… and what your favorite hotel is trying to teach you. Whether your weather has started to shift or you’ve still got a ways ’til the cool-down comes, there’s something in the air in mid-August that says fall is right around the corner.
Our youngest just started freshman year of high school and our oldest is about to embark on year one of his masters program in college. As much as I want this summer – I think one of our best ever – to hang on and keep them both around more, I do look forward to the fall. It’s my favorite season.
As summer winds down, I think we all start craving a little more coziness and intentionality in our spaces. (Maybe that’s the need for a routine talking) – but either way, this is where hotels hit with hospitality. An amazing hotel will give you a feeling of coziness and intentionality while simultaneously offering energy and calmness… all of these things that we need at home. Especially as the buzz of a busy summer quiets.
I’ve come up with five ways to bring the components of our favorite summer hotel stays we love the most – home.
1. Make your bed like a hotel does – every day.
Crisp corners. Fluffed pillows. A few different sizes.
Why it works: Making our beds signals a reset and starts the day with intention. A National Sleep Foundation survey found that people who make their beds every morning are 19% more likely to report getting a good night’s sleep. If we have better sleep, we can feel more productive and accomplish more in a day.
Bonus points: If you have the space, a bench at the end of your bed can help the bed feel anchored. Many hotels have adapated this elevated touch, and it offers a nice place to take off your shoes and settle in. If you don’t have the space, add a throw blanket at the foot of the bed for extra texture and exercise the intentional art of layering that hotels do subliminally, and so well.
2. A Signature Scent
Hotels always smell like something. So should your home.
Why it works: A scent can transport us to a point in time or a different place – without the jet lag. Different scents can impact our mood – for better or for worse – so take advantage of this phenomenon and track down a scent that either reminds you of one of your favorite trips or hotels, or a moment in time that makes you feel something you’d love visiting again and again.
Bonus points: Ask your hotel if they sell their signature scent! If they have a spa, many times it will be for sale there. If they don’t sell it, ask what it is! It doesn’t have to be a candle. Think outside the box with room diffusers, shower sprays, essential oils, or even a linen spray. If you want a scent to match your space and not necessarily that of a hotel or vacation, look for beautiful scents like sea salt, eucalyptus, coconut or bergamot. Variations of these will elevate your home and now your guests will associate this scent with YOUR space… just like you’ve recreated a hotel scent moment in your home.
3. Level-up your bathroom like it’s a spa suite.
Equip your bathroom with hotel bath-like details and take the time to re-set each week.
Why it works: Refill your soap dispenser. Clean the pump. Roll the hand towels. Place them on a tray or vintage plate. Light a candle. Place your favorite skincare on a tray like it’s a VIP amenity. The bathroom experience always shows the hotel’s true colors. Getting ready for the day or getting ready for bed while traveling can either feel really chaotic and unorganized, or peaceful – with everything in it’s place. Toiletries and towels are accessible, but beautiful. The bathroom is the icing on the cake. Treat your vanity at home, the way an attentive hotel would. They’re trying to keep you stress-free and organized, like you live here. And they want you to feel cared for, in an elevated way.
Bonus points: Fluffy white robes in the bathroom and simple, cotton, slide slippers as soon as you exit the shower is my favorite part about the hotel bathroom. And I’ve done it in our bathroom at home, too. And our guest room.
4. Edit your surfaces like a hotel lobby.
Clutter is cancelled. Make it easy to dust. What you do put out, think scale.
Why it works: I don’t love dusting my tabletops or bookshelves – probably because I love piles of books, bowls of seashells, and layered treasures, so cleaning takes me some time. Many of us enjoy a “more is more” approach for our personal design aesthetic, but what exactly is it about walking into a beautifully designed hotel lobby that feels fancy, elevated, thoughtful, polished – and still curated – without tables covered in stuff? It comes down to a few points: hotel lobbies need to feel orderly and they need to be easy to clean. But a flawlessly designed hotel lobby – regardless of aesthetic (coastal, modern, contemporary, cozy or historical) – will still have paired down and edited surfaces. And part of the trick is scale. Think: a large shallow bowl of faux fruit, a vase of greenery maybe on a stone pillar or a mirrored cube, or a coffee table stack of books that actually makes you want to sit and flip through – without the barrier of entry resting on the top.
Bonus points: This one is hard for me. As someone who loves staying in hotels, and also loves encouraging us to lean into our design aesthetics, IF you’re into the polished and refined tabletop of a hotel lobby surface, we’re gonna have to pair back. The bonus point here is to just try it on ONE surface near your door – think the table you see when you enter the hotel lobby. Visualize that surface near your front door and pick just a few pieces to display, in a grouping and as large a scale as the table can handle. The easiest way in my experience? A beautiful vase with faux flowers, or a collection of a few of varying heights, grouped together. Simple, dramatic, easy to clean around, and polished.
5. The Playlist of course!
Some lobbies have a pianist. Some a harpist. Most have subtle, background ambient music. Set the stage how you want!
Why it works: Great hotels never leave the mood to chance. Create a playlist that feels like your favorite hotel location or where you *want to be. Jazzy Parisian mornings, breezy coastal afternoons, or candlelit Tuscan dinners. Play it low enough to be felt more than heard, and notice how far intentionally curated music can carry you, and set the tone for guests as they enter your homes.
Bonus points: Create different playlists for different times of day! Jazzy Parisian mornings or a more ritzy, sophisticated flavor for happy hour and beyond. Acoustic tracks for mornings and ambient tranquil beats for your very own turn-down service. We have our Alexa paired with in-home audio across multiple rooms so when we say, “Alexa, it’s cocktail hour” she plays one of our favorite jazz radio stations for two hours. It’s a little detail, but it brings home a magical touch that so many of our favorite hotels have incorporated.
Do you have a favorite detail from a hotel experience that you couldn’t wait to take home?
I hope you have an amazing weekend!
Love,
Linds xo
