I think I'd agree that pronunciation is the best course - certainly when it's in a piece of dialogue. Funnily enough, I was always taught 'an hotel' in school, too - though Lord knows why! But this is really interesting because I'm continually stumped by things like 'an RAF pilot'. The 'rules' would dictate that it should be 'a' before the consonant, but that would make it impossible to read, so we have to take the pronunciation of the 'r' rather than the physical aspect of it. Is that right?
Chillies - the words are going to change from region to region, aren't they? The best Irish novelists still don't know the difference between 'bring' and 'take' - I still agonise over that one!!! Not to mention things like 'I didn't used to/I usedn't to' - one's Irish (and probably incorrect) and the other's English - and don't ask me which is which because I've decided to avoid both and find another way around them!!
