Day Notice To Vacate Florida Sample Letter: Fill & Download for Free

As this election got underway, I wrote a letter to my dad explaining why I didn’t think he should vote for Donald Trump. It had some impact (and was read a few hundred thousand times online) but I ended up putting together 49 more reasons why I would never vote for Trump and don’t think anyone else should either.Hey Dad,Last time we talked about Donald Trump was right before I published my letter to you about him, “Dear Dad, Please Don’t Vote For Donald Trump.” I told you that there had been some pushback about publishing it and out of concern you asked me, “You know, are you sure you really want the trouble?” I told you I was ready for it, but of course, I only had a vague idea of what I was getting myself into.The letter brought on the army of Trump trolls (many of whom are clearly fake, Russian accounts) and I got a number of nasty emails from readers of mine telling me they were leaving and never coming back. Some media drama followed as well—the letter wascovered by Politico and Newsmax and Forward. It was weird to see one of my colleagues at the Observer describe my writing as ‘navel gazing’, and hearing that suddenly the entire genre of open letters was being banned from the paper.At the same time, the response was far greater than I expected. A number of people I never expected to get emails from reached out. I was most touched by the folks who told they were using the letter to have a conversation with their own parents. The letter has been read close to a million times now and gotten hundreds of comments from all over the world (arguably more people saw it this way than if it has just been published as a normal column). Someone is even trying to turn the letter into a short film.One of the things you told me after you’d read the letter—I’d wanted you to read it before I published it or it wouldn’t have been a real letter—was that it had given you a lot to think about. That was all I was hoping for. I just wanted you to hear me and it means a lot to me that you did.But I also know that you haven’t made up your mind yet. That’s fair. The race isn’t over yet, and some things have happened that are worth considering. Since then, we’ve seen two political conventions, a massive email hack/leak, and given our insane media system, an endless cycle of news, scandals and controversies. I’ve been in three different countries since that letter was published, traveled to the West Coast, the Midwest and the Deep South. I’ve talked to hundreds of people and despite attempting to ignore the news, watched way too much of it. Almost every interview I do now, even when they are about my books, comes back to Trump in some way. All of this has given me a lot to think about too.Given that you are still making up your mind, I thought I would put together some more points that I hope you consider. I haven’t changed my mind, though I still am hoping to change yours. Regardless of what the poll numbers say, every eligible citizen is faced with a moral choice in November: Should they vote? Should they vote for a third party candidate? Should they vote for a candidate they disagree with simply because they disagree with another candidate more? Should they vote for Donald Trump? I’d encourage you to say “no” to that last question—and here are some more reasons why:1. As you probably heard, Donald Trump claimed that Obama was the founder of ISIS. His exact words: “[Obama] is the founder of ISIS. He is the founder of ISIS, okay? He is the founder. He founded ISIS. And I would say the cofounder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.” Obviously, this is not true—but look, sometimes we get carried away when we’re talking. Yet when he had the opportunityto backtrack this with Hugh Hewitt, Trump insisted: “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS.” Then he did backtrack later, by saying (like a child in all caps) “THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?”. Then in Pennsylvania, he said it was “Not that sarcastic, to be honest with you.” This is what our foreign policy is going to come to, a parsing of what is and isn’t sarcastic?2. In recent security briefings Trump is said to have repeatedly asked why the US can’t or doesn’t use its nuclear weapons. I urge you to read security analyst John Noonan’s series of tweets about what it means to actually use nuclear weapons. In the case that the president demands their use, there is no one who can intervene. You’ve seen the kind of radical vacillation that Trump seems to undergo on a daily basis, you’ve seen the emotional, impulsive responses he has to attacks and insults. You also saw his answers in an early debate where he seems to not know what the “nuclear triad” is—something that can be learned easily from, ahem, Wikipedia or a History Channel documentary. Forget the Supreme Court, I’m not sure this is the guy to put in charge of the world’s most powerful nuclear arsenal.3. But surely calmer heads would prevail if Trump made a dangerous decision about the deployment of nuclear arms right? Let me remind you what he said earlier this year in regards to military personnel following his potential orders to use torture techniques (also a potential war crime): “They won’t refuse. They’re not going to refuse me. If I say do it, they’re going to do it.”4. Regardless of what you think of their decision to get involved in politics, Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala gave one of the most touching speeches of the DNC. Hardly on shaky ground, they questioned the constitutionality of Trump’s proposed Muslim ban and spoke of the memory of their fallen son—a man who heroically died in our armed forces. Donald’s response? In an interview with George Stephanopoulos he insulted their religion, insinuated that they hadn’t written their own speech and questioned whether Ghazala Khan had been forbidden to speak by her husband (“A lot of people have said that,” he claimed. Really? Who?) All he could have said was, “I thank them for their sacrifice.” Instead, Trump attacked and then later, doubled down on his insults. Then his son lied and claimed that his father had apologized (to date, he still has not apologized). Then Trump’s New York campaign co-chair remarked that Khizr Khan doesn’t deserve the Gold Star title because he dared to question the Trumps. If you have a second, read this New York Times piece about the Khan family and their sacrifice. I read it last week and actually cried. How does this family not represent the very best about America? How has it come to the point where the Republican party’s nominee for President can attack the patriotism of a family whose son died fighting for this country?5. I think one line in Trump’s response stands out best: “While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things.” Perhaps Donald Trump has read the Constitution, but I’m not sure he understands it the way that you taught me to.6. Remember when Hillary said that “a man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.” That was a pretty basic political trap. To beat it—to make his opponent look bad—all Trump had to do wasnot say emotional or dumb things on Twitter. And yet, here we are…7. As the New York Times reported, Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort has allegedly received nearly $13 million in cash payments from Ukraine’s pro-Russian political party during his time as a political consultant there. Nor has Manafort cleared up whether his has any continued business relationships with foreign powers—and according to the New York Times, his aides were still working in the Ukraine as recently as this year. The guy’s stuff is still in his office! But Mike Pence said that’s all FINE because Manafort is not running for president.”8. As a person who taught me to own my words and say what I mean, I have to imagine you find Trump’s tendency to use the phrase ‘many people are saying‘ as a way to cast aspersions and make insinuations as cowardly and dishonest. I’m no fan of political correctness and I think people should be blunt—but bluntness doesn’t mean you get to choose your own facts (or worse,pretend other people are the ones saying what you are making up). I don’t remember you or Mom ever letting me get away with “Many people say” in my homework or essays I wrote from school. You said it many times: “Cite your sources.”9. Trump still hasn’t released his tax returns. Even though his campaign manager taunted Mitt Romney for not fully releasing his. Even though back in 2014, Trump himself said: “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely, and I would love to do that.” Well, where are they?10. Is he still unwilling to release them because, as many people are saying, he has donated to NAMBLA, an advocacy group for pedophiles? I don’t know, but I do know that I’ve seen a lot of chatter about that on the internet. That’s what they’re saying, so there must be something to it.11. