How to Make Your Home Smell Like a 5 Star Hotel

To make your home smell like a five star hotel, do what hotels do: choose one signature scent, run it at a low level all day, and start where guests arrive.

Hotels smell good because they treat scent like lighting: it is chosen on purpose, matched to each space, and left on all day at a low level. Most use a signature fragrance pumped through the air system. You can get close to the same effect at home with a clean base, one signature scent and reed diffusers placed where people arrive. For the brands that come closest, see our guide to the best luxury reed diffusers.

What do hotels do to make rooms smell so good?

Many large hotels and luxury shops use scent marketing, where a fragrance is blended for the brand and then released in small amounts. It comes through the ventilation or through standalone machines in the lobby, and three things make it work:

1. Consistency: the same scent greets guests every day and on every visit, so they start to link that smell with the feeling of being looked after.
2. Low intensity: you rarely think "that is strong", and instead you simply notice that the place feels fresh and calm.
3. Clean air first: hotels are cleaned daily, bedding is changed often and air is moved constantly, so the scent always sits on a clean base.

What does a hotel lobby smell like?

Each brand is different, but hotel scents tend to fall into a few families that you will quickly recognise:

• White tea, bergamot and citrus give guests a fresh, clean welcome as they walk in.
• Fig, cedar and soft woods create a calm, grown up feel that suits quieter spaces.
• Amber, vanilla and musk bring warmth in the evening and through the winter months.
• Light florals like neroli and orange flower are used for spa areas and bathrooms.

What they almost never use is sugary sweet scents or heavy fruit, because those feel like a cheap air freshener rather than a luxury space.

How do you copy a hotel scent at home?

1. Choose one signature scent for the main spaces

Pick the scent you want people to remember your home by. If you like warm and soft, try amber and vanilla, and if you like fresh, choose citrus or tea. Our Belgravia Linen blends Earl Grey, cucumber and white musk. It gives the clean, soft feel of a hotel lobby.

2. Make it constant

Hotels do not light a candle for an hour, because their scent runs all day. At home, a reed diffuser is the closest match. It needs no power and no flame, and it keeps going while you are at work or asleep, so all you need to do is flip the fibre reeds once a week to refresh it.

3. Place it where people arrive

The lobby is the most scented space in any hotel because first impressions count, and your hallway is your lobby. Put a reed diffuser on a console table or shelf at waist height, away from the front door draught and any radiator.

4. Match the bathroom to the spa

Hotel bathrooms smell clean and bright, so use a fresh reed diffuser such as Hampstead Spa (lemongrass, pine and cedar). Small rooms hold scent well, so use fewer fibre reeds in there.

5. Scent the bedding

Part of the hotel feeling is crisp bedding that smells fresh, so wash your sheets weekly and dry them fully. A light spritz of room mist over the bed from 30cm away adds a final layer, but test it on a hidden spot first.

6. Keep the base clean

Open the windows each morning, wash throws and cushion covers, and clear the kitchen bin daily. Scent never covers a smell well for long, because it works best on a room that is already fresh.

Which reed diffuser smells like a hotel?

Match the hotel scent family you remember to a reed diffuser:

• Fresh lobby citrus (white tea, bergamot): Kew Morning, with mandarin, bergamot and vetiver.
• Soft, clean lobby notes (tea, musk): Belgravia Linen, with Earl Grey, cucumber and white musk.
• Warm evening amber and vanilla: Mayfair Library, with vanilla, tonka and cedarwood.
• Green spa scents like lemongrass: Hampstead Spa, with lemongrass, pine and cedar.

Each is a 200ml reed diffuser in a green glass apothecary bottle, handmade in England and gift boxed.

How is a hotel scent different from a home scent?

Quick answers

What smell do hotels use?

Each hotel has its own blend, but most use clean citrus, white tea, soft woods or amber, and they avoid very sweet scents.

What is the best reed diffuser for a hotel smell?

Choose a scent with a soft base of woods, amber or musk and a clean top note, like citrus or neroli. Avoid very sweet or fruity scents, which read as air freshener rather than hotel.

Can I make my house smell like a hotel without a machine?

Yes, because a reed diffuser in the hallway and living room, plus a fresher one in the bathroom, gives a similar constant, low level scent.

Why does my home not smell like a hotel even with candles?

Candles only scent the room while they burn, but hotels run scent all day. Use a reed diffuser for the constant layer and keep your candles for the evenings.

Want a home that smells considered in every room? Our Home Sets let you mix any scents, so you can match one to each room.

Find your scent

Browse our luxury reed diffusers, handmade in England in four signature scents and each matched to the rooms it suits best. Buying for someone else? See our luxury reed diffuser gifts. Or scent every room at once with our reed diffuser Home Sets. Mix any 3 reed diffusers for £159 or 5 for £250.

You will find more answers to common questions in our reed diffuser FAQs.

New to IVNA London? Every scent we make comes as a reed diffuser and a matching luxury scented candle, both handmade in England.

Related guides

• 9 Small Changes That Make a Home Feel Expensive (Scent Is One)
• Reed Diffusers That Make Your Home Smell Like a Spa
• How to Make a Rented Flat Feel Like Home Without Redecorating
• The Best Luxury Reed Diffusers in the UK
• The Best Reed Diffuser Sets in the UK

Related guides: How to make your house smell expensive · The first thing guests notice in your home