Four Seasons’ Candle Collection Leaves Guests Smellbound

NEW YORK—Scent has the ability to create ambiance, unlock memories, soothe and transport the senses to far-off places. Inspired by the power of scent, The Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown introduced a new retail signature candle collection for guests.

The mastermind behind the seasonal scent that wafts through the lobby is Thomas Carreras, hotel manager for the property. There are five curated scents, including one for each season of the year and a fresh spa candle designed to relax guests.

Carreras has a nose for this sort of thing. He grew up in a small village in the countryside in Switzerland where seasonal scents are very distinctive.

“The scents changed each season from the wood burning of chalets in winter to the freshly cut grass in summer. I feel New York also changes immensely with the seasons, and our memories of the city are different in summer, fall, winter and spring. I wanted to bring this to life,” he explained. “We’re the first Four Seasons hotel to have a candle collection inspired by the changing seasons. We created the collection because we received so many compliments on our lobby scent from our guests that we wanted to allow guests to bring a bit of their experience back home with them.”

The act of creating something new can be just as appealing as the final result. Creating a candle collection is not just about picking aromas; it’s about setting the tone of the space with ambiance. Carreras and the Four Seasons team meticulously sniffed and sampled a variety of scents until they found what they were looking for.

“For six months we collaborated with a third party company, Air Aroma, who helped us create four unique scents for the lobby and one for the spa. The intention was to create a feeling or mood for our new downtown hotel, which reminds us of the diverse seasons in the city,” he said. “We gave them our vision and specific ingredients for head notes, heart notes and basic notes. They were extremely patient and helped us sample hundreds of scents. Each time we would go back and tweak the scent until we finally got it just right and selected the final four for the lobby and one for the spa.”

All of the candles in the collection are made with natural ingredients. While not composed of medically healing powers, Carreras hopes that the candles will “enable guests to reminisce over their stay with us at Four Seasons New York Downtown, which will bring them joy and happiness. Our candles are an extension of a memory that allow our guests to be transported back to how they felt when staying with us.”