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said during a news conference. Can you imagine? A potential head of state calling for a belligerent foreign power to intervene in our affairs, to leak supposedly classified information because it would embarrass his opponent?12. I’m sure you saw this video of Trump’s comments about Clinton and the Supreme Court. We both know that the media has an interest in turning offhand comments into scandals but it’s hard not to see what his insinuation was here. He was joking that people with guns could take care of Hillary. He was joking about someone killing his opponent (this is not so far-fetched—early this year Jo Cox was killed in the UK for her campaign against Brexit). The crowd certainly got the dark meaning of his joke—that’s why they laughed.13. The whole thing about Trump actually being in bed with Putin is a little far-fetched, I agree. But isn’t it a little bit weird that just this week his daughter posted a travel photo of her and someone who literally is in bed with Putin. When she isn’t stumping for her dad, Ivanka apparently thinks it’s a good idea to go on vacation with Wendi Murdoch, who is allegedly dating Vladimir Putin, and take photos of it. Brilliant!14. Donald’s own spokesperson, Katrina Pierson said that it was Obama who took the U.S. to Afghanistan. Uhh, what? Later, she blamed the preposterous statement on an audio issue…except she’ssaid this before on Twitter. (Another great example of him hiring intelligently yeah?)15. Trump’s wife, Melania Trump apparently lied about her college credentials in her biography at the RNC and on her website. (And when she pulled the inaccurate biography down from her website,she lied again saying it “has been removed because it does not accurately reflect [her] current business and professional interests.”) Dad, as you know, I also only did two years of college so that’s not the problem. But is there anything about these people that stands up to scrutiny?16. Trump’s own website is calling out his supporters to “Help [Him] Stop Crooked Hillary From Rigging This Election!” As he said in Pennsylvania, “The only way we can lose, in my opinion — and I really mean this, Pennsylvania — is if cheating goes on.”As Brian Stelter from CNN pointed out, “suggesting an election is going to be stolen? This is third world dictatorship stuff.”17. Chris Frates has pointed out that Trump has been surrounded by immigrants his entire life. Melania Trump, his current wife, is from Slovenia and then there is Ivana, his first wife, who was born in Czechoslovakia. So it sounds like he really only has a problem with a certain kind of immigrants.18. You know I’ve done my fair share of ghostwriting and how intimate that relationship can get. The writer’s job is to see inside the person’s soul. Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter behind Trump’sThe Art of the Deal, decided that he could no longer not speak out about what he saw during his time with Trump. I’ll leave you his words without comment: “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.” Oh, and what would he call the book if he were to write it again? “The Sociopath.”19. This isn’t a big deal, I know, but I think it’s funny that his entrance to the RNC was to the soundtrack of Air Force One. He knows there is a difference between fake and real presidents right?20. Maybe he’s literally tone deaf? Because Trump announced his running mate, Mike Pence, to the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” I thought this guy was a brilliant marketer? I thought he was a masterful manager? Did nobody think about the subtext of that musical choice? Ezra Klein, who was equally stumped, wrote in an article about Trump’s bizarre introduction of Mike Pence, “What did we all hear, over and over again, as we waited for Trump to introduce Mike Pence, his “first choice from the start!”? ‘You can’t always get what you want…’” It’s a little thing, I know, but it says a lot.21. Perhaps we can excuse going wildly off message with the understanding that Donald Trump doesn’t actually have a message or a campaign to go back to. NBC found that thus far in the general election Donald Trump has spent $0—that is, not a cent—on television advertising so far in the general election. This is a guy who has to win multiple swing states. This is a guy who is now very far behind in the race. Yet he’s also a guy who has raised, last month alone, more than $35M from small-dollar donors. If he’s not buying ads, where is the money going?22. I also liked this analysis of the email campaigns of Hillary and Donald. Messages aside, Hillary’s have all the best practices of modern marketing. They’re friendly, they have clear calls to action, they’re optimized to raise funds in various amounts. Trump? He sent one underwhelming email in 8 days. His whole appeal as a candidate is that he’s supposedly a brilliant marketer and even more brilliant business man. What does it say that she’s running circles around him here? Maybe all he’s actually good at it is self-promotion.23. In a conversation with Sean Hannity on Fox News Trumpcriticized reporters at the New York Times by saying they “don’t write good.” He delivered that line three times!24. This was an actual tweet that Trump sent out at the end of July: “Looks to me like the Bernie people will fight. If not, there blood, sweat, and tears was a total waist of time. Kaine stands for opposite!” We all make typos…but then again, most of us aren’t running for president and if we were, we’d probably take the time to check our work. I remember you telling me that you respected George W. Bush’s decision to reinstate a strict dress code at the White House, that it was dignified and reflected the office. This guy can’t even spell!25. “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump told a crowdin Ashburn, Va. after a veteran gave him a copy of his Purple Heart medal. “This was much easier.” The Purple Heart is one of this country’s most cherished military honors. In describing it the way he did–as someone who wormed their way out of serving in Vietnam and as someone who just insulted a Gold Star Mother–Trump seemed to have no shame in treating the medal like a free sample at the grocery store. It was a despicable comment, and an insult to the many Purple Heart veterans who earned the honor by their blood.26. Last week Politico reported that 70 Republicans have signed a letter to Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee Chairman, to cut off any funding for Donald Trump. And as oneNew York Times story reported, the advisers surrounding him “now increasingly concede that Mr. Trump may be beyond coaching;”27. A poll recently showed that African Americans were polling 99-1% for Hillary over Trump. What does that say? When an entire race of voters see you as a threat (13 percent of the population of the United States), maybe we should try to understand why that is? Are they the canary in the coal mine?28. I read an interesting piece by Harlan Coben that speculated as to why Donald Trump goes off script so often. He thrives on the reactions from the crowd. The audience starts to drift? He says something shocking. The shocking thing stops being so shocking? He takes it up a notch. It makes a lot of sense—and I’ve caught myself doing it in talks before. It’s scary up there, and that behavior takes some of the edge off. Here’s the thing: The President is supposed to be OK with scary situations. They need to be secure enough in themselves and in standing alone that they don’t endlessly pander to the crowd. Nero needed the Roman people to shower him with applause, Commodus needed the Coliseum’s rapt attention. We need someone who can bravely do the right thing, who can listen while others speak, who can not indulge every impulse. Yet despite every incentive to hold it together—to justappear presidential—Trump doesn’t seem to be able to.29. You’re a Republican so Trump’s petulant refusal to support other Republicans matters. He initially refused to support Paul Ryan because he wasn’t seeing enough “strong leadership” and he claimed that he was withholding support because John McCaindidn’t support veterans. It’s hard to even respond to these things seriously—but Trump was the guy who claimed that McCain wasn’t a war hero because he’d been captured and taken prisoner, right? These are the people he’s supposed to be able to work with in order to pass legislation. Does he have any allies at this point? He might actually have to fix it “alone” because he’s pissed off every single person who has tried to support him despite all the reasons not to.30. What does it say that Ted Cruz declined to endorse Trump at the convention? “I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father,” he said. His refusal to endorse Trump is not surprising given that during his speech he said that “We deserve leaders who