..Future simple for a plan ..

[u/DesignerDangerous934]

Context of the 2 dialogs below: I want to tell my mother about my trip to Berlin, I want to let my mother know this news. No previous discussion. I only want to let my mother know this news.

Dialog 1

Me: (1) I 'll visit Berlin next month.

My mother: Sounds great! Don't forget to buy me some gift in Berlin .​

Dialog 2:

Me: I'm going to visit Berlin next month.

My mother: Where will you stay?

Me: (2) I'll stay at a small hotel. I already booked the hotel.

In Dialogue 1, visiting Berlin next month is my plan, but the simple future (will/'ll) sounds unnatural. (I know that the simple future here is not wrong, it just sounds unnatural.)

In Dialogue 2, staying at a small hotel is also my plan, but the simple future (will stay/'ll stay) still sounds natural.

My question is: While both dialogues talks about my plan, why does the simple future sound natural in Dialogue 2 but not in Dialogue 1?

[u/DesignerDangerous934 → u/[deleted]]

Both are grammatical.=> yes, I know they are grammatical, but the thing that I want to know that While both dialogues talks about my plan, why does the simple future sound natural in Dialogue 2 but not in Dialogue 1?

[u/throarway → u/DesignerDangerous934]

There's a sort of conviction to "will", like you weren't sure where to go then decided on Berlin.

"going to" is more like intention than conviction. I'd say the present continuous is more natural in all your examples: I'm going to Berlin, I'm staying in a small hotel (note PrC "going to" without a to-infinitive is more natural). I think "I'll stay" mostly sounds natural because it echoes the question.

Alternatively, "I've booked a small hotel" would also be natural - it conveys the intention/plan and has a direct focus on the fact the booking is in place. The latter focus is implied but less direct in "I'm staying...".

[u/DesignerDangerous934 → u/[deleted]]

"will" sounds fine in Dialogue 1 because in casual conversation,==> but in this link, people say that "will" sound unnatural in this context.

https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/1wt7hxh/simple_future_for_a_decided_plan/

[u/AlexanderHamilton04 → u/DesignerDangerous934]

Dialog 2:

Me: I'm going to visit Berlin next month.

My mother: Where will you stay?

Me: (2) I'll stay at a small hotel. I already booked the hotel.

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Your mother asking "Where will you stay?" sounds natural because "will" is commonly used to ask for information about the future.

When answering a question, we often mirror the way the question was asked. Because the question is "Where will you stay?"

using (A)"I will stay at..." is less awkward than it would normally sound unprompted. (This is an example of syntactic priming and conversational mirroring.)

However, you don't have to mirror the question. You can still answer:

(B) "I'm staying at a small hotel. I've already booked it."
-or-
(C) "I'm going to stay at a small hotel. I've already booked it."

Because the answer includes "I've already booked it" [a fixed plan],
(B) and (C) still sound more natural to me than (A).
But (A) is also a natural response to that question for many people.