually on George Street. |
| Oh yes, I know. |
| I think they're on quite a tight budget, |
| so how much roughly is it to stay there? |
| If you book a family room, it's about £125 per night. |
| My brother paid for two double rooms in the end, |
| and I think that was around £95 for each room. |
| Oh, that's not too bad. |
| Hmm... so how old are your cousins' kids? |
| Twelve and nine. |
| So I want to organise some trips while they're here. |
| I was thinking of doing a bus tour of the city centre, |
| as none of them have been here before. |
| Those bus tours are quite expensive. |
| I think it's better to do a walking tour. |
| It gives you a much better feel for the city. |
| There's one that starts from Colton Square. |
| It takes a couple of hours and doesn't cost that much. |
| Sounds good, I'll look that up, thanks. |
| If the weather's nice, one thing you could do is visit the old fort. |
| You could get there by boat. |
| The whole trip takes half a day. |
| That's a really good idea. |
| I'd like to do that myself. |
| And if the weather's bad, I was thinking they could go to the science museum. |
| But maybe they could do that when I'm at work. |
| Yeah, don't forget it's closed on Mondays. |
| They're here from Saturday for four nights, so Tuesday would be best, I think. |
| Hmm... and it won't be so crowded then. |
| Saturdays are terrible. |
| I took my kids to the exhibition on old computers there and it was far too crowded. |
| I wanted to go back but it's finished now. |
| That's a shame. |
| My cousin's kids would have enjoyed that. |
| There's another one starting soon on space, which looks really good too. |
| Okay, well, I'll mention that to my cousin. |
| Have you thought about where to take them to eat? |
| Well, I really like all the food stalls at Clacton Market. |
| My cousin's vegetarian. |
| I know it's one of the best places for that kind of food. |
| Definitely, and there'll be loads of choice for the kids too. |
| You need to get there quite early, though. |
| At the weekend, most of the stores stop serving lunch at 2.30. |
| Good point. |
| It's all going to need careful planning. |
| My cousin said she'd love to take the kids to a show at the theatre, |
| but tickets are so expensive. |
| I know. |
| But you can get some good deals if you book online with bargainedtickets.com for the following day. |
| On some seats, there's a 75% discount. |
| Really? |
| I must try and get some. |
| Yeah, there are lots of things you can do for free as well. |
| No need to spend a fortune. |
| Like what? |
| They're coming next month, right? |
| Well, check and see if it's the same weekend as the Roots Music Festival in Blakewell Gardens. |
| ROOTS? |
| Yeah, check it out online. |
| It's always a family-friendly event and there's no entry charge. |
| That sounds perfect. |
| And if you're in Blakewell Gardens, climb Telegraph Hill. |
| You'll be able to look right down on the port. |
| Everyone's always really impressed because it's so huge. |
| Oh yeah, I've been meaning to do that for ages. |
| I've heard the view's amazing. |
| Yeah, it's really worth the effort. |
| Well, that's given me loads of ideas, thanks so much! |