stand for principle, unite us all behind shared values, cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect, from everybody.”31. There was Donald Trump’s casual remark about not stepping in to defend fellow NATO countries, saying he would do only if they’d “fulfilled their obligations to us.” That is, he’d only do it they’d paidfor our protection. I thought we’d learned with your father and with your father’s father, the price that Americans have to pay when European countries are allowed acts of wanton aggression and invasion (that is…we have to go over there and fight and die in even great number).32. Stoking a false claim that the US had exchanged cash for hostages from Iran, Trump claimed that he actually saw footage of a plane unloading millions in cash. Turns out, he was just watching TV and had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently this was the one thing, Trump felt he was objectively mistaken enough to admit he was wrong about. Trump admitted on Twitter: “The plane I saw on television was the hostage plane in Geneva, Switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to Iran!” But on John McCain, on mocking a disabled reporter, on the plagiarism, on the Khan family? Nope.33. What should one think when the former head of the CIAaccuses Trump of becoming “an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation?” What he means is that Putin has manipulated Donald and played on his vulnerabilities throughout his campaign, making him in a sense, an asset to the very enemy that Mitt Romney spent most of his campaign criticizing Obama for not taking seriously enough.34. Trump’s speech at the Republican Convention contained this statement: “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I alone can fix it.” We talked a lot about ego when I was writing my last book and I think in a different context, we both would have laughed at a remark like this as being absurd and delusional. And that doesn’t even get into the fact that our entire system of government is designed to prevent the President from fixing things “alone.” In fact, we have a name for people who try to do that: fascists.35. One of the strongest arguments for a conservative to vote for Trump despite all the problems they might have is that next President is likely to have incredible influence via the next few Supreme Court appointments. The argument is that whatever you think of Trump, it’s important that Republicans be able to name solid judges to the Supreme Court. But why are you so sure he’d do a good job? Because he says he would? Look at this video of Trump directly contradicting himself on dozens and dozens of issues. Look at his track record on hiring and vetting people. Look at how he chose a VP, hemming and hawing and consulting his children for the final choice. That’s who you want appointing people to serve for life, that’s who you want picking the people who ultimately judge our laws at the highest level?36. Even though the Trump campaign had hired two high-powered speechwriters for Melania’s speech at the Republican Convention, she and Trump decided to override their advice and work with someone in-house—someone that Trump had personally hired. Of course, we know how that went. The speechwriter was incompetent and allowed a largely plagiarized section—plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s own speech addressing her convention no less—to be read to millions and millions of people.37. Stuff happens, obviously, and as I learned from you, it’s whatleaders do when stuff happens that matters. What did Trump’s team do? First, they denied it and tried to spin it as not plagiarism because it was all common phrases. Then Trump claimed all press is good press.” Then Trump declined to fire the writer or hold anyone accountable for what happened. He let the speechwriter apologize—but of course, as the guy in charge, he refused to take responsibility for any of it himself.38. At his first intelligence briefing, Trump is bringing with him Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who in Garry Kasparov’s words is “someone who openly works with Putin’s propaganda channel Russia Today.” Flynn also got to casually sit next to Putin last December at a dinner in Moscow. (He also had a paid speaking gig while in Russia as well.)39. At a rally in Florida, Trump pulled out a graphic and showed it on stage. Not a big deal. Except that David Duke, the white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader, is fond of using the exact same graphic.40. Another funny thing about that graphic. Remember when Donald Trump got in trouble for using that Star of David over a picture of Hillary Clinton? A lot of people said it was anti-Semitic. Of course, he denied that was his intention. Well, that David Duke graphic used in Florida? It’s got another one on it. This time with Hillary Clinton on a $20 bill.41. And a third thing about David Duke. In an interview with NPR, he said something about Donald Trump voters: We’ve already polled inside the Trump voters, and we know that we’re going to carry 75 to 80 percent of those who are going to vote for Trump.” The host asked, “You think Trump voters are your voters?” His response? “Well, of course they are!”42. According to The Atlantic, Trump also appears to be laying out a strategy to skip the presidential debates—which of course, just like the election, Hillary & the Dems are trying to rig,” as he said in a tweet.43. Much has been made of Hillary’s association with unsavory characters. I agree, it’s alarming. Her continued support of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, that so and so apparently appeared at one of her rallies. These are legitimate issues. Trump tried to call Hillary out on this recently …without grasping the irony (to say nothing of the incredible hypocrisy) in Florida when he attacked Hillary for allowing the father of the Orlando shooter to sit in the stands behind her, yet beside Trump, in a reserved seat, sat Mark Foley, an ex-congressman who resigned in disgrace in 2006 after sending sexually explicit messages to underage teenage boys.”44. That’s the other thing about Trump. Hillary is one of the least popular candidates in history, but by a large margin she is not the least popular candidate in this election. Because of who Trump is, because of his inability to do even the most basic things required of a candidate, Hillary has been allowed to skate on many, many issues that the media should be grilling her over. How would this trend play out if Trump were elected? Would he suck the air out of the room in every debate, during every issue and make himself the center of attention in every crisis? Is this going to help us have the tough conversations I know you know we need to have as a country?45. Trump has claimed that the media is aligned against him. He’s accused the New York Times of being a “failing” paper and calledCNN “disgusting.” He’s even banned sites like Politico and BuzzFeedfrom his rallies. This attitude reminds me a lot of something. In one of Nixon’s famous rants, he said “The press is the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.” I’ve said a lot of things about the media in my writings, but I understand that a free and open press is essential to our democracy. As a marketer, I also understand that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. One calculation estimates that Trump got nearly $3 billion dollars worth of free media in the early stages of the election. Was he complaining then? Besides, I thought he said that all press is good press?46. Donald Trump has said so much ridiculous and flat out incorrect things that the media has had to devise new ways of correcting him with on-air graphics in the course of their endless coverage of every remark and event. Some examples: “Trump says he watched (nonexistent) video of Iran receiving cash.” “Trump: I never said Japan should have nukes (he did)”, “Trump’s son: “Father apologized to Khans (he hasn’t)”47. Transcribers of his speeches have also complained how long it takes due to his confusing, manic and often unintelligible syntax. They sometimes have to use teams of people just to get it right. As one transcriber put it, Almost every time we have done a transcript of him there is something in there that makes you wonder what is going on.” What they mean is that he is often deliberately obtuse—he says things in a way that allows him to pretend he means one thing, while signaling to another group. In other cases, what he says makes so little sense, they wonder what on earth he was talking about (“word salad” is the phrase). All of which is an issue considering it’s the president’s job to effectively communicate to every citizen of this country as well as have productive, clear and coherent discussions with international leaders and allies.48. I’ve given you a lot of things Trump has done, but notice what he hasn’t done? The