Hospitality is A Sensory Business. Here’s How to Curate an Unforgettable Experience

Think about it: when people take the time to write a review about your restaurant, your hotel, your café, many times it’s not about the product.

They say, “The server seemed annoyed when we asked a question.”
They say, “The music was too loud, couldn’t hear each other talk.”
They say, “Honestly, it just didn’t feel welcoming.”

That’s the stuff they remember.
That’s the stuff they talk about.
That’s what your brand actually is.

And yet so many hospitality brands stop at the logo.

They pick a nice font, drop their name in gold foil on the menu, and call it done.

But guests don’t fall in love with your business because the typeface was tasteful (although that can be part of the reason)

They fall in love with how your brand made them feel.

WHY HOSPITALITY IS A SENSORY GAME

Think about the last café you loved. Not just liked. Loved.

It wasn’t just the coffee. It was the way the door creaked open. The smell of baked citrus and burnt sugar in the air. The playlist that felt oddly specific to your mood. The tone of the staff is warm, present, not too chatty. The soft light. The chunky ceramics. The worn-in leather chair. The tiny sticker on the to-go lid that said, you’ve got this.

None of that was random. All of that was brand.

And yet, most hospitality founders stop short of owning those touchpoints on purpose.

Studies in experience design show people don’t actually remember everything about an experience, they remember the feeling it left behind.

If you’re running a restaurant, hotel, or café, that’s everything.

Great hospitality branding isn’t about being trendy or minimal or even “beautiful.” It’s about curating a feeling that people can’t wait to return to (and having beautiful design is one piece of that).

That means your brand can’t stop at the visuals. It has to live in the soundtrack, scent, texture, tone, and micro-moments throughout the entire guest journey.

The good news is you already have these opportunities. You just need to brand them.

Let’s break it down.

01. SIGHT

Visual branding is usually the first thing people invest in. But in hospitality, it needs to do more than sit on a sign or a social feed, it needs to come alive in every part of the space.

Ask yourself:

• Does the physical space reflect the tone and colors of the brand?

• Do your menus, room keys, receipts, signage, etc feel cohesive?

• Are you using color and typography to guide emotion, not just aesthetics?

Try This:

Create a visual language system that scales from big (exterior signage) to small (a coaster, a note under a glass, the inside of a matchbook). Set a color scheme for your interiors to follow that align with your brand. Incorporate textures that fit the mood. Abby had so much fun doing this for her family’s Maine lake house Airbnb and it’s one of the top details guests comment on.

The goal is for someone to sense where they are without needing to see the logo.

02. SOUND

Sound is mood. It’s energy. It shapes time.

Too many brands treat music like an afterthought with random Spotify playlists, rotated staff picks, or even just awkward silence.

But sound is one of the fastest ways to tell someone what kind of space they’ve entered.

Ask:

• What’s the soundtrack of your brand at 8am? What about 8pm?

• How does sound shape behavior here? do you want people to linger, or move through quickly?

• Could you build signature sounds into your experience? (Elevator tones, doorbell rings, chimes, voiceover cues?)

03. SCENT

This one’s not optional anymore. You need a signature scent.

And no, that doesn’t mean turning your hotel into a department store perfume section. But scent is powerful. It grounds people. It creates nostalgia. It makes your space linger in their head long after they leave.

You don’t need to be fancy to pull this off. You just need to be intentional.

Ask:

• What should it smell like here and why?

• Can scent cue emotion at specific times of day?

• Are there “scent dead zones” in your space that could be branded?

04. BEHAVIOUR

Last but not least: the humans!

A guest’s impression of your brand will be shaped most by the people who represent it. Hosts, servers, front desk staff, baristas, housekeepers, everyone. If someone has a weird interaction with the person at the host stand, they’re going to lead with that as the Tripadvisor headline.

That means your brand needs to live internally just as much as it does externally.

Ask:

• Do staff understand the brand’s purpose beyond the product?

• Are team members empowered to carry the tone and values into their own interactions?

• Have you given your team some guidance to reflect the brand consistently?

Try This:

Create a brand handbook that goes beyond logos. Include your beliefs. Voice examples. Little phrases to use. Unexpected details. Mood. The more human it is, the more your team can live it naturally.

YOU JUST NEED MORE INTENTION

Branding is how you build memory.

And memory is how you build loyalty.

People don’t just return for the view or the menu. They return for the feeling.

And if you can create a feeling worth remembering? You’ll never need to ask for a review again.

They’ll write one without being asked. They’ll recommend you to their friends. You’ll become their best memory on their trip, and possibly create memories that last their lifetime.

If you’re building a hospitality space and you know the details matter, but you’re not sure how to pull it all together into a brand that actually feels like something, that’s where we come in.

We help restaurants, hotels, cafés, and creative hospitality groups take what they’re already doing and turn it into something people remember.

Let’s build something people talk about.