Legends are a funny thing. Either you were there yourself, or you hear them told. And there’s no shortage of tales to tell: Hercules and his 12 labours. Siegfried and the Nibelungs. Modesty is, of course, the noblest virtue of true heroes. Real benefactors wrap themselves in silence and simply let their deeds do the talking. Fame and glory are in the air! Speaking of air with a scent: what do heroic deeds actually smell like? An interesting question, but one we’ll let Elisabeth Hauser-Benz, next-generation owner of the Stanglwirt, answer for herself. Because at the Stanglwirt, the scent makers at Aromea have created an all-round olfactory experience that has yet to meet its match. Naturally, a little heroism was involved along the way. The result is a tailor-made sensory journey for the nose, seasonal and simply legendary. So: five questions for the Stanglwirt and five answers with both feet on the ground. No legends, no sagas, no fairy tales. Just hard facts about a fine scent!
Question: You could say the Stanglwirt is a true all-round experience, one for all the senses. Including the nose. How would you describe it to someone who has never experienced the Stanglwirt?
Elisabeth Hauser-Benz, Stanglwirt: The Stanglwirt in Going, Tyrol has a long history. More than 400 years, to be exact: that’s how old the Stanglwirt is. Today it is a family-run organic and wellness resort for especially discerning guests (five stars). A luxurious ambience in 171 rooms and suites, plus a comprehensive feel-good programme for being pampered from head to toe. In concrete terms, more than 12 hectares of facilities for relaxing and recharging: the largest hotel-owned wellness complex in Europe. On top of that, its own inn with 400 seats (facilities for major events of up to 2,500 people), a tennis, golf, ski and riding school, its own shopping arcade, an extensive entertainment programme and an adjoining farm with milk and cheese production, cattle breeding and a private Lipizzaner stud.
Question: Impressive, but that’s far from everything, isn’t it? Our curious little nose tells us: there’s something in the air, a scent beyond compare! What smells so good here?
Elisabeth Hauser-Benz, Stanglwirt: (laughs) That’s certainly true. The Stanglwirt is an organic farm with an integrated luxury hotel. This special blend is exactly what we want guests to experience through the nose as well. Our farm with the cows, the freshly cut grass and the hay, our noble Lipizzaners, the children’s farm with its wide variety of animals from chickens to rabbits: you should be able to taste and smell all of that, just as you should the high standard we offer our guests, with fresh bed linen, high-quality care products, the finest cuisine and generous wellness.
Question: It’s all in the mind: in our heads, smells are strongly linked with emotions and memories. So what do you instantly think of when the Stanglwirt fills your nose?
Elisabeth Hauser-Benz, Stanglwirt: As soon as you enter the Stanglwirt as a guest, you can smell the nature we use and work with throughout the hotel. From our sheep’s wool carpets to the Swiss stone pine beds, shingle roofs and larch floors, to the centuries-old church stone floor you walk on in our hotel lobby, our own spring and the fresh milk from our cows: everything has its own scent and therefore its own character. On the way to our traditional inn, you pass our cowshed, where it does sometimes smell of fresh organic farming, and that creates emotion and a special experience. This is how we achieve a unique atmosphere that guests always associate with the Stanglwirt.
We have successfully complemented this scent concept of our own with the natural fragrances from Aromea. What mattered to us was to take the basic character and basic scent that nature already gives us here, the very thing that sets us apart, and refine it with a scent concept created with Aromea especially for the Stanglwirt, plus seasonal additions.
Question: Always a nose ahead, so to speak! Aromea has created an individual Corporate Scent for the Stanglwirt that reflects the character of the hotel and subtly underlines it. What do people associate the scent experience at the Stanglwirt with? Are there perhaps even seasonal differences in the fragrance composition?
Elisabeth Hauser-Benz, Stanglwirt: Indeed there are. We use the Corporate Scent designed especially for the Stanglwirt wherever we particularly want to underline the Stanglwirt character. In the corridors, for example, and in parts of the wellness area. We also rely on the expertise of Aromea, who advise us on all things olfactory and support us in choosing seasonal scent notes. So in spring, guests are naturally welcomed by a completely different emotion than in winter. Sometimes it might bring fresh meadows and forests to mind, while in winter we underscore the homely smell with a little cinnamon and orange.
Question: The Stanglwirt now enjoys a new brand dimension: an unmistakable scent. From your fragrant treasure trove of experience, what advice might you give an interested newcomer on the way to their very own Corporate Scent?
Elisabeth Hauser-Benz, Stanglwirt: It’s important not to artificially change the basic character of the hotel that you want to convey to guests. Instead, use a good scent consultation to underline the philosophy and atmosphere you want to radiate. We have done that successfully with the Corporate Scent designed especially for us by Aromea, and that’s why we can wholeheartedly recommend it!
At this point, once again, a warm thank-you to the Stanglwirt for answering our questions. You can see (and smell) quite clearly that a whole new dimension of experience has been created here for customers and guests. It smells good and goes down even better because, as we all know, where it smells good, you feel good. At the Stanglwirt now more than ever. After more than 400 years of history and experience in hospitality, that’s a small heroic deed in its own right. One small step for the nose, one giant leap for the brand. That’s how Corporate Scent works, that’s how Aromea works. Not all heroes wear capes; some wear scents. And today perhaps to even greater effect. If you don’t believe it, ask the Stanglwirt.
The Stanglwirt and Airdesign by Aromea.