things a candidate is supposed to do. He hasn’t articulated his policies. He hasn’t shown that he has even the slightest grasp on what the job of being president would entail. He hasn’t released his tax returns. He hasn’t told us, in any detail, who he would be listening to and who would be advising him—other than, of course, himself.49. When I published the first letter, I was on my way to London and then to Germany. You would be shocked at the reactions from people in other countries. They’re incredulous that we’re even thinking about this. The Washington Post wrote that US citizens traveling abroad are finding themselves on an “apology tour” trying to explain what is going on here—I felt that for sure. More than that, I remember a morning on my trip to Berlin, going on an early morning run past the Reichstag. The building is pocked with bullet holes and in the corner is a memorial (only recently erected) to the legislators that were murdered as Hitler consolidated power. It was a reminder to me of the stakes here—that even if there is a 1% chance of something like that happening, even all the warning signs are overblown, that we have a duty to stop it before it happens. It’s worth considering the courage—and listening—to the conservatives who have broken with their party over Donald Trump. Even if you disagree with them, even if these protests turn out to be overblown, that takes real courage. I think we should follow their lead.I know I’ve gone on way too long here so I’ll wrap up.The final thing about Trump is this: No one has been subjected to more criticism and made more stumbles in a campaign than he has. It’s completely unprecedented. In the last fourteen months, have you seen a single instance in which he seems to have learned from any of it? Have you seen a single adjustment or improvement along the way? Has there been even one incident where you’ve seen him—when subjected to an overwhelming public response or media backlash—stop and go “You know what, I was wrong. Here’s my explanation and apology and in the future I will be different.” Have you seen that even one time? Insulting a Gold Star Mother, calling on a foreign power to intervene in an election, urging violence against his opponent, attacking a war hero, using anti-Semitic materials…all of those would have been easy opportunities for a mea culpa and an adjustment. Yet there were none.So why should we think that as President he is going to have that skill? It’s the steepest learning curve of any job in the world. It will inevitably be filled with mistakes and errors and problems. If he’s not accountable to feedback or criticism now—at the time he is most in need of public support and approval—why the hell would he be any different on the day he takes office?People don’t change, you told me. Actions speak louder than words. I think in this case, that’s the best advice you’ve ever given me.Please Dad, for all these reasons and so many more, don’t vote for Donald Trump.

Providing a memorable guest experience is one of the most important goals for hoteliers today. To do this, hoteliers must get to know their guests and provide a personalized experience that goes above and beyond. One small, but important piece in providing this memorable experience is writing a compelling and personal hotel welcome letter. In this blog, we will discuss what to include in your welcome letter, provide an example of how to write a welcome letter for hotel guests and offer three free templates you can download and get started with today!What to Include in Your Hotel’s Welcome LetterPersonalize the MessageBeyond addressing your welcome letter to the guest by name, you can go a step further by leveraging the information stored in your PMS or CRM system. Say for example that you have a repeat guest returning to your property. In the opening of your letter, you can say “welcome back!” acknowledging that you recognize their return. Similarly, you could offer an added benefit for the returning guest, such as a pre-emptive late checkout. You could say something like “We value your continued patronage. To thank you for being a loyal guest, we would like to offer you an extended checkout time of 2 p.m. on [insert date of checkout].” It’s a minor, but proactive offer that could go a long way in creating a positive impression. The nice thing about creating personalized letters like this for returning guests is that you can still use one template for all returning guests. You can break it down any way you like, and create templates for different groups of guests, such as first time, returning, here for an event, etc.Encourage Engagement on Social MediaSocial media is an important piece of any hospitality digital marketing strategy and your welcome letter is an opportune time to encourage engagement. Throw a “P.S.” at the end of your letter and let your guest(s) know how they can find you on social media. To encourage engagement, include a reason they should tag you on social media. For example, put together a contest, where you award a free night or a discount on a second stay to the guest that receives the most likes on their Instagram post using your hashtag. Of course, you would have to work out the details of the contest such as defining the timeframe and coming up with a hashtag, etc. But that’s the fun part! At the end of the day, you’re looking to encourage engagement and promote brand evangelism.Make it Easy for Guests to Reach OutMost travelers know that if they need to reach the front desk to make a request, they simply hit “0” on their in-room phone. But what if the guest is lounging by the pool and realizes they need an extra towel or would like to make dinner reservations but doesn’t know the number of the on-site restaurant? You can make it easy for your guests to contact you no matter where they are by offering text messaging and social media messaging. Not only is texting convenient, it’s largely preferred. According to the Pew Research Center, one-third of Americans prefer texts to phone calls. The Mobile Marketing Association reported that there are over 350 billion text messages sent every month around the globe.After implementing texting capabilities for guests, The Breakers, a luxury resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has seen impressive guest engagement. They receive about 100 text messages per day from guests for various requests, which has resulted in a higher overall level of guest satisfaction, according to Darren Hirsowitz, director of finance and business analytics at The Breakers Resort.The welcome letter is the perfect place to introduce your texting capabilities and make it clear to guests that you are available to them via a variety of communication tools.How to Format the Welcome LetterYour welcome letter should be short and sweet and to the point. Guests aren’t interested in reading an anthology about your property to kick off their vacation. The letter should be helpful, informative and sincere, and should be infused with your brand’s personality.For most welcome letters, the format will be pretty straightforward. There will be an opening (the welcome), a middle (where you offer helpful information about your property and/or the surrounding area) and the end (where you remind your guests how to contact you should they need anything). If you are running a specific promotion or looking to get something of particular importance across in your letter, a postscript (or P.S.) can be a great vehicle for that. People generally remember the first and last thing they read. And since a postscript sticks out in comparison to blocks of text, it is likely to get read, especially if a guest is skimming.Sample welcome letter for hotel guestsDear [insert first name],On behalf of our entire staff, we would like to welcome you to our property. We are honored that you have chosen to stay with us and look forward to providing you with a memorable experience.For your convenience, the [insert hotel name] offers several on-site amenities, such as the [insert name] and [insert name] and dining options including the [insert name] and [insert name]. If you’re ready to step out and explore the area, our hotel is conveniently located, within walking distance of a variety of popular restaurants and local attractions. You can find more details on everything the local area offers as well as additional information on utilizing on-site amenities in the [insert accompanying literature title]. If you’d prefer a digital summary of local restaurants and attractions, simply scan the QR code at the bottom of this letter.If you need anything during your stay our staff will be pleased to assist you — morning, noon or night! Just call the front desk and we will be at your service. Or reach out to us via text at [insert number] or on Facebook Messenger [insert Facebook handle].We sincerely thank you for choosing the [insert hotel name] and hope that you have a