What do we actually remember when we look back on a trip?
What is it that stays with us weeks, months, or sometimes even years later?
A few weeks ago, something happened that made us think about this question a little more.
A question that stayed with us …
One of our guests asked us why we actually “go to so much trouble.”
Why we try to welcome our guests in person. Why we take the time to check in, share recommendations and, whenever possible, say goodbye in person at the end of their stay.
Surely, he said, there must be a much more efficient way to do all of that.
And of course, he was right.
Shortly before your arrival, we could simply send you a message:
“Hi, your door code is 34567. Have a lovely holiday!”
And chances are, we wouldn’t even have to see each other once during your entire stay.
But somehow, that just doesn’t feel quite right to us.
Because after a long journey, traffic jams, packing suitcases and perhaps a far-too-early alarm in the morning, a smiling face and a genuine “Hi, it’s so nice to have you here” can make quite a difference.
Maybe that’s all it is. Or maybe it turns into a conversation. You tell us what you have planned for the next few days, ask where we would go for dinner, or we share one of the places we love ourselves.
None of that is spectacular.
But does it have to be?
The little things in between
To us, personal hospitality doesn’t mean that someone always has to be around.
After all, being on holiday also means closing the door behind you. Sleeping in. Changing your plans at the last minute. Spending the entire day out exploring – or doing absolutely nothing at all.
It’s much more about the little things in between.
The moments you won’t find in any booking system or on a list of amenities.
And maybe that’s exactly what makes them so special when they happen.
Because somewhere between all the planning, booking, checking in and checking out, something happens that, perhaps, is what travelling is really about:
Being somewhere else for a while, yet still feeling at home.
We’re not trying to artificially make an apartment feel like home.
This house has always been one.
A house that has always been a home
Long before Vergissmeinnicht became an aparthouse, it was a family home.
People lived here, laughed here and worked here. Generations of our family have left their mark on this house and filled it with their own stories.
When we started turning it into Vergissmeinnicht, we didn’t want to simply renovate that feeling away.
We wanted to keep it.
And today, we get to share a little piece of it.
The people walking through our front door may be different now, but while they’re here, they bring this old family home back to life.
With voices in the hallway. With laughter. With conversations. With children running in and out. With new stories and memories.
And somehow, we love the thought that a family home has become a home away from home for so many different people.
Maybe that’s why Welcome home is less of a motto to us and more of a feeling we hope to pass on through this house.
What stays with us
And that brings us back to the question we asked at the beginning:
What do we actually remember when we look back on a trip?
Maybe there isn’t just one answer.
Maybe it’s a certain view. An evening that lasted longer than expected. A meal you still talk about back home. A person you met. A conversation you never expected to have.
But perhaps, most of all, we remember the places that made us feel something.
And if, one day, you look back on your time at Vergissmeinnicht and remember not only the apartment you stayed in, but the feeling of being genuinely welcome, then maybe that is exactly what makes this place so special to us.
In that spirit, welcome home.
Your hosts, Elena & Peter
