1Hello?
2Oh hello.
3I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage.
4I'm his wife, Shirley, and we own the cottages together,
5so I'm sure I can help you.
6Great.
7My name's Tom.
8Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year,
9and they thought it was great.
10So my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week.
11What date did you have in mind?
12The week beginning the 14th, if possible.
13I'll just check...
14I'm sorry, Tom, it's already booked that week.
15It's free the week beginning the 28th, though, for seven nights.
16In fact, that's the only time you could have it in May.
17Well, we could manage that, I think.
18We'd just need to change a couple of things.
19How much would it cost?
20That's the beginning of high season,
21so it'd be £550 for the week.
22That's a bit more than we wanted to pay, I'm afraid.
23We've budgeted up to £500 for accommodation.
24Well, we've just finished converting another building into a cottage,
25which we're calling Chervil Cottage.
26Sorry? What was that again?
27Chervil.
28C H E R V for Victor I L.
29Oh, that's a herb, isn't it?
30That's right.
31It grows fairly wild around here.
32You could have that for the week you want for £480.
33OK.
34So could you tell me something about it, please?
35Of course.
36The building was built as a garage.
37It's a little smaller than Granary Cottage.
38So that must sleep two people, as well?
39That's right.
40There's a double bedroom.
41Does it have a garden?
42Yes, you get to it from the living room through French doors,
43and we provide two deckchairs.
44We hope to build a patio in the near future,
45but I wouldn't like to guarantee it'll be finished by May.
46OK.
47The front door opens onto the old farmyard,
48and parking isn't a problem -
49there's plenty of room at the front for that.
50There are some trees and potted plants there.
51What about facilities in the cottage?
52It has standard things like a cooker and fridge, I presume.
53In the kitchen area there's a fridge-freezer
54and we've just put in an electric cooker.
55Is there a washing machine?
56Yes.
57There's also a TV in the living room, which plays DVDs too.
58The bathroom is too small for a bath,
59so there's a shower instead.
60I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays, anyway.
61It's more environmentally friendly, isn't it?
62Unless you spend half the day in it!
63Exactly.
64What about heating?
65It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year.
66There's central heating, and if you want to light a fire, there's a stove.
67We can provide all the wood you need for it.
68It smells so much nicer than coal,
69and it makes the room very cosy -
70we've got one in our own house.
71That sounds very pleasant.
72Perhaps we should come in the winter, to make the most of it!
73Yes, we find we don't want to go out when we've got the fire burning.
74There are some attractive views from the cottage, which I haven't mentioned.
75There's a famous stone bridge -
76it's one of the oldest in the region,
77and you can see it from the living room.
78It isn't far away.
79The bedroom window looks in the opposite direction,
80and has a lovely view of the hills and the monument at the top.
81Well, that all sounds perfect.
82I'd like to book it, please.
83Would you want a deposit?
84Yes, we ask for 30% to secure your booking,
85so that'll be... £144.
86And when would you like the rest of the money?
87You're coming in May, so the last day of March, please.
88Fine.
89Excellent.
90Could I just take your details...