comfortable and pleasant stay.Warmly,[insert name]P.S. – We’re on Instagram @ [insert handle] and Facebook @ [insert name]. Tag us in your posts and we’ll enter you into our monthly “free room giveaway” drawing! Winners are announced on the first of every month. Just use hashtag [insert hashtag]. Good luck![Insert QR Code]free hotel guest group welcome letter templateGet Free Templates ButtonGuest expectations today are high. Which is why providing a superior guest experience is at the top of the list for many hoteliers. A personalized welcome letter is one small, but important factor in delivering the guest experience that results in repeat visits and referral business. In fact, for hotels that are looking to provide a luxury experience, the handwritten approach remains the pinnacle of the welcome letter prowess.In order to create a personalized stay that includes a unique welcome letter (be it handwritten or typed), hoteliers need a way to collect, store and access guest information. Hotel technologies that offer guest insights and preferences will help you deliver truly exceptional and personalized experiences.Amadeus is proud to be an industry leader in offering full and limited-service property management software used by properties in more than 150 countries worldwide. If you would like to learn more or schedule a demo, contact us and a team member will be in touch shortly.

Ps- You'll never believe these fun and interesting facts…Fact: McDonald’s once made bubblegum-flavored broccoliThis interesting fact will have your taste buds crawling. Unsurprisingly, the attempt to get kids to eat healthier didn’t go over well with the child testers, who were “confused by the taste.” Find out which countries have banned McDonald’s.Fact: Some fungi create zombies, then control their mindsThe tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. By the time the fungi been in the insect bodies for nine days, they have complete control over the host’s movements. They force the ants to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and kill it. Don’t miss these 12 animal “facts” that are actually false.Fact: The first oranges weren’t orangeThe original oranges from Southeast Asia were a tangerine-pomelo hybrid, and they were actually green. In fact, oranges in warmer regions like Vietnam and Thailand still stay green through maturity. For more interesting facts, find out which “orange” came first: the color or the fruit.Fact: There’s only one letter that doesn’t appear in any U.S. state nameCan you guess the answer to this random fact? You’ll find a Z (Arizona), a J (New Jersey), and even two X’s (New Mexico and Texas)—but not a single Q. Check out these other 50 fun facts about every state in America.Fact: A cow-bison hybrid is called a “beefalo”You can even buy its meat in at least 21 states. Don’t miss these other random facts about your favorite foods.Fact: Johnny Appleseed’s fruits weren’t for eatingYes, there was a real John Chapman who planted thousands of apple trees on U.S. soil. But the apples on those trees were much more bitter than the ones you’d find in the supermarket today. “Johnny Appleseed” didn’t expect his fruits to be eaten whole, but rather made into hard apple cider.Fact: Scotland has 421 words for “snow”Yes—421! That’s too many fun facts about snow. Some examples: sneesl (to start raining or snowing); feefle (to swirl); flinkdrinkin (a light snow). Don’t miss these other 11 random interesting facts about snow.Fact: Samsung tests phone durability with a butt-shaped robotDo these interesting facts have you rethinking everything? People stash their phones in their back pockets all the time, which is why Samsung created a robot that is shaped like a butt—and yes, even wears jeans—to “sit” on their phones to make sure they can take the pressure.Fact: The “Windy City” name has nothing to do with Chicago weatherWas this one of the random facts you already knew? Chicago’s nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists who were referring to the fact that its residents were “windbags” and “full of hot air.”Fact: Peanuts aren’t technically nutsThey’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios aren’t nuts either. They’re seeds.Fact: Armadillo shells are bulletproofIn fact, one Texas man was hospitalized when a bullet he shot at an armadillo ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the jaw.Fact: Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetterThe chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it’s easier to spread and soak into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.” Find out which of your favorite science “facts” are actually false.Fact: The longest English word is 189,819 letters longWe won’t spell it out here (though you can read it here), but the full name for the protein nicknamed titin would take three and a half hours to say out loud.Fact: “Running amok” is a medically recognized mental conditionConsidered a culturally bound syndrome, a person “running amok” in Malaysia commits a sudden, frenzied mass attack, then begins to brood. Learn some more random facts and trivia you’ll wish you’d always known.Fact: Octopuses lay 56,000 eggs at a timeThe mother spends six months so devoted to protecting the eggs that she doesn’t eat. The babies are the size of a grain of ricewhen they’re born.Fact: Cats have fewer toes on their back pawsLike most four-legged mammals, they have five toes on the front, but their back paws only have four toes. Scientists think the four-toe back paws might help them run faster. Do you know any other fun facts about cats?Fact: Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masksWhen there was a cotton shortage during World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. The war ended before scientists perfected the material for gas masks, so the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer, then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead.Fact: Blue whales eat half a million calories in one mouthfulThese random facts are mindblowing! Those 457,000 calories are more than 240 times the energy the whale uses to scoop those krill into its mouth.Fact: That tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watchesThe original jeans only had four pockets: that tiny one, plus two more on the front and just one in the back.Fact: Turkeys can blushWhen turkeys are scared or excited—like when the males see a female they’re interested in—the pale skin on their head and neck turns bright red, blue, or white. The flap of skin over their beaks, called a “snood,” also reddens.Fact: Most Disney characters wear gloves to keep animation simpleWalt Disney might have been the first to put gloves on his characters, as seen in 1929’s The Opry House starring Mickey Mouse. In addition to being easier to animate, there’s another reason Disney opted for gloves: “We didn’t want him to have mouse hands because he was supposed to be more human,” Disney told his biographer in 1957.Fact: The man with the world’s deepest voice can make sounds humans can’t hearThe man, Tim Storms, can’t even hear the note, which is eight octaves below the lowest G on a piano—but elephants can. Check out these 16 little-known interesting facts about the greatest songs of all time.Fact: The American flag was designed by a high school studentIt started as a school project for Bob Heft’s junior-year history class, and it only earned a B- in 1958. His design had 50 stars even though Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states yet. Heft figured the two would earn statehood soon and showed the government his design. After President Dwight D. Eisenhower called to say his design was approved, Heft’s teacher changed his grade to an A.Fact: Cows don’t have upper front teethThey do have molars in the top back of their mouths though. Where you’d expect upper incisors, cows, sheep, and goats have a thick layer of tissue called a “dental pad.” They use that with their bottom teeth to pull out grass. Check out these 13 fun facts about the human bodyyou’ve always wondered about.Fact: Thanks to 3D printing, NASA can basically “email” tools to astronautsGetting new equipment to the Space Station used to take months or years, but the new technology means the tools are ready within hours.Fact: Only a quarter of the Sahara Desert is sandyMost of it is covered in gravel, though it also contains mountains and oases. Oh, and it isn’t the world’s largest desert—Antarctica is. Don’t miss these other 30 geography facts everyone gets wrong.Fact: Bananas grow upside-downOr technically, we peel them upside-down. These random facts will have you eating fruit differently. Naturally, they grow outward from their stems, but that means their bottoms actually face the sky. As they get bigger, the fruits turn toward the sun, forming that distinctive curve. Check out these 21 food myths that are totally untrue.Fact: There were active volcanoes on the moon