It is the summer of 1932 and it has been a year since Morten gave Fie the hotel, but since then she has hardly seen him because he and Madsen are working on a large construction project in Copenhagen. But the regulars have turned up in large numbers. The Madsen family, Mr. Weyse, Mrs. Fjeldsø and her sister, and office manager Aurland with his wife and sons, as well as the Frigh family. Not Mr. Frigh, though. Because the couple is divorced she prefers him to stay away. In the middle of the idyll, the wealthy Copenhagen currency trader August Molin arrives with his Swedish wife, and Weyse is immediately captivated by Mrs. Molin which is a dangerous game because Mr Molin is fiercely jealous. And that's not the only secret Mr Molin is carrying.

Wholesaler Madsen is close to completing the purchase of the cheap lumber that Molin has proposed to him. Meanwhile, Molin is desperately trying to hide that he is on the verge of bankruptcy and that the timber does not, as alleged, belong to one of his clients, but rather to himself, bought with the client's money but without his knowledge. At the same time, Molin has to make sure his beautiful wife stays away from actor Weyse. In return, good things happen for Amanda, who gets sold on an idea for a commercial featuring just Weyse. Meanwhile, manufacturer Frigh arranges a croquet tournament, Edith is put face to face with the man she once dreamed of, and Fie's little sister, Ane, demonstrates that secrets are not reserved for hotel guests.

Little Severin has been stung by a wasp, but Weyse is sure it's a viper, and thinks it requires action. Morten also wants action, after Madsen has arbitrarily bought Molin's Jutland building timber, but the meeting between the two partners goes differently than Madsen has feared. Meanwhile Edith has fallen head over heels in love which is intolerable for Otilia, who wants to feel the same tingle of bliss. There is a different peace between the Molin couple after the successful tree sale and the prospect of an even greater gain if they succeed in helping Frigh. Finally, Fie is faced with a difficult dilemma, when Miss Duelund in the hat shop discovers that Ane has lied to her.

Wholesaler Madsen is sure that Morten is out to cheat on him and sets a mildly reluctant Max to spy on him. With Ane and Fie, even bigger things are at stake, as Ane's newborn baby has been removed by Jesper's father and placed in an unknown orphanage. Fie realizes that only Jesper can help, but how does she find him? And then Count Ditmar's German wife, Mitzi, receives a visit from the south as her little brother and his Nazi friends make their entrance. Meanwhile, the power game continues between the Molin couple, who are finding it harder and harder to hide their crisis. And when the lady suddenly makes a surprising decision, it sets off an avalanche of love that spreads to several of the other guests.

It's January 1933 and the hotel has long since closed for the season. But when wholesaler Madsen and manufacturer Frigh discover that two of their old friends have been secretly married, Fie is persuaded to open specially for a small surprise party. So all the regular guests defy both winter and political crisis and head to North Jutland. But what does the bride and groom think of the surprise? On this historic January day, when democracy is being tested in the great political settlement in the Prime Minister's apartment in Kanslergade at the same time as Hitler comes to power in Germany, a human drama is played out in the small seaside hotel about life, death and love.