A letter from a friend IELTS writing task 1 General - where to go for holidays?

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
A friend of yours is going on holiday soon and has asked you to recommend a destination.
Write a letter to your friend and recommend a good place for a holiday that you have visited before. Say where you went, where you stayed, what you can do there and what the food was like.

You should write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sarah

,

Dear Sarah,
I just received your letter regarding your plan for your next holiday. While I am not an expert in recommending a good place to go to, I have visited multiple places throughout my life, where I believe you should visit, but if I had to choose one of them, that would be Ha Long - a place in Vietnam.

Ha long was the place that I travelled to several months ago, and I still remember how it looks like and how the food tastes. When I first arrived, I took a taxi and asked him to bring me to the nearest hotel, which turned out to be the hotel that I stayed throughout my stay in Ha Long. Since Ha Long is close to the sea, there are different kinds of water activities that you can do such as diving, surfing, or swimming. As for the food, as you may guess, comes mostly from the sea, and their seafood tends to be overly spicy, which I believe is your style.

All in all, it is definitely a worthwhile place to visit, considering that you love the sea and the delicacies that it offers.

Regards,

Peter

I'm assuming that you are referring to Ha Long Bay or Vinh Ha Long (in Vietnamese). Although I've never been there, I know that is a beautiful tourist spot with many activities (many of which you already mentioned).

Your second sentence is very unnecessarily long and run-on. You should either separate them into two sentences or just simply state that Ha Long is where you recommend that Sarah goes. I'm not sure of how tough the grading or reviewing would be but I feel like your recommendation is unconvincing as is. Maybe use more sensory words to illustrate how wonderful it is so that Sarah would want to go. What hotel did you go to? What did the ocean look like? Was there a hustle and bustle of people/activity. Was the food savory, sweet? Any lingering aromas or specific foods that make you salivate that would make you (or Sarah) want to go? If you loved the seafood, maybe emphasize how sweet the fresh seafood is (as compared to rubbery freezer seafood you can sometimes get in the US). When naming activities, maybe choose one to elaborate on. What did you do? What was it like? Rush of excitement? Thrill? It doesn't have to be a huge explanation, you can be succinct.

Peter, I believe that you won't learn how to write this type of letter properly unless you are shown an example of how to write it. So let me do that for you now. This can be your sample for all similarly themed letter.

Dear Sarah,

I am thrilled that you asked for my advice regarding your possible vacation destination. While I am not a travel blogger, I think I can help you out here. Have you heard of Ha Long, in Vietnam? I visited this place several months ago and truly enjoyed my stay in the area. It is a nature and food lovers paradise that you should not miss. Even if you have not been to the place before, you won't find it difficult to access the place.

The taxi drivers from the airport are highly familiar with the place. If you really want to rough it, you can ask them for a hotel referral. When I went there though, I stayed at the local Hai Long Inn where I also sampled some of the best local delicacies. If you decide to eat at the hotel, I recommend that you order the Hai Long Special. It's a seafood noodle dish that looks like the Chinese Chow Mein but tastes a hundred times better.

After you eat, you can hit the shopping areas as the local night market, book a nature hiking tour that includes a swim at a local waterfall where you can also dine within the waterfall waters when the hunger pangs strike. If in doubt or at a loss, don't forget that the hotel clerk and the taxi drivers can be very helpful in creating your memorable vacation. If you have the time after your trip there, I hope you can come visit me for an extended vacation. I'll be your host for as long as you want.

Let me know how things go.

Talk later,
Peter