I’ve watched cycles come and go. Design trends. Loyalty programs. Gimmicks dressed as strategy. Every time, the same truth emerges: hospitality isn’t service. It’s emotion. You don’t manage hotels. You direct them. Like theater. Every check-in, drink poured, pillow fluffed becomes a scene. Every employee an actor. But guests must leave with more than receipts. They need stories.
Think about your travels. What sticks? Was it 600-thread-count sheets? Or the concierge who noticed you looked lost and walked you to dinner? The espresso machine in your suite? Or the barista who remembered your name? You remember people. You remember feelings. You remember belonging.
I’ve stayed where CEOs, celebrities, heads of state passed unnoticed. I’ve also stayed where night clerks with zero training in brand voice or customer journeys delivered more humanity in one sentence than global chains with billion-dollar budgets. Guess which ones I remember?
Hospitality isn’t about scale. It’s about soul. If you’re in this business, that should terrify and liberate you equally. Terrify because you can’t fake it. Liberate because you don’t need marble lobbies or Michelin stars to win. You need heart. People who know how to see people.
Here’s your challenge. Stop chasing shiny objects. Stop obsessing over what AI can automate. Ask the only question that matters: how will this make them feel? Ten years out, what will your guest remember? The app that checked them in, or the human who made them feel seen? The nightstand gadget, or the story they tell friends about how your team made them belong?
That’s the work. Not to impress. To imprint. Move people from transactional to transformational. Remind them that hospitality isn’t an industry. It’s a feeling.
I’m still searching. Chasing the next goosebump. Next throat lump. Next flash of belonging.
The truth: hospitality done right isn’t service. It’s salvation. Don’t settle for guests. Create believers.