{"id":106524,"date":"2026-03-14T09:24:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/?page_id=106524"},"modified":"2026-03-14T09:24:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:24:02","slug":"every-hotel-essay-winner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/every-hotel-essay-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row wpb_row row-fluid\"><div class=\"wpb_column columns medium-12 small-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner  \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:20px;\"><\/aside><a class=\"image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tablethotels.com\/\" target=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"161\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Tablet-logo.png\" class=\"thb_image  center  retina_size attachment-full\" alt=\"\" title=\"Tablet-logo\" \/><\/a><aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:20px;\"><\/aside><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row wpb_row row-fluid full-width-row\"><div class=\"wpb_column columns medium-12 small-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner  \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thb_image  center   \" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/villa-santa-cruz-1200x900.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" alt=\"villa-santa-cruz\" title=\"villa-santa-cruz\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:50px;\"><\/aside><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row wpb_row row-fluid\"><div class=\"wpb_column columns medium-12 small-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner  \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:0px;\"><\/aside>\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h3 style=\"text-align: left; font-family: Figtree, AvenirNext-Regular, HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica-Neue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 32px; line-height: 40px;\"><strong>The third special winner (mom division) in our hotel essay contest is a story about every hotel in the world. It was written by Nicola Shah.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:50px;\"><\/aside>\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p style=\"font-family: Figtree, AvenirNext-Regular, HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica-Neue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 32px;\"><em>Featured hotel: <strong><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tablethotels.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All hotels<\/a><\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em>Written by: Nicola Shah<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Figtree, AvenirNext-Regular, HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica-Neue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 32px;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/2026\/03\/write-away\/?noapp=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">See all the winning essays<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:50px;\"><\/aside>\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p>In most hotels, mothers are the invisible guests.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re there, of course &#8211; booking the stay, packing the bags, making sure everyone else is happy. But while their children splash, their partners (sometimes) unwind, and the staff greet everyone brightly, she is the one scanning the space for safety, for flow, for a sense that it\u2019s okay to exhale.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve stayed in hundreds of hotels, and I\u2019ve learned that true hospitality is not about chandeliers or check-in rituals.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about whether people, and in my case, mothers, can breathe.<\/p>\n<p>Because when hotels get it right, something extraordinary happens.<\/p>\n<p>They become more than temporary rooms &#8211; they become a village. For a moment, she is held. The invisible load she carries \u2014 logistics, emotions, expectations \u2014 lifts.<\/p>\n<p>A kind smile at reception, a well-placed kettle, a safe space for her children to play, a place to eat where she can supervise the kids safely and enjoy her food without running around like a blue-arsed fly\u2026 these are small details that speak loudly in a world where care has become a commodity.<\/p>\n<p>We talk so much about hospitality as service.<\/p>\n<p>I think it\u2019s about healing.<\/p>\n<p>A hotel has the power to restore the people who keep the world turning \u2014 the parents, the carers, the quiet givers who rarely get to rest. And, in turn, it is hotels that are keeping the world turning.<\/p>\n<p>When a stay helps someone feel replenished, they don\u2019t just go home rested; they go home better. They go back to their families, their work, their communities, with a little more patience, a little more light.<\/p>\n<p>That ripple effect is real.<\/p>\n<p>Heal a mother, and you heal a family. Heal a family, and you heal part of the world.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen it happen \u2014 not just in the five-star opulence of a fancy lobby, but in the unspoken kindnesses: a staff member who notices, a room layout that flows naturally, a team who understands that \u201cease\u201d is the new luxury.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve built a world that runs on efficiency and optics, where glossy marketing has replaced genuine connection.<\/p>\n<p>But people don\u2019t book hotels for perfection.<\/p>\n<p>They book them for how they hope to feel. Safe. Seen. Held.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s where I believe hospitality has its greatest potential \u2014 not in the promise of escape, but in the offering of return.<\/p>\n<p>Return to calm, to self, to connection.<\/p>\n<p>The modern hotel has a chance to be the new village \u2014 a place where weary travellers arrive fragmented and leave just a little more whole.<\/p>\n<p>Because true hospitality isn\u2019t just about service.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about remembrance.<\/p>\n<p>Remembering what it feels like to be cared for.<\/p>\n<p>Remembering that we are not meant to do this alone.<\/p>\n<p>Remembering that sometimes, the most powerful luxury in the world is simply the space to exhale.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:70px;\"><\/aside>\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p style=\"font-family: Figtree, AvenirNext-Regular, HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica-Neue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 32px;\"><em>\u2014 <a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tablethotels.com\/en\/about-tablet?noapp=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more about Tablet Hotels<\/a>, the original boutique hotel curators and booking site.<br \/>\n\u2014 <a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tablethotels.com\/?noapp=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search our entire hotel selection<\/a>, featuring only the world&#8217;s most exciting hotels.<br \/>\n\u2014 <a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/cb.tablethotels.com\/join\/magazine-signup?noapp=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a>, for bold opinions, big discounts, and unbelievable hotels.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:70px;\"><\/aside><div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_width_100 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_separator_no_text vc_sep_color_grey wpb_content_element  wpb_content_element\" ><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div><aside class=\"gap cf\" style=\"height:10px;\"><\/aside><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width_row=&#8221;true&#8221;][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] The third special winner (mom division) in our hotel essay contest is a story about every hotel in the world. It was written by Nicola Shah. [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] Featured hotel: All hotels Written by: Nicola Shah See all the winning essays [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In most hotels, mothers are the invisible guests. They\u2019re there,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":106595,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-106524","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Every Hotel in the World \u2014 Tablet Hotels Essay Winner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/every-hotel-essay-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Every Hotel in the World \u2014 Tablet Hotels Essay Winner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width_row=&#8221;true&#8221;][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] The third special winner (mom division) in our hotel essay contest is a story about every hotel in the world. 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