See You Next Year

There is a phrase I hear quite often when it is time to leave.

"See you next year."

I have always liked that phrase.

Perhaps because it does not sound like goodbye.

It sounds like a continuation.

Some guests return every summer.

Others every few years.

And each time they walk through the hotel's door again, it feels as though a conversation is simply being resumed.

There is no need for many explanations.

With some guests, I still remember how they take their coffee.

Which table they prefer to sit at.

What they like to have for breakfast.

As the years go by, those visits stop feeling like reservations.

They become something more familiar.

Something more human.

The first day quickly becomes the second.

The second becomes the third.

And before you know it, it is time to say goodbye again.

Until next time.

Because some of the most beautiful relationships in hospitality are not built in a single summer.

They are built slowly, year after year.

Aspa P.