Fragrance is superb at creating a sense of place - and they are powerful sensory weapons for luxury hotels. Whether it’s a flickering, highly fragranced reminder of a perfect holiday, a signal of a forthcoming trip or an opportunity to dip into a beautifully curated world, these candles will help your mother dream of her next vacation.
This candle has a perfect message to mothers everywhere
Mama Shelter
This 190g candle (€35) from the hip Mama Shelter group is an instant reminder that this hotel originates in France. Created by Juliette Seban, the design is enjoyably retro and the frangrane of cedar atlas, vanilla, amber and musk a classic one. The wax is a mixture of mineral wax, sunflower and coconut, but above all, the message - Mama Loves You - can’t be bettered.
Drei Berge
Ramdane Touhami's long-awaited Hotel Drei Berg candle
The news that Ramdane Touhami - of Cire Trudon and Buly Officine Universelle 1802 fame - had opened a hotel brought attention from across the world to the Swiss village of Murren last year. However, Touhami waited several months he released his Drei Berge candle (£120). It's worth the wait. The scent is appropriately (and deliciously) Alpine with pines and woods alongside the freshness of moss. The wax is encased in a block of Himalayan sculpted marble designed by Touhami’s Art Recherche Industrie, designed to become a decorative piece after 30 hours of burning.
Fife Arms
The Fife Arms candle is made of pure beeswax
Fragrance doesn’t come any more natural than the Fife Arms’ offering (£49). Using raw Scottish beeswax, mostly from the award-winning Heather Honey Farm in Perthshire, Ruth Shead sources wax directly from the beekeepers in order to guarantee that the candles have the purest honey aroma. The large raw wax blocks are melted down and then filtered several times to remove impurities before the candles are poured in her workshop. The wicks are made from natural cotton and are pre-waxed by hand.
Le Jardins Du Bristol
This candle is inspired by the courtyard garden at the heart of this luxury Paris hotel
Le Bristol is one of the oldest luxury hotels in Paris. In the heart of the fashion district on Rue St Honore, at its heart is a glorious courtyard garden. Le Jardins Du Bristol (£55) celebrates this with a combination of orange blossom and citrus notes alongside a hint of jasmine and osmanthus, while the exterior is reminiscent of the hotel garden’s trellising.
Edition Hotels
This candle comes from Marriott's collaboration with Ian Schrager
Marriott’s high concept luxury brand, created with Ian Schrager in 2013, recently released a candle aligned with the same design values. In a black glazed vessel and made in France, the Edition candle (£61) is a subtle blend of blend of Sicilian bergamot, green tea and cedar wood.
St Regis
The St Regis candle evokes a ballroom in New York's Gilded Age
In terms of inspiration, this candle heads back to America’s Gilded Age. Caroline’s Four Hundred candle (€98) is inspired by Caroline Astor's famous ball of 1900. Created by Carlos Huber of Arquiste Parfumeur, the ballroom with potted plants, champagne and Astor’s favourite American Beauty roses plus blossom from quince, apple and cherry boughs.
Borgo Egnazia
This candle is from the hotel in Puglia which will host the G7 conference in June.
Puglia - the heel of Italy - is the most elemental part of mainland Italy. With a coastline looking onto the Adriatic, it has a fiercely independent mindset and an immensely strong food culture. Alongside its olive trees and fruit orchards and wildflowers is Borgo Egnazia. This luxury resort will host the G7 conference this June. One can only hope that its new candle, Bianc (€40 euros), on sale through Bottega Egnazia, its very aesthetically Puglian hotel store, will be deployed in force. Available in three sizes and created by Maria Candida Gentile, there are top notes of carnation alongside heliotrope, ambrette, striax and vanilla.
