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“A fragrance is about capturing the style and personality of a hotel,” says perfumer Azzi Glasser, who has created bespoke fragrances (candles, diffusers and room sprays) for Chiltern Firehouse, Raffles London in The OWO (shower gel 1906, £30). and Hôtel du Couvent in Nice. “It’s a way to stand out and create that perfect first impression.” Glasser’s services start at £18,000 and sometimes start years before a hotel opens. Your process begins by meeting the founder of the hotel and learning its history.
“The aroma is the heart of the experience,” he says. Estelle MansionEiesha’s artistic director Bharti Pasricha, who worked with Perfumer HLyn Harris in 2021 to create the hotel candle (£105, also used in Estelle House), a “fundamental” blend of amber, petitgrain thyme, cedar and oakmoss. “It can make you travel places mentally.” Hotel Plaza Athenee (La Bougie Square€65) and Claridge’s They have also opted for purchasable candles, the latter a collaboration with the historic candle manufacturer. Trudon (Cire Classic Beeswax£98).
For many hoteliers, custom scents are also a sales opportunity. “Here it is an invisible part of the experience, which adds another layer to how guests remember their stay,” says Kate Bellm, who worked with a local aromatherapist in Mallorca on a bergamot- and sandalwood-influenced scent for Heart Hotelwhich travels around the hotel via diffuser wands and is also infused into in-room soaps, shampoos and body creams. “The toiletries [from €25] They are available to purchase, so you can take the aroma of Corazón home.”
Azzi Glasser 1906 Shower Gel, £30
bercioli Water Meadow Diffuser Set, £165
Azzi Glasser x Broadwick Soho Dame of Soho Room Spray, £100
Hotel Plaza Athénée La Bougie Plaza, €65, store.dorchestercollection.com
A great hotel fragrance should transport you immediately. One of my favorites, the Dame of Soho candle (£85) and room spray (£100), was created by glass with the Broadwick-Soho. Rich, warm and sensual, with notes of tuberose, leather and animalistic ambergris, it complements designer Martin Brudnizki’s whimsical interiors. Similarly, The mermaid in Positano has Italian waterits own line of citrus-scented products (from €30), while ThymeThe home goods brand. Bertioli has a range of nature-inspired candles and diffusers (Water meadow diffuser set£165).
Some hotels are investing more in the olfactory journey, ordering multiple fragrances. In the newly opened Couvent HotelYour nose will experience something different depending on whether you are at the reception (frankincense and myrrh), in the spa (geranium and bergamot) or in your bedroom (sandalwood and cedar). Meanwhile, the Vaux de Cernay Abbeywhich opened on the outskirts of Paris last year, has created two candles (€60) to reflect the different experiences of staying at the hotel in different seasons. In winter, this means log fires and polished parquet floors; in summer, it is cut grass and white flowers.
Are there common notes among hotel aromas? No, says Glasser: if there were, they wouldn’t be authentic.