Independent Minds: Martone Family, Magna Pars L’Hotel à Parfum

Housed within the family’s former perfume factory in Milan’s trendy Tortona district, the Martones have distilled the luxury experience of a private Italian home to perfection by creating the world’s first Hotel à Parfum. Bottling what the family describes as “the essence of living”, the fragrant suites at Magna Pars L’Hotel à Parfum are individually named and styled after a scented flowering shrub or tree.

What does being ‘Independently Minded’ as an hotel owning family mean to you?

Being ‘Independently Minded’ means creativity, being outstanding, and always searching for novelty and details that make the difference, besides taking quick decisions and keeping the opportunities that the market offers. For these reasons, our guests always experience the customised service and a warm hospitality which can only be found in a small luxury private Italian mansion.

What was the inspiration behind the hotel, and where do you continue to find sources of inspiration?

Perfume is our inexhaustible source of inspiration! A love of perfume, art and hospitality inspired our family to build Magna Pars L’Hotel à Parfum on the original site of our perfume factory. Our story is absolutely a family affair – in fact, this is the ‘payoff’ that has been adopted for our expansion of the new family suites. We shared our experiences and our way of life in the project to offer unique, personal and all-Italian hospitality, a complete passion project and labour of love.

New connecting suites, private terraces, and exclusive attic apartments were designed to accommodate guests who share the same travel concept, ideal for men, women, couples, singles, four-legged friends, and inseparable companions – all inspired by perfumes with articulated and unusual olfactory constructions, all to be discovered.

How do you think your hotel stands apart from other boutique hotels?

In particular, the search for a sense of familiar perfection, the house-like feeling in every smallest aspect. The perception of living in an elegant Italian home and above all the link with our roots: the perfume, distilled in 60 different essences capable of evoking feelings and olfactive memories, and arousing unforgettable emotions. Each suite is a perfume, and most of our guests always want to return to the same suite, the same scent in the same perfumed atmosphere.

We as a family have made Magna Pars with the same passion and love we would put into our own home. Every single detail of the furniture has been made in Italy and is of the highest quality. We wanted to make sure that we offered an excellent tailor-made service from the very beginning so as to make our clients feel better than they would in their own homes. The warmth and the positivity that you can breathe in our place is simply unique! Additionally, we are proud to be the first Hotel à Parfum in the world.

If you only had 24 hours to get a taste for your hotel experience, what would you recommend a guest must do?

Firstly, we would suggest guests start in our special and peculiar Perfume Laboratory LabSolue, with an unique olfactive journey. Our ‘Olfactive Check In’ is unlike anything you have experienced before, where you will discover among all the 60 fragrances, the one that belongs to you, capable of bringing back your past memories, never dormant sensations or recent emotions and then choose the suite that takes its name.

Next, follow the scent trail: relax with a perfume therapy treatment, enjoy a Lab cocktail and the Olfactory Menu in our restaurant overlooking the splendid internal garden and then pamper yourself in your Perfumed Suite. If you are a perfume lover, we offer different ‘Exclusive Olfactive Journeys’ in order for guests to discover the behind the scenes of the world of perfumery and raw ingredients that surround us.

How would you describe your own perfect luxury experience?

The perfect luxury experience is when needs and desires are anticipated and fulfilled, it’s the eye on every detail, to have a magnificent atmosphere and discerning good taste. In other words, exactly what you will find in our beautiful Magna Pars L’Hotel à Parfum. The total sense of serenity in our Milanese oasis is hard to find elsewhere – to be in the centre of Milan, in the very trendy area of Navigli, immersed in a beautiful idyll with our friendly and positive vibes is an incomparable experience.

Do you have a vision for the future of the hotel?

Respect for the environment and, consequently, the well-being of our guests, are a priority for us. The principle of sustainability cannot be ignored. For us, it is a fundamental aspect that has characterised the conception and construction of the hotel. The structure, entirely made of wood and steel, makes it possible to use state-of-the-art technologies to offer guests utmost comfort while respecting the environment. For the project, we used conifer wood from Central Europe deriving from controlled forestry and renewable geothermal and photovoltaic energy sources.

In loving memory of and with special thanks to Giorgia Martone, the creative soul and driving force of Magna Pars L’Hotel à Parfum, for sharing her great passion, “Creating the thought of a perfume, transcribing it into words, ingredients, essences”. She is and always will be our greatest inspiration.