Change Maker Hotels interviewed Saint Charles. The result? An honest interview about the impact of travel on nature and how a brand that originated in a small pharmacy in Vienna's sixth district can make a difference. Nicole Spilker of Change Maker Hotels interviews Alexander Ehrmann and Richard König of Saint Charles.
They run a pharmacy and several stores and now offer 400 products in the fields of natural cosmetics, aromatherapy and herbal medicine for holistic well-being. Driven by a passion for reinterpreting the ancient knowledge of Traditional European Medicine, Saint Charles owners Alexander Ehrmann and Richard König have now also developed scent concepts for hotels.
The historic apothecary cabinets at the original address, Gumpendorfer Straße in Vienna's sixth district, serve as contemporary witnesses and a symbol of the connection between a centuries-old tradition and a modern lifestyle. They date back to 1886, when the pharmacy was established at this location. In 2006, Alexander Ehrmann took over and opened the first Saint Charles pharmacy. Almost ten years later, Richard König joined him, and today the two run the company together. Targeted brand building has ensured that the Saint Charles family keeps growing – it includes numerous partners such as pharmacies, concept stores, natural cosmetics shops, restaurants, yoga studios and now also 120 hotels in German-speaking countries. In these owner-managed wellness and city hotels, you will find Saint Charles shower gel, soap, body lotion, shampoo and conditioner. Often also natural cosmetics, plant and aroma oils for spa treatments and even essences for cocktails. And, more recently, scents.
It's like a symphony, the two compare: Saint Charles products are the strings in the background – not intrusive, but always pleasantly present. You encounter them in the lobby, where you are handed a scented towel to clean your hands. Or during a massage. And in the evening at the bar, you notice that this pharmacy from Vienna also plays a role in the drinks. In the interview, Alexander and Richard talk about where scenting is heading and how to find the right scent in the first place.
Scent concepts for hotels are brand new for you. How does it work? Can I say: I'm a sports hotel, a romantic hotel or a family hotel and I want to smell like one?
Alexander: Exactly. It's always about finding a scent that suits the respective hotel. The guest's perception begins when they enter the reception area and, at best, conveys an initial sense of well-being that continues from there. A subtle, pleasant scent that suits the hotel is received very positively.
Richard: Most hotels approach us and are initially interested in the technical aspects: which device do you use for scenting, and where is the best place to do it? Many hotels want to distribute the scent throughout the entire building, but that doesn't make sense to us. Scent is something the nose quickly stops noticing when it is constantly exposed to it – you know this from your own perfume, which at some point you no longer notice on yourself. Perfuming restaurant areas wouldn't be appropriate anyway. We scent high-traffic areas such as the lobby or the spa. Or we ask housekeeping to leave a scent in the room after cleaning, like a small, fine trace.
Does each hotel get its own scent concept, or do you have building blocks?
Richard: For amenities, we have two lines, each with a matching scent. And then we have a few dozen clients with whom we have designed a bespoke line. That means we have put together individual scents and the in-room cosmetics for them. For this, we receive a detailed briefing from the clients so that we can get to the heart of the hotel's DNA. What matters to us is what suits the hotel, but also the people who work there 365 days a year.
Alexander: Communication is actually what we enjoy most. We want to be an add-on to the quality of the hotel. A scent is actually a stimulus that triggers a reaction. It's a door opener. When I enter the spa and am greeted by a suitable scent that doesn't – to exaggerate – smell of cleaning products, it gets me ready for a special experience.
Richard: There are also partners for whom it is very important to have their own signature scent, which guests can then take home as a room spray. Of course, we can also make suggestions for seasonal scenting. In summer, people prefer to smell something fresher than in autumn or winter.
How do you manage to compose a scent that everyone can agree on?
