Slipping inside any hotel door reveals more than the scent of polish or new coffee. Usually there is some music playing; sometimes it is a gentle guitar hum and other times a faint piano drip. Though practically everyone talks about it, the background music frames your whole hotel experience and seeps into your head before you know it – visit us.

Not too long ago, I was in a modern hotel in the breakfast nook enjoying morning coffee. An blast of 1980s synth-pop abruptly disrupted the calm. My spoon came to stop in middle stir. That shocking event made it clear to me that background music can be fairly creatively chosen. It must comfort, inspire, and mix—all without taking front stage on the theater.

Volume comes in rather high on the staff’s list of worries. People take bags. Rings serve as phones. The music never calls for center stage; it must hover above everyone just enough to conceal the uncomfortable silences. A decent playlist is like a nice non-intrusively invisible host.

It also ties to selecting the suitable tastes. Although resorts may lean toward catchy acoustic tunes, every hotel pulses with different rhythms; exquisite city hotels thrive on beats that challenge but not overwhelm. You know how bad things could go if you have ever groaned at soaring opera during dinner or at hard metal following a spa treatment.

More importantly, the tune has to alter with the day. Sunup, then, is happy, energetic songs. Come evening, everything slows down to let mellow folk or jazz take front stage. Not merely blast a playlist and clock off, hotel personnel shift between song lists to ensure the music keeps pace with changing emotions.

Every part of the planet sends visitors with unique tastes. Most venues so preserve low-key genres, quiet instrumentals, and mild vocals. The idea is to build a bridge across cultures with music everyone can fit into, independent of where home might be.

Some sites even bring outside experts—people with extensive music libraries and an ear for exact genre mixing. Staff members have also been known to trade stories, banter and silently fight over music. (Please—never more “Eye of the Tiger” at check-in).

Legal back-and-forth is involved here. Although Apple Music and Spotify would be suitable for your phone, hotels have to go official and abide by exclusive corporate streaming rules. They run more risk otherwise than just a poor grade.

Music has a sly way of slipping into recollection. You will forget the reception counter, most likely overlook the carpeting, but weeks later a song will bring you back into that lobby, morning sun streaming through large windows.

So, take close attention the next time you pass the motel’s front desk. Carefully chosen, the soft music has every note like a tiny prod asking you to unwind at home. Funny how one song could bring a whole trip together.