ML - Vegas Magazine

2013 - Issue 1 - Winter

Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.

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HERE: Vdara's lobby is scented with green fig and cassis. BELOW LEFT: Scent sticks from the spa, for guests who want to take a piece of Vdara home. "It's really exciting to think about how you can scent a moment, even a minute." —Neal Harris PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUSSELL MCMASTERS (WYNN); COURTESY OF MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (VDARA, SCENT STICKS) Wynn uses rainforestlike notes. was very polarizing; people either loved it or hated it, so that lead us to a more scientific method for choosing a new fragrance." Three different rounds of testing were conducted with more than 800 testers. In the first cycle, 160 people were asked to rate seven different scents, ranging from light florals to heavy musks, which were atomized into separate suites. The top four were then dispersed into the Palazzo lobby and rated by another 200 people. "This phase took a month, because we had to pump in one scent for a few days and then pump it out before moving onto the next," Cooper says. Two contenders rose to the top: surprisingly, the controversial original scent, and another that Cooper described as "welcoming, fresh, and not overpowering." Finally, the two front-runners were pumped into the Venetian casino and lobby, and 500 people were asked to sniff and give comments. The new scent became the clear winner—a blend of white jasmine flowers, rose, Italian mandarin, and sandalwood layered with musk and amber, which the hotel named Arancia (Italian for "orange"). Since its debut, the scent has been so popular among guests that it's been spun into candles that are for sale in the gift shop. Of its appeal, Cooper says, "It was my favorite from the first time I smelled it on the litmus paper." The scents inside the various Strip properties are as varied as the casinos themselves—ranging from tropical and beachy to spicy and gourmand. As a snapshot of how the process works, AromaSys's Harris says clients meet with his team to discuss their fragrance desires and then choose one from the thousands in their library or design a customized "bespoke" creation. "About 75 percent of our clients go for the bespoke option," he says. That list includes the Mirage, which wanted a tropical experience, "like you've stepped into paradise with sun-tan lotion and piña coladas all around you." The result: a gentle mango and coconut-spiked scent. Down the street at Wynn, Harris and his team concocted a "fresh, rainforest-y" accord, while for Bellagio he's created an array of scents that changes with the seasons and ranges from pumpkin and apple spice during the holidays to Japanese garden florals in the spring. After a recent trip there, Connecticut native Paul Citarella says he was impressed. "The air reminded me of a summer day, with a light and clean smell," he says. "It's subtle but sticks in your memory." That subtlety can be a powerful tool in garnering repeat business. The strength of olfactory senses as a memory trigger allows us to associate a scent or a note of fragrance in the air to a place, which can be a powerful and primal draw. "Odors can absolutely work in a subliminal way," Dr. Hirsch says. "When you want to re-experience a nostalgic moment, a scent could make you want to return to the same spot." What do casinos pay for such nicely perfumed air? Depending on the size of the property and the type of systems used to deploy the scent—be it through the air conditioning vents or plug-in applicators—clients typically 76 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 074-077_V_Feat_Scents3_Win13.indd 76 1/2/13 2:54 PM

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