Today marks my first week at Les Roches’ graduate school for hotel management. I am a bit of an unconventional student – 28 years old with no formal hospitality background. But while hospitality must start from a state of mind, finesse in the subject is an art that can be learned. And I am eager to take note from the experts.
Every time I am abroad, I inevitably become awestruck by the nuances, novelty, and kindnesses of a new place. And these are some of my first impressions, one week into this next adventure.
New Country
There is something incomparably thrilling about new terrain. Maybe it’s the deliberate act of deciding to make a change, an energetic shift that happens before you even take flight. Maybe it’s that newfound anonymity brings with it a Great Reset when you arrive, unencumbered by roles and expectations that you bestowed on yourself or were bestowed on you prior. Or maybe it’s that, in a new country, you’re not supposed to know everything. There is more room for grace.
You’re allowed to mess up the order, to get lost, to find purpose in meandering alone. And then the small things become much bigger, in a good way. Like the inordinate amount of joy I felt when my Spanish landlord helped get me extra hangers and gave me great restaurant tips. Mastering the art of saying a proper “thank you” in a new language, successfully asking for directions, and ordering the meal you actually wanted (or getting an even better one by surprise!) lead to an adrenaline rush that I imagine is similar to the feelings a child has as they are navigating the world for the first time.
There is so much beauty in that space of unknowing. In finally knowing that unknowing. In the ability to form and reform yourself in the present, to let life in.
Everything is technically harder, and yet somehow life just feels… easier… once the preparations are over and you can enjoy existing in your new destination. There are constant, small victories, in friendship especially.
It always baffles me how simple it is to make friends when you’re abroad. Striking up conversations with strangers feels easy when time in a place is finite but… when is it not?
Maybe the real beauty of travel is that we become more reliant on other people and, in that reliance, in that exaggerated interdependence, we are forced to see that people are, overall, mostly good. We get to the heart of what it means to be human… energized by our inescapable interconnectedness with each other, a truth we often try to escape through a mastery of our environments while at home. In traveling, we become the outside looking in on itself again.
Marbella
Beautiful sea… that’s what it touches, Marbella, and that’s your first sight when driving southwest from the airport in Malaga. A spread of bright, still turquoise sea.
There’s something about having hair swept up with saltwater wind that I’ve always loved… it’s impossible to fully tame, so you just have to accept it and indulge in the wild sumptuousness of nature. In Marbella you get this special wind. You also get sun and sand and cafes and those city dogs that comport themselves with more dignity than most people. You get Marbella Club Hotel, once frequented by Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, and the like, and a Nobu. You get mountains and palm tree-laden streets. You get quaint, beautiful buildings in Old Town and a ritzy club scene in Puerto Banús.
Being here for just over a week now, I have some half-baked impressions that may or may not be true. The first is that a Marbella winter is similar to a Miami summer… things are supposedly much quieter now during “off-season,” and October so far has been delightfully calm. There is still plenty of activity, to be sure, but it does not overwhelm the streets… I can walk on the beach in peace, with enough pedestrians around to feel safe doing so. It’s a small city, and that’s part of Marbella’s charm.
The people so far have been incredibly welcoming. My landlord and his wife gave me full lay of the land and even drove me to class one day. Waiters and waitresses have been extremely generous with my poor Spanish. And everyone I’ve interacted with has seemed kind.
Maybe it’s the constant influx of tourists, or the calming effect of the beach… whatever the magic ingredient might be, Marbella marvels visitors from all over the world and is a beacon of hospitality. And after all, that’s why I’m here… to learn about it.
Hospitality
There is something metamorphically enchanting about stepping foot in a hotel. Like travel more generally, just being in a new environment offers us the opportunity to get out of routine and shift ourselves. But hotels, and the hospitality industry overall, brings with it an added imperative – to make people feel better than they do at home. Why else would we venture out, if not to feel better than before we left?
When hotels are done right, they are pure magic. And the transformative effects can make ripples on society. When people are treated well, as they should be in a hospitality context, they start to rewire the parts of their brain that tells them they’re not enough. When they’re exposed to unique colors, designs, and furniture, they marvel at the possibilities of the physical. And when the hotel cultivates an environment that people want to be a part of, it creates community.
Right before I turned thirteen, my parents took my sister and I to France. This was our first time outside of the United States, and I was captivated by the newness of it all. I remember every aspect of our lodging – the long corridors etched from stone, the grand ceilings with windows dripping with light, the intimate dinner for eight at the base of the chateau. I remember the cheeky comment from the bellhop and attempting to order “pan au chocolat” in the most convincing French accent I could muster. There was nothing particularly eventful about this trip, and yet fifteen year later I still remember it as a formative experience.
I have felt that same feeling – that of wonder and discovery – in hotels many times since, and it never fails to unearth the conviction that anything is possible.
Hotels and the positive feelings they can engender in their guests have effects far beyond the duration of a guest’s stay. They help people see and experience beauty. They serve as the gateway to a new destination, with the diplomatic responsibility that comes with opening a door to a new place. They facilitate connection.
The hospitality industry is a powerful antidote to the isolation and separateness that can run rampant in our modern times. And with every day that goes by, I am more and more thrilled to be studying hospitality at Les Roches.
Les Roches
I learned about Les Roches, as many people hear of most things these days, from a Google search. Then I spoke to alumni, who invariably raved about their experiences. Everyone I conversed with seemed to carry the values of the hospitality industry… open, smart, and willing to engage. I chose the school because it combined academics with warmth. And the impression I had before I started carries through as I begin my studies here.
Because of a visa situation, I had to arrive a few days late… missing orientation and the first couple days of class. Students immediately made me feel welcome, despite my unconventional arrival. Within the first two days, they invited me to hangouts and parties and WhatsApp groups. The international diversity of the student body is incredible… rarely have I been so outnumbered as a North American, and I love learning about so many different cultures. I’ve had conversations with people from India, Spain (obviously), Greece, Russia, France, Mexico, the UK, Lebanon, Cyprus, and others… all in the first week.
The first two weeks are “practicals,” meaning that we learn the basics in a hands-on way. I got to wear a chef’s hat and try my hand at Pasta Carbonara for the student dining hall, and luckily for all parties involved, the Head Chef was heavily involved in the preparation of the sauce. This week we’re learning about housekeeping and Front Office operations, and much to my family’s surprise, I’ll actually learn how to properly make a bed. Next week we start the formal academic semester with more courses on hotel revenue management, design and engineering, people management, marketing, and others.
Already I feel like I’ve stepped into the insides of a world I’ve wondered about for so long. How does the “magic” happen, how do hotels generate that transformative feeling in their guests? It’s a knowledge that I hope to fully unlock before the end of my time here, and I know that my studies are in great hands.
With every moment I just feel… profoundly blessed. The feeling of being here at school in Marbella, surrounded by a welcoming community with ambiance and novelty is the feeling I want everyone to experience at a hotel. Now is the time to set that foundation.