The ambiance of a bedroom isn't just down to its lighting, but also its scent. It's how top hotels conjure up that sense of deep luxury, inciting relaxation the moment you step through the door.
Perfumers and a panel of fragrance experts shared with us five ways to make your bedroom smell like a luxury hotel suite, including layering different aromas and using electric diffusers instead of reed ones.
It doesn't take enormous effort to make your home smell nice – it really boils down to having the right knowledge. Once you know how the professionals do it, your bedroom will smell luxurious with ease.
5 ways to make your bedroom smell like a luxurious hotel suite
As noted by Tyler Deeb, owner Misc Goods, which stocks best-selling fragrances, 'Excellent hospitality hinges on paying attention to the details, especially the aroma of your space. Be it the inviting smell of a newly lit candle or incense, a touch of fragrance can go a long way.'
1. Use an electric diffuser for longer-lasting scents
Scent diffusers are a popular choice in people's bedrooms, dispersing aromatic essential oils and other fragrances directly into the air. Electric diffusers are even better, producing a longer-lasting fragrance and allowing a home owner greater control over how much scent is dispersed in their bedroom, and when.
Jolene van Roemburg, fragrance design manager at Air Aroma, says, 'For a longer-lasting scented bedroom, I recommend using an electronic scent diffuser, which transforms fine liquid fragrance into a dry micro mist, dispersed consistently adding fragrance to the air. Function and timing is customizable to make your home smell nice your way, so you can create as subtle or as strong of a scented environment as you’d like, for 30 minutes, 2 hours, or more.'
Air Aroma's Aromax Diffuser, available in four colors, is a sleek, unobtrusive model that will silently scent your bedroom space to perfection.
'If you pair this model with our Amber Grand fragrance oil, you'll be perfectly recreating the experience of staying at a Park Hyatt hotel at home,' says Jolene.
Further adored by The Ritz-Carlton for its amber notes, Amber Grand contains scent notes including Italian mandarin, musk, vanilla, patchouli, and benzoin balsam: a rich and earthy blend of complex notes. But if you're looking for something slightly sweeter, the Edens Garden Vanilla Sandalwood Essential Oil Blend on Amazon, captivates a similar scent profile with less layers of fragrance.
2. Layer fragrances, including from wax melts
Wax melts, available from Walmart, are a simple, affordable way to scent a bedroom, coming in hard waxes, jelly waxes and more. But did you know you can actually mix and match different wax melts to create more intricate scent profiles in your bedroom? This is called 'fragrance layering', a practice often used by hotels to design bespoke signature scents used nowhere else, making their location memorable.
Tammi Becker, owner of Mountain City Candles, says, 'My favorite way to scent a bedroom is with wax melts. They’re super affordable and so easy to use. What I love most is how customizable they are—you can mix and match scents to match your mood or create a cozy vibe.'
Tammi's favorite scent from Mountain City Candle's wax melt collection is their Vanilla Orchid Scented Soy Wax Melts that can leave a room smelling good enough to eat for up to 20 hours.
If you melt this at the same time as another wax melt like the Yankee Candle Balsam and Cedar Wax Melt available on Amazon you'll be well on your way to replicating the atmosphere of Westin Hotels and Resorts, known for their signature white tea scent with vanilla and cedar notes.
Used by top hotels including the Ritz, Air Aroma's Amber Grand fragrance oil is decadent and rich, bringing a unique blend of ingredients together to form luxury in a bottle.
Harmoniously combining two popular scents, this simple essential oil will bring an air of elegance to your bedroom, akin to Amber Grand but less complex.
With a relaxing scent profile evoking a luscious stroll through the forest, your bedroom will become the very essence of relaxation if you use this wax melt.
3. Scent your linens to match the rest of the room's aroma
One of the secrets behind hotel suites always smelling so fresh is the attention to detail, including scenting the linens. Think about it: when you lay your head down to rest, where will your nose be? By the linens and pillows, and of course a luxurious location wouldn't neglect making these smell divine.
