La chica del hotel nos habló con mucha amabilidad y nos dijo que la carretera del este estaba cerrada.

Because de + el contracts to del in Spanish.

• de el hotel → del hotel
• This contraction is required in normal Spanish.

The only common exception is when el is part of a proper name, for example:

• de El Escorial

So in this sentence, la chica del hotel is the correct form.

Literally, it means the girl/young woman from the hotel.

In context, a native speaker would usually understand this as someone associated with the hotel, very likely:

• a receptionist
• a staff member
• a woman working there

Chica often means girl, but in everyday Spanish it can also mean young woman, depending on context. It does not necessarily mean a child.

Because each verb has its own indirect object.

• nos habló = she spoke to us
• nos dijo = she told us

In Spanish, object pronouns are normally repeated with each verb if each verb affects the same people.

So even though English might sound natural with something like The woman spoke to us and said..., Spanish still naturally says:

• nos habló ... y nos dijo ...

Here, nos is an indirect object pronoun, meaning to us.

So:

• hablar a alguien = to speak to someone
• decir algo a alguien = to tell something to someone

Examples:

• Me habló = She spoke to me
• Nos dijo la verdad = She told us the truth

Spanish often uses these short pronouns where English uses to + person.

The accent marks the preterite form:

• habló = he/she spoke
• hablo = I speak / I am speaking in some contexts? No: more exactly, I speak

So the accent is very important here. Without it, the meaning changes.

Compare:

• Yo hablo = I speak
• Ella habló = She spoke

Because they describe completed actions in the past.

• nos habló = she spoke to us
• nos dijo = she told us

These are specific events that happened and are viewed as finished. That is why the preterite is used.

This is very typical in narration:

• someone did something
• then said something
• then something else happened

Because estaba cerrada describes the road’s state or condition at that time: it was closed.

Spanish often uses the imperfect for background information, descriptions, or states:

• La carretera estaba cerrada = The road was closed

By contrast, estuvo cerrada would usually sound more like a completed period viewed as a whole, for example:

• La carretera estuvo cerrada durante dos días = The road was closed for two days

In this sentence, the speaker is reporting what the woman said about the situation, so estaba cerrada is the natural choice.

Because cerrada agrees with la carretera, which is feminine singular.

• la carretera → feminine singular
• cerrada → feminine singular

Spanish adjectives and many past participles used as adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

Compare:

• el camino estaba cerrado
• la carretera estaba cerrada
• las carreteras estaban cerradas

Spanish often uses a noun phrase with con where English might use an adverb.

• con mucha amabilidad = with great kindness / very kindly

This is very natural Spanish. You could also say:

• nos habló muy amablemente

But con mucha amabilidad sounds slightly more descriptive and idiomatic in many contexts.

Both are correct; this version just emphasizes the manner in a very natural way.

Here, del este means of the east or more naturally eastern.

So:

• la carretera del este = the eastern road / the road to the east, depending on context

Spanish often uses de + direction where English may prefer an adjective:

• la costa del norte = the north coast / northern coast
• la carretera del este = the eastern road

Whether it means the road in the east or the road leading east depends on context.

Because compass directions in Spanish are normally not capitalized unless they are part of a proper name.

So:

• el norte
• el sur
• el este
• el oeste

But if it were part of an official name, capitalization might appear.

In this sentence, este is just the direction east, so lowercase is correct.

These words are related, but not the same:

• carretera = road/highway, usually between places
• calle = street, usually in a town or city
• camino = path, track, way, or sometimes road in a more general sense

So la carretera is the natural choice if we are talking about a proper road that could be closed to traffic.

Yes. That would still be grammatical and natural:

• La chica del hotel nos dijo que la carretera del este estaba cerrada.

The original sentence adds extra information:

• first, she spoke to us very kindly
• then, she told us the road was closed

So nos habló con mucha amabilidad gives tone and atmosphere, while nos dijo gives the actual information.

Because with a conjugated verb in normal statements, object pronouns usually go before the verb.

So:

• nos habló
• nos dijo

They do not normally go after a fully conjugated verb in this kind of sentence.

Pronouns can go after verbs in other cases, such as:

• infinitives: decirnos
• gerunds: diciéndonos
• affirmative commands: dinos

But here, with normal past-tense verbs, nos goes before the verb.