when dinosaurs were aliveMost of the volcanoes probably stopped one billion years ago, but new NASA findings suggest there might still have been active lava flow 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs were still roaming.Fact: Dogs sniff good smells with their left nostrilDogs normally start sniffing with their right nostril, then keep it there if the smell could signal danger, but they’ll shift to the left side for something pleasant, like food or a mating partner. Learn the real reason dogs follow you everywhere.Fact: Avocados were named after reproductive organsIndigenous people of Mexico and Central America used the Nahuatl word āhuacatl to mean both “testicles” and “avocado.” The fruits were originally marketed as “alligator pears” in the United States until the current name stuck. For more random facts, learn what the original word for avocado means about guacamole’s name.Fact: T. S. Eliot wore green makeupNo one is sure why the poet dusted his face with green powder, though some guess he was just trying to look more interesting. Here are more fascinating facts about famous authors.Fact: The word “fizzle” started as a type of fartIn the 1400s, it meant to “break wind quietly,” according to English Oxford Living Dictionaries.Fact: You only have two body parts that never stop growingHuman noses and ears keep getting bigger, even when the rest of the body’s growth has come to a halt. Learn more about the phenomenon and what it means.Fact: No number before 1,000 contains the letter ASome of these fun facts will have you counting. But there are plenty of E’s, I’s, O’s, U’s, and Y’s.Fact: The # symbol isn’t officially called hashtag or poundIts technical name is octothorpe. The “octo-” means “eight” to refer to its points, though reports disagree on where “-thorpe” came from. Some claim it was named after Olympian Jim Thorpe, while others argue it was just a nonsense suffix.Fact: The French have their own name for a “French kiss”This interesting fact doesn’t date that far back. The word hasn’t been around for long. In 2014, galocher—meaning to kiss with tongues—was added to the Petit Robert French dictionary. Here are more fun facts about kissing.Fact: You can thank the Greeks for calling Christmas “Xmas”In Greek, the word for “Christ” starts with the letter Chi, which looks like an X in the Roman alphabet.Fact: Movie trailers originally played after the movieThey “trailed” the feature film—hence the name. The first trailer appeared in 1912 and was for a Broadway show, not a movie. Don’t miss these other 13 things movie theater employees won’t tell you.Fact: Mercedes invented a car controlled by joystickThe joystick in the 1966 Mercedes F200 showcase car controlled speed and direction, replacing both the steering wheel and pedals. The car could also sense which side the driver was sitting in, so someone could control it from the passenger seat.Fact: The U.S. government saved every public tweet from 2006 through 2017Starting in 2018, the Library of Congress decided to only keep tweets on “a very selective basis,” including elections and those dealing with something of national interest, like public policy. Here are 18 more interesting facts about Washington, DC you’ve never heard.Fact: H&M actually does stand for somethingThis is one of the random facts you’ve probably never thought about before. The clothing retail shop was originally called Hennes—Swedish for “hers”—before acquiring the hunting and fishing equipment brand Mauritz Widforss. Eventually, Hennes & Mauritz was shortened to H&M.Fact: Theodore Roosevelt had a pet hyenaIts name was Bill and was a present from the Ethiopian emperor. Roosevelt was famous for his many pets, including a one-legged rooster, a badger, a pony, and a small bear.Fact: Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan CrunchHe’s also been called out for only having the bars of a Navy commander, but the so-called cap’n held his ground on Twitter, arguing that captaining the S. S. Guppy with his crew “makes an official Cap’n in any book!” For more fun facts, find out other characters you didn’t know had full names.Fact: The CIA headquarters has its own Starbucks, but baristas don’t write names on the cupsIts receipts say “Store Number 1” instead of “Starbucks,” and its workers need an escort to leave their work posts. Find out why “Pequod” was almost the name for Starbucks.Fact: Giraffe tongues can be 20 inches longTheir dark bluish black color is probably to prevent sunburn.Fact: There’s only one U.S. state capital without a McDonald’sMontpelier, Vermont, doesn’t have any of those Golden Arches. It also happens to have the smallest population of any state capital, with just 7,500 residents. Find out the farthest you can possibly be from a McDonald’s in the United States.Fact: Europeans were scared of eating tomatoes when they were introducedScholars think Hernán Cortés brought the seeds in 1519 with the intent of the fruits being used ornamentally in gardens. By the 1700s, aristocrats started eating tomatoes, but they were convinced the fruits were poison because people would die after eating them. In reality, the acidity from the tomatoes brought out lead in their pewter plates, so they’d died of lead poisoning.Fact: Humans aren’t the only animals that dreamStudies have indicated rats dream about getting to food or running through mazes. Most mammals go through REM sleep, the cycle in which dreams occur, so scientists think there’s a good chance they all dream. Here are 13 more interesting facts about dreaming.Fact: The inventor of the microwave appliance only received $2 for his discoveryPercy Spencer was working as a researcher for American Appliance Company (now Raytheon) when he noticed a radar set using electromagnetic waves melted the candy bar in his pocket. He had the idea to make a metal box using microwaves to heat food, but the company was the one to file the patent. He received a $2 bonusbut never any royalties. Here are 16 more random facts about money.Fact: The Eiffel Tower can grow more than six inches during the summerThe high temperatures make the iron expand. Don’t miss these other 19 Eiffel Tower facts you never learned before.Fact: Glitter was made on a ranchA cattle rancher in New Jersey is credited for inventing glitter, and it was by accident. Henry Ruschmann from Bernardsville, New Jersey was a machinist who crushed plastic while trying to find a way to dispose of it and thus made glitter in 1934.Fact: Creature is a vegetarianVictor Frankenstein’s Creature is actually vegetarian. Frankenstein and Creature are fictional characters created by Mary Shelley in her novel, Frankenstein. In the novel, Creature says, “My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment.”Fact: Medical errors are a top cause of deathAccording to a Johns Hopkins research team, 250,000 deaths in the United States are caused by medical error each year. This makes medical error the third-leading cause of deaths in the country.Fact: Sloths have more neck bones than giraffesDespite physical length, there are more bones in the neck of a sloth than a giraffe. There are seven vertebrae in the neck of giraffes, and in most mammals, but there are ten in a sloth. Still, giraffes are among 23 of the world’s biggest living animals.Fact: Bees can fly higher than Mount EverestBees can fly higher than 29,525 feet above sea level, according to National Geographic. That’s higher than Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.Fact: Ancient Egyptians used dead mice to ease toothachesIn Ancient Egypt, people put a dead mouse in their mouth if they had a toothache, according to Nathan Belofsky’s book Strange Medicine: A Shocking History of Real Medical Practices Through the Age. Mice were also used as a warts remedy during Elizabethan England.Fact: Paint used to be stored in pig bladdersPig bladders were used in the 19th century to store an artist’s paint. The bladder would be sealed with a string and then pricked to get the paint out. This option wasn’t the best because it would often break open. American painter John G. Rand was the innovator who made paint tubes from tin and screw cap in the 19th century.Fact: Humans have jumped further than horses in the OlympicsThe Olympic world record for the longest human long jump is greater than the world record for longest horse long jump. Mike Powell set the record in 1991 by jumping 8.95 meters, and the horse Extra Dry set the record in 1900 by jumping 6.10 meters. Don’t miss 13 more Olympic moments that changed history.Fact: The Terminator script was sold for $1James Cameron is the award-winning director of movies like Titanic, Avatar, and The Terminator. In order to get his big break with The Terminator, he sold the script for $1 and a promise that he’d be able to direct.Fact: Pigeon poop is the property of the British CrownIn the 18th century, pigeon poop was used to make gunpowder, so King George I confirmed the