Key takeaways:
- Everyone appreciates a little pampering.
- Elevate their bathroom scene with scents, bamboo and warm, fluffy linens.
- No need to leave tech behind—Bluetooth enables diffusers and towel warmers.
These five ideas will help you deliver hotel-level creature comforts to those who yearn for a temporary escape in their bathrooms.
1. Hotel fragrant oils
Let’s set the mood with diffusers that conjure up scents of the most prominent hotels of the world.
Citrus, green tea, vanilla and lavender are among the aromas hotels put to use to create memorable visits. Studies have shown that humans remember 35% of what they smell, compared to only 5% of what they see, 2% of what they hear, and 1% of what they touch.
When you’re looking to change up the scent in your intended’s bathroom or have reason to believe they are, you have several options.
A few hotel chains sell their signature scent products in a few formats, including high-end diffusers. The Westin White Tea Home Scent Diffuser Machine uses waterless, dry-air technology to disperse its signature fragrance (“notes of white tea and soothing elements of woodsy cedar and vanilla”) without sprays, aerosols or oils. The result: a “pure, consistent aromatic experience”for a space as big as 800 square feet. Each diffuser provides about 300 hours of fragrance.
Hotel fragrance oils that can be used in any type of ultrasonic and waterless diffusers, reed diffusers, humidifiers and cold air diffusers.
Examples: The AirScent scents reminiscent of the Ritz Carlton (crisp lemon, bergamot and fresh sea breeze, followed by jasmine, water lily, melon and amber).
“Love affair”is the short version of this scent featuring “woody sandalwood and cedar, followed by jasmine, musk, ambergris and floral, fruity, and citrus notes of iris, orchid, and bergamot”—conjuring the AirScent Hotel Diffuser Oil Inspired by The Baccarat Hotel Scent in New York.
Reviewers rave about the fragrance inspired by the AirScent My Way Diffuser Oil Inspired by The 1 Hotel Miami Scent, blending orange blossom, neroli, tuberose and sandalwood with Indian jasmine, Madagascar vanilla, white musk and Virginia cedar.
Maybe your gift is to a household more familiar with the sights, sounds and smells of the famous theme park in Florida. The Park Scents (a brand that takes pains to state “We are not affiliated with any theme park, brand or attraction”) offers fragrance oil inspired by the Beach Club, Yacht Club and Grand Floridian resorts and the lobby of the Polynesian Resort.
All truly scene changing for less than $20 for the oil!
And for those who might like to take things up several levels, there’s a cold-air diffuser. This $300 unit combines nebulizing tech and Bluetooth to control/adjust the scent intensity and create schedules. Available in black, gold and silver.
$295.00
$206.50
2. A bamboo shower mat
Change it up with a bamboo shower mat that invokes the experience of a spa. In addition to the natural color, it comes in walnut and gray. These $34 mats are waterproof but not absorbent. They’re designed to repel water—which means somebody needs to be in charge of wiping it up.
But there are a few reasons spas like and use bamboo mats. They contribute to the aesthetics of the experience, of course. More relevant to the average household: Bamboo’s natural properties make it resistant to mold, mildew and musty odors. And the slatted design enables water to drain and the mat to dry quickly.
3. Fluffy bath sheets
So then your intended steps out and reaches for a towel.
Is it a thin scratchy towel that’s seen too many rotations in the washing machine? No, it’s these Yves Delorme Etoile Fjord Bath Sheets as featured in the five-star Rocco Forte Hotels in Europe.
Nobody on Amazon has a negative thing to say about these towels. Au contraire (in the spirit of the home country), they’re fabulous and fluffy and dry faster due to their blend of “conscientiously harvested long staple cotton and beech tree cellulose or modal.”One reviewer says they get better with age.
Also good and at a lower price point: this six-piece towel set sells for one-fifth of a single Yves Delorme bath sheet.
$52.49
$26.98
4. The towel warmer
It’s not just that the towels are thick and soft. The towels are toasty warm and that’s thanks to this towel warmer. It’s in the shape of a bucket big enough for two 40”x70″towels and a bathrobe or blanket.
$169.99
$94.98
And it’s no dumb bucket. Of course, there are controls on the unit to turn it on/off. But the user can use their smartphone as a remote control to turn it on and off. Get the smartphone assistant in on it and the user can yell, “Hey, Google turn on the towel warmer”from another room.
The warming cycle takes 15-20 minutes, reaching a maximum temperature of 275 degrees. The product offers a choice of timing durations. A 60-minute warming won’t make the towels three times warmer, but the extended duration will be helpful in the case of especially thick towels or if multiple towels are packed in there.
Also, this bucket is multi-talented. In addition to warming towels, it has a built-in speaker for streaming audio (hmm, what podcast would make for a perfect bathtime companion?). Unnecessary if the diffuser mentioned above is doing its job, but the bucket also features a fragrance disc holder to add a scent to the towels.
Not to cool your gift-giving jets, presenting this warmer could border on presumptuousness. Measuring 26 inches high and 13 inches wide x 13″L (with base), it’s a big boy that will need to be welcome. Unlike hardwired warmers that are permanently installed, this one plugs into a regular outlet so could be used off and on.
5. Wrap it up in a robe
All dried off, let’s wrap up your recipient in a robe. This Chadsworth & Haig bathrobe lined in terry and available in 10 more colors than you’d get in a hotel is just the thing. It’s a 100% brushed microfiber polyester shell with 80% cotton/20% polyester yerry lining with a classic shawl collar and belt tie close.
Don’t be put off by “doeskin”in the description. It’s just a nod to a traditional fabric that was originally made from the skin of a female deer that felt as soft as suede.