General Training Writing Task 1 · formal · complaint

Letter to hotel manager regarding unresolved compensation

You recently spent a night in a hotel and had to put up with a great deal of noise very early in the morning because of a faulty central heating system. The manager promised to contact you regarding compensation but you still haven't heard from him.

Write a letter to the hotel. In your letter:

describe the problem at the hotel
explain what the manager had said at the time
say what you want the manager to do

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear ...,

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Mr. Henderson,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction regarding my recent stay at the Grand Regency Hotel on 12th October. My experience was significantly marred by a severe disturbance during my stay.

During the early hours of the morning, specifically between 3:00 am and 6:00 am, my room was subjected to an incessant, loud banging noise emanating from the central heating system. The radiator pipes rattled violently, making sleep impossible. When I raised this issue at the reception desk the following morning, it became clear that this was a known fault within the building's infrastructure.

At that time, you personally apologised for the inconvenience and assured me that a member of your management team would contact me within forty-eight hours to discuss appropriate compensation. However, over a week has passed and I have yet to receive any communication regarding this matter.

I request that you address this oversight immediately and propose a fair resolution, such as a partial refund for the night in question. I look forward to your prompt response confirming how you intend to rectify this situation.

Yours sincerely,

Julian Thorne

185 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Why this scores well

This response achieves Band 8 by addressing all bullet points with a professional, consistent tone and specific details that demonstrate lexical precision. A common Band 6 mistake is failing to provide a clear, firm call to action or neglecting to mention the specific timeline of the manager's broken promise.

Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.
If you know the person's surname, use Dear Mr or Ms and close with Yours sincerely.
No contractions, no slang; polite indirect requests such as I would be grateful if you could.

Useful phrases from the letter

marred: spoiled the quality or appearance of something
incessant: continuing without pause or interruption
emanating: issuing or spreading out from a source
infrastructure: the basic physical systems of a building
oversight: an unintentional failure to notice or do something
rectify: put something right or correct a mistake

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

Practise IELTS General writing

On your phone? Get the BandLadder app.

Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?

Formal. Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.

How long should an IELTS General Training letter be?

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.