“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen
It should come as no surprise or secret that one of the things I’ve missed most in the past year-plus of not traveling is the joy and indulgence of staying at a hotel. There is something thrilling about inhabiting any home-away-from-home, especially if an establishment is skilled at the art of hospitality. Auspiciously, that spell away from such joy is about to come to a happy ending, as I’ve just booked a visit to the Mandarin Oriental in Boston for next month. No other hotel has their hospitality game as together as the team from MO.
My first brush with the Boston Mandarin Oriental came shortly after they opened their five-star spa and I won a certificate for a massage. Ever since then, I’ve been spoiled for massages and services, as the experience was beyond any other I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. It isn’t only their spa that’s amazing – all of their services and spaces have proven exquisite, from the lobby to the restroom; I’ve stopped in whenever I’ve been in Boston, sometimes for a spa treatment, and sometimes just for a cocktail.
My first proper overnight stay at a Mandarin Property took place a little later in Washington, DC, for my cousin’s wedding. The pool and spa and other on-site amenities were such that one barely had the need to wander far to find beauty and relaxation – and the wedding reception that took place at the hotel itself was an essay in celebratory refinement. Since that time I’ve been waiting for the right moment to indulge in a stay at their Boston location, and when Skip and I started planning this year’s Boston trip, it felt like the perfect time.
We’ve booked a room to celebrate our comeback for another BroSox Adventure. Combining a Red Sox game and the fortuitously-tied LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in one glorious June weekend, it will mark a return to everything we once loved in an age of uncertainty and ultimate triumph. Boston, baseball, friendship and hospitality ~ I can’t think of a better place than the Mandarin Oriental to honor such a tradition.
{Bonus: their renowned Spa just reopened too. To keep up with all their updates and amenities (such as the cool crew of bikes available as seen below) follow them on Twitter or Instagram.}
“True hospitality is marked by an open response to the dignity of each and every person. Henri Nouwen has described it as receiving the stranger on his own terms, and asserts that it can be offered only by those who ‘have found the center of their lives in their own hearts’.” ~ Kathleen Norris
