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Hotels, Motels, And Resorts Are Forcing Core Memories With Curated Scents

Maybe the bespoke blend of tea and sandalwood reminds you of your summers following mother around the Four Seasons Maldives, or maybe your nostalgia is triggered by the odor of a chlorinated Holiday Inn Express pool. Wherever you fall on the vacation scent memory spectrum, the hotel where it was wafting probably did it on purpose.

Luxury hotels have been ever-so-slightly pumping curated fragrances into lobbies, spas, and elevators for decades as a way to set the vibe for guests, force core memories, and make you want to return:

Each Ritz-Carlton property has a different scent.
Edition, the luxury boutique hotel chain created by Marriott in partnership with Ian Schrager (the hotelier, Studio 54 co-founder, and pardon-receiver), has a signature scent with bougie French perfume company Le Labo. The chain says its black tea and bergamot aroma is meant to “invoke a sense of comfort and exoticism.”

You can even bring the fragrance home

Many high-end resorts and hotels, including Edition, package their scents and sell them in candles, diffusers, and bath products.

It’s not just high-end hotels. Super 8 briefly offered road-trip-themed candles in 2022 that included scents like gasoline and cherry slushie. Sets are still available on eBay.

But…the biggest name in vacations isn’t bottling their curated blends. Despite sleuthing Disney fans trying to identify scents from parks and resorts, there’s no way to buy the brand’s official smells. But there are plenty of dupes that carefully hint at or claim to be inspired by the House of Mouse.—MM

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Hotels, Motels, And Resorts Are Forcing Core Memories With Curated Scents

You can even bring the fragrance home

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