Hospitality is centered around guest experiences and connecting with people. Whether it’s a beach resort or urban city hotel, the best hotels offer guests a memorable experience that is uniquely tailored to their expectations. Carefully selected art, music and scent create a sensorial product that is personalized to the hotel brand. Karl Winters shares the 5 best hotel scents that guests are raving about, and what makes the scent special.
An important aspect of running a hotel is building a loyal customer base. With more new hotels opening around the world, it becomes ever so important to win the hearts and minds of your guests. Delivering on-property experiences that are rich and authentic ensures that your guests will come back for more.
The sense of smell is connected to our emotions, and its for that reason that scent influences how we feel in the presence of a brand. Whether it’s a retail shop, hotel, or spa, a scent can be purposefully designed to elevate the brand and position it in the minds of your customers.
Scent branding companies offer their expertise in the creation & selection of a hotel fragrance. While there are many off-the-shelf fragrances available for immediate use, luxury hotels can have a custom scent exclusively made for their brand. This provides an exclusive “wow-factor” effect – guests instantly recognize the hotel scent and associate it with the brand.
Perfumers train for many years in the art of fragrance creation. With access to hundreds of raw materials, a perfumer acquires the technical knowledge and insights to compose simple to complex fragrances. They have acquired the ability to select the raw materials for a customer brief and blend them together in specific quantities. After several weeks (or months) of testing, the perfumer delivers a fragrance formula that is representative of the hotel’s brand objectives.
A hotel fragrance that is well received by guests is generally designed by a perfumer. In many cases, guests that love the smell will decide to purchase the scent for their own use. This prompts hotel management to develop a collection of private label candles, reed diffusers, room sprays, and bathroom amenities. The packaging will be customized with the brand’s logo and can be used for VIP gifting.
American hotelier Ian Schrager developed the concept behind Edition Hotel in partnership with Marriott Hotels. The Edition Hotel brand was launched in 2012 and caters to a “sophisticated” traveler that demands personalized “multi-sensorial” experiences. Today, it is located in gateway cities throughout the world such as London, Miami, Barcelona, and Tokyo; each property offers exceptional visuals and experiences with a modern style.
Fragrance brand Le Labo (now part of Estee Lauder) was hired to create the Edition hotel scent. Ian Schrager chose Le Labo Thé Noir 29, a refreshing scent with black tea and fig as the main ingredients. The resulting scent is unisex and is designed to appeal to modern luxury travelers from around the world. The main notes of black tea and fig are blended with woody notes like cedarwood and vetiver. Based on guest’s feedback visiting the Edition Hotel, the scent was an instant success. It is now available for purchase as a scented candle, reed diffuser, and bath room amenities.
One Hotels is a luxury lifestyle brand that is by inspired by nature and socially conscious hospitality. Launched in 2015 with properties in Miami, New York and Brooklyn, their value proposition is focused on quality, nature, wellness, and culture.
The scent branding company developed the One Hotel Scent that evokes its brand values. The perfumer includes natural ingredients like eucalyptus and cedarwood, which is beautifully complemented with violet and iris floral notes. Sandalwood is another woody ingredient that is added to evoke warm creamy notes. Indeed, the One Hotel Scent is an aromatic masterpiece and is available as a 1 wick 9-oz candle and 3 wick 36-oz candle.
The St. Regis Hotel is a luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott Hotels. The St. Regis opened its first property in New York, but today there are approximately 60 hotels in countries like Italy, UAE, China, and Mexico.
Inspired by Ms. Astor’s legendary gatherings in New York, the perfumer looked to capture elements of that special event. From the exotic woods of the ballroom to rich American Beauty roses and white lilies, the St. Regis “Caroline’s 400” scent evokes the historical significance of this special ball. The result is a fresh, floral and crisp scent that elevates the experience of St. Regis hotels around the world. It is available for purchase at the hotel as a luxury candle and room fragrance.
SOURCE: SHANGRI-LA HOTELS
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Shangri-La is a luxury hotel that was founded in 1971. It derives its name from the mythical place Shangri-La, based on the novel Lost Horizon. Today, Shangri-La has over 100 properties in countries like China, Singapore, UAE, and Canada.
The Shangri-La values are based on humility, respect and sincerity; all of which are hallmarks of Asian hospitality. Guests that walk into Shangri La Hotel are greeted with an unmistakable fresh and serene scent. The Shangri La Scent, also known as the Essence of Shangri-La, was designed with black tea as the main ingredient. The fresh tea notes are perfectly balanced with bergamot, ginger, vanilla and sandalwood. Over the years, the scent has gone viral and many guests have asked the hotel if the scent is available as a perfume! It is available for purchase today as a candle, room spray and reed diffuser.
SOURCE: W HOTELS
W Hotels is a luxury hotel brand that is part of Marriott Hotels. W hotel caters to a younger generation of luxury travelers that appreciate colorful interiors, music, fashion. There are over 55 W Hotels located in major cities like Miami, Barcelona and Shanghai, many of which are known for their fancy bars, restaurants and pool decks.
The W Hotel Scent was designed to reflect the energy of brand experience. The perfumer emphasizes citrus notes such as lemon, neroli and bergamot. This is balanced with the freshness of green tea and hints of fruity peach notes. After several years of success, the W Hotel Scent developed a scented candle, reed diffuser, and room spray collection. The W hotel candle is offered in a fashionable silver metallic jar that makes for a chic home décor gift.
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