How to Make Your Home Feel Like a Chic Hotel

I’m going to let you in on a not-so-secret secret. I love hotels. Staying in a nice hotel is one of my favourite things. Maybe it’s the free cable. Maybe it’s the lack of housekeeping responsibility. Maybe it’s the tiny soaps. Even staying in a hotel in my own city makes me happy.

I’ve been lucky in my travels and have stayed in some great rooms at the Godfrey Hotel in Chicago, Hotel Arts in Calgary, Retro Suites in Chatham, and more. I’m really looking forward to my upcoming stay at Hôtel de Sèze in Paris later this month as well. A chic hotel makes me feel pampered and somehow cooler than I fear I actually am.

Every time I dry my hair with a hair dryer attached to the wall or wrap myself in a white monogramed robe I think about how I could make my own house more like a hotel so I can hold on to that vacation feeling a little bit longer. If you’ve ever wondered the same thing I’ve got a few tips for you.

Develop a Signature Scent

Have a light scent automatically spray into your entryway whenever you come home. Febreeze doesn’t count. Often the first thing you’ll notice about a place, and the strongest memory trigger later on, is the smell. Hotels are on to this and will have scent machines in the lobby that will keep the air lightly perfumed, sometimes with an exclusive scent.

Replace Your Linens

If you want to feel like you’re sleeping in a hotel, get rid of those paisley bed sheets. Almost every hotel room I’ve stayed in has white bedsheets. I know this is because of the volume of laundry they do but white sheets will always say hotel to me. While you’re at it, replace your bedspread with a fluffy white down duvet. If you need a pop of colour add a functionally useless runner at the foot of the bed.

Replace Your Towels

As go the bedsheets, so go the towels. Replace your multi-coloured towels with fluffy white ones to feel like you’re in a hotel spa bathroom. You can try throwing them in the tub when they need laundering but chances are they’ll still be there the next morning, unless you’ve really embraced the hotel idea and hired housekeeping staff.

Only Use Tiny Bottles

In my linen closet lurks a large collection of tiny soaps and teeny bottles of shampoos, condtioners, and lotions collected from hotels across the globe. If you really want to feel like you’re staying at a hotel, only use tiny bottles for all your shower needs. Refill from large bottles if need be.

Play Atmospheric Music While You Eat

Most hotels restaurants wouldn’t be caught with a silent dining room. My recent gourmet meal at The Doctor’s House in Green’s Harbour was accompanied by some light instrumental jazz and, I have to say, it made the meal feel a little more posh. There are online services like Songza or Spotify that can help you out here.

Clear Away Clutter

One thing about hotel rooms, is that they’re almost never cluttered. Keep your house neat and tidy for the max hotel feel.

Hang Some Art

Every hotel room has art and so should yours. If you want to pretend you’re in a chic hotel avoid watercolour landscapes like you’d see in a Motel 6 and instead go with something edgy and abstract. Maybe even artistic photography.

Get a Coffee Machine

Sure, you probably have a coffee maker in your kitchen, but you’re not rocking the hotel chic until you set one up in your bedroom. One of the bits about hotel rooms that I like is practically being able to make a cup of coffee from my bed.

Aside from putting a peephole on my bedroom door or wrapping my tv remote in a plastic jacket, these are a few things that would make any home feel a little more like a luxury hotel. Now, if only I could get regular housekeeping or a bellhop to carry my bags when I come home I could feel like I was in a hotel all the time.

Do you love staying in hotels as much as me?