Richard: It's a process. Whether people like it also depends on the time of day or the surroundings. That's what makes it so difficult to filter out the one scent that suits everyone in a workshop with ten people. The sense of smell is the most immediate of the human senses. With sight, hearing or touch, the signals first have to pass through the intellect. Scents, on the other hand, act directly on the limbic system in the brain, where emotions are processed. So a scent always evokes concrete memories: vanilla, vanilla crescents, Christmas! Personally, for example, lavender smells chemical to me. But I know it has a calming effect – so should I use it or not? It's very complex …
But your scents are meant to be perceived as pleasant by the majority of hotel guests …
Richard: That's a question I like to ask myself: how many people actually have to like it? We once did the maths: in a hotel with 170 rooms, there are around 10,000 touchpoints per month! That raises the question of how special you can make a scent. In the end, we have to reduce it to a ratio: seven out of ten people asked should say the scent is good. The art is to create something special that can reach a broad audience.
Alexander: That's a real challenge. That's why it's good when people engage with aroma worlds. Perhaps the massage rooms in the spa smell a little more of ylang ylang, but at the entrance this very sensual note would simply be far too much. Of course, you don't want to overwhelm anyone, but a hotel in Tyrol doesn't necessarily have to smell of pine needles with a light citrus touch. That said, for our scents we also draw heavily on TEM, Traditional European Medicine, because we have all simply internalised it. If you grew up here, at some point you drank chamomile tea or took valerian to help you sleep.
What is the biggest challenge when using TEM?
Alexander: We work with certified organic quality. Wild harvesting would of course be the most valuable for us, but legally it is often not easy. In addition, the quality is different every year. Synthetic quality is reliably the same. Many plants are also simply disappearing due to global warming.
Richard: Regionality is always the decisive factor for our Saint Charles products. Wherever possible, we source our ingredients from Austria. Lavender, for example, comes from the Waldviertel – how great is that? Alcohol is another good example; we need an enormous amount of it, for our sprays, for instance. But we stopped buying it from wholesalers long ago and get it from Josef Fahrthofer in Amstetten. We stand in the field with him, and he can tell you straight away why he has the best organic alcohol. That's our approach. We still don't have large machines for production and labelling – from production to the shelf, there is great appreciation on our part. And our customers feel that too.
How sustainable can you be? I'm thinking of the countless little plastic bottles in the bathroom ...
Alexander: Not at all! We have never been interested in anything other than large containers, a refill solution and natural formulations.
Richard: We have been B Corp certified since 2023. This makes Saint Charles part of a global community of companies that want to use business as a force for good. The focus is on initiatives benefiting local social institutions as well as on sustainable business practices. Our partners also appreciate the consistency. All products not only have high-quality, sustainable ingredients, they also share the same aesthetic design. We also train the hotels well, so that everyone at reception can say a few sentences about the Saint Charles Apothecary. When you don't work with five different brands, it's very easy to say something about the brand's philosophy and why it suits the hotel.
Alexander: It's about value. Good hotels have always paid attention to comfortable pillows, great meat from organic farmers and excellent wines. With the standard amenities, it was more difficult – all those little plastic bottles, for example …
… which people were also happy to take home. That's no longer possible with your products.
Richard: Yes, it is! Because most of the products can be bought. Hotels have also discovered that a little retail can't hurt. Either there is a curated selection at reception, or – as in many hotels – there is an in-house shop, which we are happy to stock with selected products from various ranges.
How much can you grow with such high quality standards?
Richard: We are discussing that very intensively right now. But you can also grow in quality, not necessarily only in volume. Because of our organic formulations, we cost more than conventional products, so our market selects itself to some extent. You won't find us in Douglas or Rewe stores, and we are not available on Amazon, because a completely different strategy is pursued there. We are not going mass market, but there is still plenty of room for our growth.
Alexander: It is also important to us to exchange ideas with partners and inspire each other. Through every cooperation we meet fascinating people, such as a Demeter winemaker or a beekeeper. That is very enriching.
Would it be exciting for you to open your own Saint Charles hotel one day?
Alexander: We already had a restaurant here. At the beginning it was great for marketing, but it was also a bottomless money pit. I'm simply not a restaurateur, and by upbringing not a hotelier either. Although, a small house by a lake, where I could perhaps devote myself to beekeeping …
Source: ©changemakerhotels Nicole Spilker, 14 January 2024
