The Rise of Unscripted Stays
Freedom is becoming the experience.
Welcome to Issue No. 008 of Sojourn. An independent publication delivering strategic interpretation for leaders shaping the future of travel and hospitality.
Interpretation: Hospitality has spent decades perfecting the script. The welcome. The flow. The moments you’re meant to notice. But something is shifting. The most memorable stays now feel less orchestrated and more open. Less managed. More human.
From choreography to choice: Today, guests are increasingly sensitive to friction. They notice when a moment feels imposed instead of optional. When a ritual feels more like a performance than an invitation. What once read as thoughtful can now feel heavy, scripted. What lands best is space. Room to decide. Time to arrive on your own terms. You see this in places like Aman and Forestis, where the experience isn’t introduced, it’s simply available.
What people want now: Not to be guided through every step, but to feel trusted. To move slowly. To skip things without explanation. To participate when it feels right, and disappear when it doesn’t. This is why some places feel easy to return to, places like Ace Hotel or The Hoxton, while others, no matter how beautiful, quietly exhaust. The stays people return to aren’t the ones with the most programming. They’re the ones that never made you feel rushed, watched, or managed.
What this changes: Designing an unscripted experience doesn’t mean doing less work. It means doing ‘quieter’ work. Designing conditions instead of moments. Anticipating needs without announcing them. Knowing when to step in, and when to step back. Freedom, when done well, is one of the hardest things to design.
Bottom line: The future of hospitality isn’t about perfecting the script. It’s about knowing when to let it go.