droppings to be property of the crown.Fact: Onions were found in the eyes of an Egyptian mummyPharaoh Ramses IV of Ancient Egypt had his eyes replaced with small onions when he was mummified. The rings and layers of onions were worshipped because people thought they represented eternal life. This aligns with the reason for mummification: to allow the pharaoh’s body to live forever. Let’s hope these interesting facts don’t all apply to practices used today.Fact: Abraham Lincoln was a bartenderYou know that the 16th president of the United States fought for the freedom of slaves and the Union, but what you didn’t know is that he was a licensed bartender. Lincoln’s liquor license was discovered in 1930 and displayed in a Springfield liquor store. Wayne C. Temple, a Lincoln expert, told the Southeast Missourian newspaper that in 1863 Congress wanted to fire Ulysses S. Grant because he drank a lot and Lincoln’s response was to send Grant a supply of whiskey.Fact: Beethoven never knew how to multiply or divideLudwig van Beethoven is arguably one of the greatest composers in musical history. The renowned pianist went to a Latin school called Tirocinium. There he learned some math, but never multiplication or division, only addition. Once when he needed to multiply 62 by 50, he wrote 62 down a line 50 times and added it all up. Here are 12 easy math tricks you and Beethoven will wish you knew sooner.Fact: Japan released sushi-inspired KitKatsFor a limited time in 2017, Tokyo’s KitKat Chocolatory shop made three types of the chocolate bar that was sushi-inspired but didn’t actually taste like raw fish. The tuna sushi was actually raspberry, the seaweed wrapped one was pumpkin pudding flavored, and the sea urchin sushi was actually Hokkaido melon with mascarpone cheese flavored. All were made with puffed rice, white chocolate, and a bit of wasabi.Fact: The word aquarium means “watering place for cattle” in LatinIn the classic Latin language, aquarium means a “watering place for cattle.” However, aquariums these days aren’t for cows—instead, they are a place for the public to see sea creatures. The first aquarium that looks like what you’d imagine now was created in 1921 and opened in 1924 in England. If you love what’s in the deep blue sea, take an intimate look at these large and tiny sea creatures.Fact: An espresso maker was sent into space in 2015Samantha Cristoforetti is the first female Italian astronaut to get a warm and cozy piece of home sent to her while in orbit. The Italian Space Agency worked with Italian coffee manufacturer, Lavazza, to get the coffee capsules flown up and out into space.Fact: An employee at Pixar accidentally deleted a sequence of Toy Story 2 during productionEd Catmull, the co-founder of Pixar, wrote in his book Creativity Inc. that the year before the movie came out, someone entered the command, ‘/bin/rm -r -f *’ on the drive where the files were saved and scenes started to be deleted. It would have taken a year to recreate what was deleted, but luckily another employee had a backup of the entire film on her laptop at home.Fact: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne started Apple Inc. on April Fools’ DayThe three technology innovators signed the documents to form the Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976. However, the company was not fully incorporated until January 3, 1977. Thirty years later, the company was renamed Apple Inc. and is no joke. In 2018, Apple Inc. became the country’s first trillion-dollar company.Fact: The inventor of the tricycle personally delivered two to Queen VictoriaIn 1881, Queen Victoria was on a tour on the Isle of Wight when her horse and carriage could not keep up with a woman riding a tricycle. The Queen made her servants identify the woman so she could demonstrate the tricycle to the Queen. Intrigued by the bike, the Queen proceeded to order two. She also asked that the inventor, James Starley, arrive with the delivery. Though you might associate tricycles with toddlers, Queen Victoria made them cool among the elite. Special deliveries are definitely a royal bonus. Want more random facts? Here are 15 more of the most bizarre perks of the British royal family.Fact: Your brain synapses shrink while you sleepA 2003 study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Sleep and Consciousness was done on mice to observe what happens to our brains while we sleep. Dr. Chiara Cirelli and Dr. Giulio Tononi found an 18 percent decrease in the size of synapses after a few hours of sleep. Don’t worry, though, your brain shrinking at night actually helps your cognitive abilities.Fact: A waffle iron inspired one of the first pairs of NikesBill Bowerman was a track and field coach in the 1950s who didn’t like how running shoes were made. He first created the Cortez shoe, but still wanted to make a shoe even lighter that could be worn on various surfaces. During a waffle breakfast with his wife in 1970, the idea came to him of using the waffle texture on the sole of running shoes. The waffle sole shoe made their appearance in the 1972 U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene.Fact: Boars wash their foodNational Geographic reportedthat at Basel Zoo in Switzerland, zookeepers watched adult and juvenile wild boars pick up sandy apples and bring them to a nearby creek in their environment to wash before eating. Though some items like sugar beets were eaten without the human-like behavior, the boars brought a whole dead chicken to the creek to wash before chowing down. One ecologist called this a “luxury behavior.” You’d never believe the 12 animals that are probably smarter than you.Fact: Baseball umpires used to sit in rocking chairsPeople have been playing baseball since the mid 19th century. In the early games, umpires would officiate the games reclining in a rocking chair that was located 20 feet behind home plate. By 1878, the National League also declared that home teams must pay umpires $5 per game.Fact: The first commercial passenger flight lasted only 23 minutesThese fun facts really get you thinking about how far we’ve come. Taking a 23-minute flight might seem like a waste of money today, but in 1914 Abram Pheil paid $400, which would be $8,500 today, for a 23-minute long plane ride. He flew between St. Petersburg, Florida and Tampa, Florida, where only 21 miles of water separate the cities. Pheil, a former mayor of St. Petersburg, and the pilot, Tony Jannus, were the only passengers. This momentous flight paved the way for air travel as we know it.Fact: The world’s first novel ends mid-sentenceThe Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is considered the world’s first novel. After reading 54 intricately crafted chapters, the reader is stopped abruptly mid-sentence. One translator believes the work is complete as is, but another says we’re missing a few more pages of the story. If you’ve never read The Tale of Genji, don’t worry. Just be sure to read these 50 books before you’re 50.Fact: The French-language Scrabble World Champion doesn’t speak FrenchNew Zealand native Nigel Richards memorized the entire French Scrabble dictionary, which has 386,000 words, in nine weeks to earn his title. He has also won the English world Scrabble Championship three times, the U.S. national championships five times, and the U.K. Open Scrabble tournament six times. This comes 20 years after first playing Scrabble when Richards was 28 years old. Here are 22 high-scoring Scrabble words you should try to memorize.Fact: A woman called the police when her ice cream didn’t have enough sprinklesThe West Midlands police in England released a recording of a woman who called 999 (the U.K. version of 911) because there were “bits on one side and none on the other,” she says in the recording. She was even more upset when the ice cream truck man did not want to give her money back.Fact: Uncle Ben’s rice was airdropped to World War II troopsGerman chemist Erich Huzenlaub invented a process of parboiling rice to keep more nutrients in the rice and lessen the cooking time. The “Huzenlaub Process” had another unexpected benefit, too: It stopped bug infestations. The quick-cook, bug-free rice was a big advantage during World War II, and Converted rice (as it was then known) was airdropped to American and British troops. After the war, the company rebranded to Uncle Ben’s Original Converted Brand Rice, named after one of the company’s best rice suppliers, and the product hit the shelves in 1947. Did you know these 11 food product icons were based on real people?Fact: The British Empire was the largest empire in world historyAccording to the World Atlas, an empire “is a group of nations or people that are under the rule of a powerful government or an emperor of a territory usually larger than a kingdom.” The British Empire was most powerful in the 1920s when it ruled over 23 percent of the world’s population. That equates to about 13 million