High above Merano, in the midst of the South Tyrolean mountains, lies the family-run SPA & Relax Hotel ERIKA. The Nestl family’s 5-star hotel combines Mediterranean ease with an alpine way of life and a culture of hospitality defined above all by one thing: the people behind it. One of those personalities is Evelyn, who as head of the LUMINA SPA helps every day to bring this special atmosphere to life.
Along with the team, the ErikaLIVE fragrance has by now become a natural part of the ERIKA experience. To make the ERIKA’s own signature scent present throughout the hotel, the ERIKA relies on aroma towers from AROMEA Airdesign. These professional scent systems make it possible to use the individually developed fragrance precisely where it underlines the atmosphere of the hotel. Evelyn looks after this personally, filling the empty containers with the fragrance and running them herself. The result is an atmosphere that not only shapes a guest’s stay, but stays with many of them after they’ve left.
A conversation about warmth, personal bright moments and a fragrance that has long since become part of the guest experience, and that even raises a smile back at home.
The ERIKA is one of the most renowned wellness hotels in South Tyrol. What makes this hotel so special for you personally?
Evelyn: It’s hard to put into words. You simply have to experience the ERIKA for yourself to understand what makes it so unique. For me personally, what’s special is the people. First and foremost Erika Nestl, a great personality who, heart and soul, is still the centre of the hotel. Together with the family and the staff, we try to delight our guests, and joy in the job, warmth and humanity come first.
But the loveliest thing for me is the friendships that have formed here and go on forming. Among the staff, and with and among the guests. We can count ourselves lucky to have so many regular guests, and just as lucky to have so many staff who have been part of the ERIKA team for many years.
The wellness area is a central part of the hotel. How much does the atmosphere in the spa matter to your guests’ wellbeing, and what part does scent play in that?
Evelyn: Our LUMINA SPA wellness area stands for bright moments. The spa team, the variety of treatments, the rooms and the atmosphere all contribute to that. But above all, our signature scent. We developed it ourselves, and the AROMEA aroma towers let you experience it throughout the hotel. Feeling, seeing, smelling your holiday … it’s that simple. The fragrance is something you take home, a little bit of ERIKA in everyday life.
It all started with merchandise and reed diffusers, and today the signature scent can be experienced throughout the hotel. Which notes define this special fragrance, and how did the idea of making it a permanent part of the ERIKA atmosphere come about?
Evelyn: Pepi Nestl has long had a special love of olives. That led not only to his own olive oil, but also to the idea for the room line. The ErikaLIVE fragrance was the next step: a composition that brings together everything our hotel is about.
It’s reminiscent of a gentle breeze from the south of Italy, of the herbs of South Tyrol and of the fresh clarity of the alpine landscape around our hotel. Our gardens reflect exactly this connection too: the warm rays of the sun, the Mediterranean ease and the closeness to nature that our guests experience at the ERIKA.
The products of our Italian natural line, which we use in the LUMINA SPA, also inspired this fragrance and can be found in the composition.
AROMEA Airdesign provides the scent systems and containers, and you look after them in the hotel yourselves. How easily does this fit into everyday hotel life?
Evelyn: Using the aroma towers is simple. They stand at certain points around the hotel and spread our ERIKA fragrance, subtly but in a targeted way.
Have you already had any special feedback from guests about your signature scent?
Evelyn: Our guests notice the scent when they arrive, and that moment immediately tempts them into a smile and a: “We’ll have to take that scent home with us again.”
Perhaps a little story to go with that: a few weeks after a holiday at the ERIKA, a mum set up the diffuser by the front door. When her young son came home from school and breathed in, he looked at his mum and grinned: “Is Erika here?”
Hand on your wellness heart: what’s your very favourite moment in the LUMINA SPA?
Evelyn: My magic moments in the LUMINA SPA? The deep, often very personal conversations with guests, the thank-you that comes from the bottom of the heart. A thank-you from guests for listening, for the perfect treatment, the good advice, the quick help, for being able to switch off for once and for finding a massage appointment with no fuss. Sometimes it has to happen fast, because there’s trouble in paradise, because the kids are whining, the husband wants to go hiking, the mother-in-law wants to go shopping and you’re always the one who comes last. Sometimes it just takes someone from outside to help bring calm to the family chaos. That sparkle in guests’ eyes: those are my bright moments.
And the thing that makes all of it possible: my team - a crew of 10, top people I can trust and laugh with, who stick together, help one another and walk the path together, and who as a team create bright moments for our guests.
The Scent Maker
Some places you recognise not only with your eyes, but with your nose too. A signature scent of its own lets you sense the personality of a hotel and creates memories that stay. AROMEA Airdesign develops individual scent concepts for hotels, companies and brands that tell more than just a lovely scent note. It’s about the values and the story of a company that should stay in people’s memory.
From choosing the right scent technology and installing it to ongoing support, AROMEA Airdesign accompanies the entire process and makes sure the fragrance is placed exactly where it should have its effect.
Because the right scent can do a lot: make people welcome, awaken emotions and create a moment of: It smells good here. I feel good here. I want to stay here.
Photos: Hotel ERIKA**Evelyn on the hotel’s own fragrance
