Chandler Burr

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Pepper in the air? It's Eau de Park Hyatt

The Chicago Tribune
June 29, 2006
By Glenn Jeffers
Tribune staff reporter

Don't be surprised if you notice the slight hint of habanero peppers and Indian black pepper in the air the next time you enter the Park Hyatt Chicago. It's supposed to be there.

As one of two signature scents that the luxury hotel will unveil within the next few weeks, the aromas are designed to enrich your experience, making your stay all the more memorable.

Air pumps will vent a small concentration of the "Park Hyatt" pepper scent through the lobby and other public areas in the hotel, general manager Rick Segal said. The second scent, a black tea blend, will waft down from the entrance of NoMI on the seventh floor. Scents will not be pumped into guests' rooms.

"We came to the realization that we're in the business of not just providing services but of creating events," Segal says.

With that habanero-pepper spritz, the Park Hyatt Chicago joins a growing number of hotels that are scenting their environments.

That Segal and the Park Hyatt would customize scents to the property should be no surprise. For years, the hotel has added accoutrements designed to enhance a guest's experience, from commissioning those bulbous, tangled glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly in its restaurant NoMI to producing "On the Seventh," an electronica-infused CD for the 7th floor restaurant's lounge.

So that guests can recall their visit to the Park Hyatt, the hotel will sell candles infused with the fragrances--an idea that's not that far-fetched, experts say.

The sense of smell is linked to a more primal part of the brain that doesn't so much identify an object as it tells us if we like it or not, according to Gary Beauchamp, director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

"You instantaneously know what something is with sight and hearing," Beauchamp says. "With smell, you don't say, `Oh, this is baby powder.' You say, `Oh, I like this.'"

In designing the scents, author and scent expert Chandler Burr looked for aromas that would elicit that positive response, then fall to the wayside. He also worked with the hotel staff to create scents they thought suited the hotel.

"They didn't need to be experts in scent creation," says Burr, who also covers scents and perfumes for the New York Times. "The staff is trained in delivering the Park Hyatt experience. They embody it."

Burr also worked with NoMI executive chef Christophe David to build a fragrance for the restaurant that would complement, not clash with, the its entrees.

At first, the idea of a scent billowing through NoMI concerned the French chef. NoMI has an open kitchen, David says, and the chef did not want the scent to interfere with food preparation.

After a few misses, Burr and David developed a scent based on the Darjeeling black tea that NoMI serves as part of its tea menu.

"It matched very well with the restaurant," David says. "I'm used to different scents, but this was very interesting."

As alluring as the scents may be, the real test will be if guests stop by the gift shop, looking to commemorate their Park Hyatt stay with a black tea-infused candle. Segal believes they will.

"The end is the memory," Segal says. "It's what you take with you. It's to help us close the loop of your experience and make it memorable."

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gjeffers@tribune.com