Whether you know it or not, your sense of smell is associated with potent memories and emotions. Because of this, the scent significantly impacts your opinions regarding locations, purchases, and experiences. All hotels, from luxury chains to boutique inns, have learned this valuable lesson.
Hotels are no exception because companies invest much money in developing the ideal aroma experience to complement their products. Specialists assist hotels in creating signature scents that evoke romance, energy, joy, and relaxation. Expensive scent systems are installed in hotel lobbies, gyms, spas, and meeting rooms to enhance the hotel’s visitors’ desired experience.
Then What Do Hotels Use For Air fresheners? Here is everything you should know.
Now is the time to reveal the secret world of scent memories at hotel brands near the globe and give you some ideas for recreating those scents yourself.
Why do hotels focus on smell?
At first glance, it may appear odd for a brand to focus on scents. After all, you cannot take a fragrance with you (or can you? More on this later), and sharing a scent on Instagram is impossible. Guests may need to be made aware of the odor in a hotel and frequently cannot identify the specific smell they are detecting.
So why bother creating unique aromas and dispersing them with costly equipment?
The answer resides in how the human brain processes smell. Although scientists now assert that humans can detect more than 1 trillion aromas, there are not 1 trillion words to describe them. Instead, according to an article in Discover Magazine, “information feeds from the nose to cortical areas to subconsciously evoke emotions and memories.” Individuals can be influenced without their knowledge when it comes to odors.”
It is why the scent of lilacs can instantly transport you to your grandmother’s garden, or a breath of coconut can evoke the immediate relaxation of a beach vacation. Fragrances are strongly linked to emotions and long-term memories, contributing to our experiences’ formation and retention.
Even if you cannot identify the fragrance around you, it will likely significantly impact your mood and behavior.
If you operate a hotel, you have a tremendous opportunity to distinguish yourself through scent. Only three percent of Fortune 1000 companies incorporate fragrance into their brand experience. Expanding beyond the visual experience you provide, you forge more profound and enduring connections with your visitors.
All hotels are beginning to incorporate fragrance into their overall brand experience. They can pair a unique scent with interior design, lighting, and other elements to create an ambiance that will impress your visitors.
Hotels known for their scents
In the hospitality industry, there are several excellent examples of fragrance marketing. Consider how you could incorporate fragrances into your experience after examining the scents used by world-famous properties.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Spa in London’s Hyde Park – The signature scent of the spa at the Mandarin incorporates sandalwood, jasmine, frangipani, and patchouli. Guests can take home scented candles to extend their stay beyond the hotel.
W Hotels use a signature spray to create a relaxing atmosphere in their guest accommodations. Guests can purchase the spray to transport the aromas of lemon blossoms, laurel, and green tea home.
In Mexico, Rancho La Puerta places aromatherapy at the center of its fitness program. The hotel’s custom beauty and spa products contain their signature blend of essential oils, with the property’s extensive gardens serving as inspiration for the fragrances of rosemary, calendula, lavender, and aloe.
One of the first hotel chains to have a unique scent was Westin. Theirs combines white tea, vanilla, and cedar wood.
How hotels decide on a smell?
All odors have some effect, but the magnitude and nature of these effects vary. Certain aromas elicit more potent emotions than others. To achieve the desired scent experience for a brand, specialists meticulously combine scents in precise amounts.
In the case of hotels, decisions are frequently influenced by how they want visitors to feel about their experience as a whole. If, for instance, the hotel is a spa retreat amid a forest, the scents may evoke nature, calm, relaxation, open air, and solitude. A location in a bustling city that caters to business travelers may opt for fragrances that invigorate their guests, encouraging productivity or relaxation after a long day.
When designing a scent for your hotel, you should first consider your target audience and the variety of hotel guests who frequent your property. How do you want visitors to experience the space? How would you like them to characterize your brand? What impressions do you want your guests to leave with?
After noting these broad brand considerations, it is time to add specifics that will help you narrow your options. What are some significant aspects of the hotel’s past? What about the furnishings and decor? What amenities or experiences do you specialize in? These details create an immersive experience that combines the abstract with the concrete information you wish to emphasize.
After determining the desired mood, you can collaborate with a scent expert or odor branding specialist to create a multi-layered scent that strikes all the right notes.
Common smells in hotels
Although the concepts behind perfumes for the skin and those for a room are comparable, hotels must develop a scent designed specifically for large structures. To attract masses, odors must be lighter, less diluted, and devoid of artificial components. So as not to overwhelm visitors, room scents should be diffused through the air professionally (via HVAC or separate units).
Most brands avoid excessively feminine or masculine fragrances, opting instead for ingredients with mass appeal that are less easily defined: they should also avoid heavy floral aromas and delectable fruits such as peach, strawberry, and banana.
Sandalwood, lemon blossom, citrus, neroli, vanilla, cedar, leather, and white tea are excellent hotel fragrance options. Then, you can include fragrances unique to your hotel experience, such as lemon verbena, patchouli, lavender, jasmine, coconut, and more.
And what is that fresh scent on hotel sheets? A commercial detergent and a lot of chlorine.
What method do hotels use to diffuse fragrances?
To adequately fragrance the lobby, spa, restaurant, fitness center, and guestrooms, more than a few candles or an oil diffuser are required. Most hotels use fragrance systems designed for large commercial spaces to achieve the desired effect.
They can integrate these systems into the HVAC system or strategically located as standalone units. Spas and fitness centers frequently utilize smaller diffusers suitable for small amenity spaces. Typically, hotels create room sprays or toiletries with their signature scents for individual visitor rooms to refresh the smell each time housekeeping cleans the room.
Tips for hotels to keep things smelling great
If you operate a hotel without olfactory branding consultants, expensive HVAC systems, or signature fragrances, you can still do a great deal to maintain a delightful odor. Here are some proposals:
- Keep humidity at bay. Humidity and moisture are the primary sources of foul odors in commercial spaces. You can combat moisture by ensuring linens are completely dry before making beds, opening doors and windows whenever possible, and using fans to dry carpets and upholstery following steam cleaning.
- If you suspect mold or mildew, you should call in the experts. Elevator shafts, basements, and refuse collection rooms are susceptible to decay and must be professional clean regularly to eliminate odors.
- Avoid aerosols, which can be overpowering in compact spaces and have an overly synthetic odor.
- Use a distinct fragrance in restrooms. You do not want your clients to believe the hotel smells like a bathroom.
- Regularly schedule professional deodorizing of soft furnishings.
- Regularly replace air filters and maintain your HVAC system.
- Do not overuse fragrances. The goal is for things to scent clean and fresh and fade into the background, not to be overwhelming.