Letter from Father

Alysia,

I read your recent Hotel Smells post and it took me back to kitchens, halls and laundry rooms I knew.

I, too, am fond of specific hotel smells that remind me of walking the back of the house (hotel) early in the morning, something I always enjoyed. There was a warm feeling that came over me when I poured the first steaming cup of hot coffee from the large urn, greeting the early-shift of cooks busy blanching the first batch of bacon at 5AM. Some long-timers who've worked hotel kitchens say that the breakfast cook always has a slight perfume of bacon, garlic and flour; a delicious scent. One I envy.

Another favorite hotel smell is the laundry room, and the first loads of sheets and terry towels drying. When you work around these scents for so long, they become a part of who you are. They are part of who I am.

Love,
Father

(More about Father: In hotel business for several decades. Likes: bell carts with unsqueaky wheels, un-yell-y guests, a full house on a weeknight. Dislikes: waiters who say "no problem" when a customer thanks them for delivering a meal, walking a guest, blackout drapes.)