"Good morning," Richard said.
"Good morning," Daniel replied.
Margaret smiled.
"Hello, Richard."
Richard recognized her from the previous evening.
"Mrs. Lewis. It's a pleasure to see you again."
Daniel looked around.
"Have you found the guestbook?"
Richard pointed toward a locked cabinet.
"I believe it is in here."
He opened the cabinet and carefully removed a large leather-bound book.
Its cover was dark brown, with gold lettering that had faded over time.
GRAND IMPERIAL — ORIGINAL GUEST REGISTER — 1999
Daniel ran his fingers over the cover.
"Twenty-five years."
He opened it.
The first page contained a handwritten message from Eleanor.
Welcome.
We hope that during your stay, you will find more than a comfortable bed.
We hope you find kindness, understanding, and a place where you are never judged by what you own.
Thank you for trusting us with your journey.
Daniel smiled.
"She wrote this herself."
Margaret leaned closer.
"Of course she did."
Richard turned the page.
The first guest's name appeared in elegant handwriting.
Margaret Lewis.
Beneath it was a short note.
First guest. One night. No payment accepted.
Margaret covered her mouth.
"Oh, Eleanor."
Daniel looked at her.
"She made sure you were the first."
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"She never told me."
The next pages contained dozens of names.
Some belonged to wealthy travelers.
Others belonged to people with no permanent address.
There were notes about lost luggage, family emergencies, unexpected kindness, and employees who had gone out of their way to help strangers.
Richard turned several pages.
Then he stopped.
One entry caught his attention.
It had been written in Eleanor's handwriting.
If we ever forget why we built this place, read these names again.
Daniel nodded.
"Keep reading."
Richard continued.
On one page, Eleanor had written about a young employee who had given his coat to a guest during a snowstorm.
On another, she described a receptionist who had stayed beyond his shift to help a frightened child contact her parents.
The guestbook was not merely a record of visitors.
It was a record of the hotel's character.
Richard slowly closed it.
"I had no idea."
Daniel looked at him.
"That's what concerns me."
Richard lowered his eyes.
"I should have known."
"Yes," Daniel replied. "You should have."
The general manager accepted the criticism.
He did not attempt to defend himself.
Instead, he asked a question.
"What would you like us to do?"
Daniel looked at the guestbook.
"I want this book displayed somewhere every employee can see it."
Richard nodded.
"Of course."
"And I want every new employee to learn the story behind it."
"Agreed."
Daniel paused.
"But that's only the beginning."
Richard looked up.
"What else?"
Daniel turned toward Margaret.
She was examining the old pages with a quiet smile.
"I want us to bring back the original hospitality program."
Richard frowned slightly.
"The original program?"
"Yes. The one Eleanor created."
Daniel opened his leather bag and removed another document.
It was a faded proposal dated twenty-five years earlier.
The title read:
THE OPEN DOOR INITIATIVE.
Richard began reading.
The initiative had three main principles.
First, every person entering the hotel was to be treated with dignity, regardless of appearance or financial circumstances.
Second, employees were encouraged to help people facing genuine emergencies, even when doing so required going beyond ordinary job responsibilities.
Third, the hotel would maintain a small number of emergency rooms for people who needed temporary shelter.
Richard looked surprised.
"Emergency rooms?"
Daniel nodded.
"Eleanor insisted on them."
"But we have never operated such a program."
"That's because it was discontinued."
Richard examined the document.
"Who discontinued it?"
Daniel looked at him.
"I don't know."
Richard felt uncomfortable.
He had managed the hotel for six years without knowing that such a program had once existed.
"Sir, I will investigate."
"Please do."
Daniel looked at the old guestbook one more time.
"Because I have a feeling that something important disappeared long before Ethan and Marcus started working here."
And he was right.
The records would soon reveal that the hotel had not simply forgotten its original purpose.
Someone had deliberately changed it.
Richard spent the next several hours examining old company records.
He discovered that the Open Door Initiative had operated successfully for almost fifteen years.
During that time, hundreds of people had received emergency accommodation.
Some were victims of domestic crises.
Some had been stranded after natural disasters.
Others were elderly travelers who had lost their money or had nowhere safe to spend the night.
The program had been funded through a small percentage of the hotel's annual profits.
It had not affected the company's financial stability.
In fact, the initiative had strengthened the hotel's reputation.
But everything changed ten years earlier.
A new executive committee had been formed following a restructuring.
The hotel had begun pursuing a more exclusive market.
Its management introduced stricter guest-screening procedures and revised several service policies.
The emergency accommodation program was gradually reduced.
Then, without any public announcement, it was discontinued.
Richard found the final internal memo.
It was dated March 2016.
The document stated that the Open Door Initiative was no longer aligned with the company's premium positioning strategy.