Meeting a local contact who offers you a room is one of the most useful travel situations you can prepare for in English. You need to ask clear, friendly questions about where the room is, what it costs, what the price includes and how to reserve it — without sounding like you are reading from a form.

This B1 study guide uses Lily and Dawit's conversation in Addis Ababa as a model. He tells her about his cousin Salam's room in her family's building in Bole, and the talk moves to practical details. Below you will find the key questions, the vocabulary you need, and role-play tasks so you can handle a similar conversation yourself.

The situation and your learning goal

Lily is a traveller in Addis Ababa. Shortly after she said goodbye to Dawit near a café and a roundabout, she meets him again. He explains that his cousin Salam has a room available in the same building where her family lives, in Bole. The conversation then turns to the real questions: where exactly is it, how much is it per night, is breakfast included, and how fast is the internet?

Your goal is not to memorise a script. It is to ask these questions in a natural order, understand the answers, and manage a simple booking. By the end you should be able to compare a local family room with a hotel and explain your reasons in simple English.

Useful English for this situation

The phrases below come from the lesson conversation. Where an example is marked "extension", it is an extra model added for practice, not something said in the recording.

"said goodbye to"

This means you left someone with a friendly farewell. It is a neutral, everyday phrase.

  • Lesson example: Lily had just said goodbye to Dawit when she saw him again.
  • Extension example: I said goodbye to my host family at the gate and walked to the bus stop.

Use it when you describe the end of a meeting. For a longer absence, "said goodbye to" still works; for a quick exit, "left" may sound more neutral.

"daily life"

This refers to the ordinary routines and experiences of local people — shopping, commuting, cooking, meeting neighbours. It is a common way to contrast real local experience with sightseeing.

  • Lesson example: Dawit suggests a local stay shows you daily life, not only the churches and museums.
  • Extension example: Staying with a family gave me a much better picture of daily life in the city.

Tone: warm and slightly reflective. It is a good phrase for explaining *why* you chose a local room.

"the same building where"

This structure connects a place with the person or thing located there. Pattern: *the same + place + where + clause*.

  • Lesson example: Salam has a room in the same building where her family lives.
  • Extension example: The café is in the same building where I work, so I go there every morning.

At B1, keep the clause short. "The same building where her family lives" is clearer than a long chain of relative clauses.

"includes breakfast"

This means breakfast is part of the price. Note the pattern: the price *includes* something.

  • Lesson example: Dawit says the room is about $25 and includes breakfast.
  • Extension example: Does the price include breakfast, or is it extra?

Careful with the negative: "The price doesn't include breakfast" is clearer than "Breakfast is not included free" — the word "free" is unnecessary and can confuse.

"doing this for me"

This means someone is helping you personally. It is a warm way to acknowledge a favour.

  • Lesson example: Lily thanks Dawit for doing this for me — helping her find a place to stay.
  • Extension example: I really appreciate you doing this for me; I didn't know where to start.

Tone: grateful and informal. It suits a friendly conversation, not a formal email to a company.

Vocabulary you can reuse

  • traveller — a person visiting another place
  • roundabout — a circular road junction
  • cousin — the child of your aunt or uncle
  • rent — to pay to use a room or property
  • guest — a person staying in a home or hotel
  • deposit — a partial payment made to reserve something
  • booking — an arrangement to reserve a room or service
  • contacts — people saved in your phone or address list

Try to learn these in phrases, not alone: *pay a deposit*, *make a booking*, *exchange contacts*, *rent a room*.

How to use the language

A simple order works well in almost any accommodation conversation:

  1. Location: "Where exactly is the room?" / "Is it near the church or closer to the roundabout?"
  2. Price: "How much does she ask per night?"
  3. Inclusions: "What does the price include?" / "Is the internet fast enough for work?"
  4. Comparison: "That's cheaper than my hotel, and it includes breakfast."
  5. Arrangement: "Can we exchange numbers? Maybe you can send me the link."

For immediate arrangements, use present continuous or *will*: "I am sending it now." "I will call her now." For polite offers, *can* is friendly and soft: "Maybe you can show me the room tomorrow."

Common mistakes and practice

Watch these three points:

  • Question word order. Say "How much does she ask?" not "How much she asks?" The auxiliary *does* comes before the subject.
  • Choosing the right form. "I am sending it now" (happening now), "I will call her now" (decision at the moment of speaking), "maybe you can show me" (polite suggestion).
  • Prepositions and relative clauses. Use *in Bole*, *at the gate*, *near the church*, and *in the same building where…*. Don't drop *where*: "the building her family lives" needs *where*.

Now practise:

  • Role-play: One of you is the traveller, one is the local contact. Ask about location, price, breakfast, internet, deposit and cancellation. Swap roles.
  • Compare: Make a short list of a hotel versus a family guest room, then say: "The room is cheaper than my hotel, and it includes breakfast."
  • Write: Send a short booking message with a greeting, two questions, one confirmation of what is included, and one question about cancellation — for example, "Can I cancel before noon and lose only a small part of the deposit?"
  • Listen and repeat: Copy the polite questions aloud, focusing on clear stress: "How MUCH does she ASK?" "Is BREAKfast inCLUDED?"

Listen to the full lesson to hear how Lily and Dawit handle these questions in a real, friendly exchange. Then try one response yourself: imagine you are Lily and ask Dawit where the room is and what the price includes.