square miles.Fact: South American river turtles talk in their eggsTurtles don’t have vocal cords and their ears are internal, so scientists believed that turtles were deaf and didn’t communicate through sounds. However, research has found that turtles actually communicate at an extremely low frequency that sounds like “clicks, clucks, and hoots” that can only be heard through a hydrophone (a microphone used underwater). These sounds even come from the egg before the turtle hatches. Researchers hypothesize that this helps all the turtle siblings hatch at once.Fact: Penicillin was first called “mold juice”Alexander Fleming was one of those quirky scientists who accidentally made a scientific breakthrough. In 1928, the bacteriologist left a petri dish in his lab while he was on vacation only to return and find that some liquid around the mold had killed the bacteria in the dish. This became the world’s first antibiotic. But before naming it penicillin, he called it “mold juice.”Fact: The first stroller was pulled by a goatThis is one of the many interesting facts that had us scratching our head. Or a dog or a miniature horse, but not by parents. William Kent, a landscape architect, invented the first stroller for the third Duke of Devonshire in 1733. By the mid 18th century, strollers were still pretty unstable, but they had handles so parents, not animals, could pull the baby behind them.Fact: May 20, 1873, is the “birthday” of blue jeansAccording to the Levi Strauss website, this was the day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis, the innovators behind the sturdy blue jeans we all love, got a patent on the process of adding metal rivets to men’s denim work pants for the first time in history. The pants were called waist overalls until 1960 when baby boomers began calling them jeans. Check out the 9 secrets you never knew about your clothes.Fact: 170-year-old bottles of champagne were found at the bottom of the Baltic SeaThe bottles of bubbly are estimated to have been traveling from Germany to Russia during the 1800s when they sank to the bottom of the sea, says New Scientist. Turns out that the bottom of the sea, where temps are between two and four degrees Celsius, is a great place for wine aging. Oenologists, people who study wine and winemaking, sampled the champagne and described it as, “sometimes cheesy,” with “animal notes,” and that it had elements of “wet hair.” We’ll pass on that and go for the best wine in the world that only costs $10.Fact: The MGM lion roar is trademarkedAt the start of any movie made by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, there’s the iconic lion that roars at the audience. While MGM has gone through several iterations of lion mascots, the sound of the roar is always the same. The company trademarked the “sound mark” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the ’80s. Think you know all the fun facts about movies? Check out this movie trivia that you won’t believe.Fact: Neil Armstrong’s hair was sold in 2004 for $3,000The lucky buyer, John Reznikoff, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of hair from historical celebrities, reports NBC. The not-so-lucky barber Marx Sizemore, who cut Armstrong’s hair, received threats of being sued by Armstrong’s lawyers who said he violated an Ohio law that protects the rights of famous people. Sizemore said he wouldn’t pay, and Reznikoff said he wouldn’t give back the hair but that he’d donate $3,000 to charity.Fact: Irish bars used to be closed on St. Patrick’s DayYou might associate St. Patrick’s Day with wearing green and drinking so much you think you actually see leprechauns. However, until 1961, there were laws in Ireland that banned bars to be open on March 17. Since the holiday falls during the period of Lent in the heavily Catholic country, the idea of binge drinking seemed a bit immoral.Fact: Nikola Tesla hated pearlsTesla was a European electrical engineer who paved the way for current system generators and motors. The way electricity gets transmitted and converted to mechanical power is thanks to his inventions. However, despite experimenting with electricity, he despised being in the presence of pearls. One day when his secretary wore pearl jewelry, he made her go home.Fact: Thomas Edison is the reason you love cat videosThanks to Edison’s invention of the Kinetograph in 1892, he was able to record and watch moving images for the first time. He filmed short clips in his studio named Black Maria. Some of his shorts feature famous people like Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill, but the real stars are The Boxing Cats. Check out the video Edison captured of adorable cats in a boxing ring circa 1894.Fact: Brad Pitt suffered an ironic injury on a film setDuring Pitt’s prime acting career, he filmed Troy, based on Homer’s Illiad. He played the brave, and buff, Greek hero Achilles. Legend has it that Achilles could not be defeated unless hit in his Achilles heel. While filming an epic battle scene, Pitt ironically hurt his Achilles tendon that put him back two months.Fact: Pregnancy tests date back to 1350 BCEBased on an ancient papyrus document, Egyptian women urinated on wheat and barley seeds to determine if they were pregnant or not, according to the Office of History in the National Institutes of Health. If wheat grew, it predicted a female baby. If barley grew, it predicted a male baby. The woman was not pregnant if nothing grew. Experimenting with this seed theory in 1963 proved it was accurate 70 percent of the time.Fact: Martin Luther King Jr. got a C in public speakingEveryone remembers Dr. King as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement and often quotes his “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered in 1963. However, over a decade before his legendary speech, while attending Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania,8 inspirational quotes from MLK. Bad grades don’t change anything about these he earned a C in public speaking during his first and second termTo the everyday eye under normal conditions, ripe bananas appear yellow due to organic pigments called carotenoids. When bananas ripen, chlorophyll begins to break down. This pigment is the element that makes bananas glow, or “fluoresce,” under UV lights and appear blue.Fact: Bees can make colored honeyIn France, there’s a biogas plant that manages waste from a Mars chocolate factory, where M&Ms are made. Beekeepers nearby noticed that their bees were making “unnatural shades of green and blue” honey, reported BBC. A spokesperson from the British Beekeepers’ Association predicted the bees eating the sugary M&M waste caused the colored honey.Fact: Wimbledon tennis balls are kept at 68 degrees FahrenheitThe temperature of tennis balls affects how the ball bounces. At warmer temperatures, the gas molecules inside the ball expand making the ball bounce higher. A tennis ball at lower temperatures causes the molecules to shrink and the ball bounces lower. To make sure the best tennis balls are used, Wimbledon goes through over 50,000 tennis balls. Next, find out the 11 genius ways that tennis balls can actually make your life better.Fact: Adult cats are lactose intolerantFeeding your cat milk could be making them sick. Like some humans, adult cats don’t have enough of the lactase enzyme to digest lactose from milk, causing them to vomit, have diarrhea, or get gassy. Cats only have enough of that enzyme when they’re born and during the early years of their life.Fact: Albert Einstein’s eyeballs are in New York CityThey were given to Henry Abrams and preserved in a safety deposit box. Abrams was Einstein’s eye doctor. He received the eyeballs from Thomas Harvey, the man who performed the autopsy on Einstein and illegally took the scientist’s brain for himself.Fact: The Pope can’t be an organ donorPope Benedict XVI was issued an organ donor card in 1970. Once he ascended to the papacy in 2005, the card was invalid, reports the Telegraph. According to the Vatican, the Pope’s entire body must be buried intact because his body belongs to the universal Catholic Church. Don’t miss 27 other things Rabbis, priests, and ministers won’t tell you.Fact: A one-armed player scored the winning goal in the first World CupHéctor Castro played on the Uruguay soccer team during the first ever World Cup in 1930. In the last game between Uruguay versus Argentina, Castro scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. The final score was 4-2, making Uruguay the first country to win the World Cup title.Fact: The world’s oldest toy is a stickThink of how versatile a stick is. You can use it to play fetch with your dog, swing it as a bat, or use your imagination to turn it into a lightsaber. Its adaptability, along with how old sticks are, is among the reasons why the National Toy Hall of Fame inducted the stick into its collection as possibly the oldest toy ever.Thanks for reading…