Scent Branding

The Hilton Hotel in Bournemouth, like every Hilton Hotel in the world it seems, is scent branded. Heavily scent branded.

In spite of, or maybe because of the good few fingers of Caol Ila I had enjoyed on the road from Nottingham the scent brand that permeated the lobby did not strike me as 'warm, clean, soft and welcoming'—I found 'the top notes of herbaceous Thyme, Coriander, Cucumber, and Watery Greens; delicately balanced with mid notes of White Tea Leaves, Violet, Rose, and Jasmine; and finished with very light Musks' weird and mildly nauseating. I couldn't help but be reminded of the scent in the Belfast Dressing Room one that is now written to my olfactory memory.

Whatever creatives dreamed this up at least had the nous to realise that curmudgeonly non-lifestyle-aspirational guests might check straight back out if their rooms are scented like this and the ambience in the corridors and rooms did not seem to have been tampered with. What exactly is pumped into all those hotel lobbies across the world? There is no way someone is blending thyme, coriander, cucumber and watery greens(?) with white tea leaves, violet, rose, jasmine and musk locally. What other products are available?

How long will it be before you can saturate your never used kitchen with aromas of freshly cooked bread and pastries from a Parisian patisserie; or make your home gym smell like the pros' do with our carefully blended Essence of Belfast Giants' Locker Room.