Anastasiia Proshina, owner of Agaboo Candles, says, 'For an extra touch, hotels often lightly spritz their linens with a fabric-safe scented spray that compliments any other sources of aroma in the room.' Hotels may also use essential oils in laundry to make their linens smell amazing for longer.
For instance let's take the Hilton Hotels, known to use signature scents including herbaceous top notes of thyme, cucumber and watery greens. If a hotel suite smells of fresh scents such as these, commonly used in hospitality, denoting a clean, welcoming space, an ideal partner would be something herbal or lightly floral, like the Fresh Fern Moss Room Spray from Anthropologie. This way, the scents exist harmoniously in your bedroom and won't clash.
'Using a spray also ensures that the scent lingers even when other products like candles aren't lit,' adds Anastasiia.
We've also spoken to spa directors to get the inside track on how to make your entryway smell like a spa and there's plenty of fabulous tips including the exact scents they use in our dedicated guide you can use in the bedroom too.
4. Mix 'always on' products with those that require switching on
Anastasiia tapped into another great trick to make your bedroom smell like a luxurious hotel suite – using a mixture of fragrances that are always present in the room as well as some which can be activated by the user, such as a candle or electric diffuser.
Cristian Abbrancati, co-founder of Nose Best Candles in Bushwick, Brooklyn, agrees: 'The best way to make your bedroom smell like a luxury hotel suite is by layering fragrance through products you never have to turn off. Reed diffusers, room and linen sprays or plug-ins release soft aromas that don't tend to overwhelm sensitive noses.'
This form of scent layering usually works best when a subtle base fragrance lingers in the room: something not too overpowering yet inviting. For example, the Okada Hotel, globally recognized for its premium hospitality, tends to use a mixture of amber, musky scents with notes of spice, exotic florals and sensual woods.
Filling a diffuser with a rich scent like the P&J Trading - Amber Scented Oil available on Amazon and spraying light floral notes onto curtains and linens such as jasmine or rose will provide the perfect blend of delicateness to cut through the amber, while still not becoming overpowering. These are great ways to make a house smell nice without burning a candle, which you may feel more worried about leaving unattended as it has a flame.
Head of Solved Punteha van Terheyden has this and swears by it. She says, 'There's no faffing around with water or cords to trip over. It is so easy to use and makes rooms or your car smell wonderful at the touch of a button. The charge lasts for ages too.'
5. Try smokeless incense
Blowing out your high-end incenses to have your room smelling of smoke can mask a bedroom's beautiful fragrance. But many hoteliers switch out their incenses for smokeless varieties, which are manufactured to leave behind far less residue and aroma-disturbing fumes when extinguished.
Rashi Chandalia, brand marketer at Aromafume, says, 'Unlike traditional incense, which can leave behind smoke and residue, smokeless incense creates a clean, aromatic atmosphere without any fuss. Lighting a stick while reading or relaxing adds an instant sense of calm to the room. Plus, the lack of smoke makes it an excellent choice for those who might be sensitive to traditional incense but still want the richness it brings.'
Nippon Kodo is a particularly popular incense brands among hotels, loved for their product's quality and craftmanship. Their Aloeswood Incense Sticks, available from their online store, a scent otherwise known as 'agarwood' or 'oud' won't fail to transport you somewhere with an expensive-feel and boost your home's 'chi' with its Japanese influence, including notes including leather, spices, and musk.
Incense bricks are also a great alternative to traditional smoke-producing sticks and operate in the same way as wax melts. Rashi personally recommends Aromafume's Nag Champa Incense Bricks & Burner Set to inject indulgent wafts of sandalwood and jasmine into your bedroom.
Now your bedroom smells delectable, why not tackle your entryway for visitors and family alike to enjoy? These are the delectable entryway fragrance secrets used by spa directors to transform your entryway into the most welcoming space for a person's nose.
