The Gilman House Hotel

[voorishsign]

THE GILMAN HOUSE HOTEL
Innsmouth, MA
The quintessential Valley vacation destination! With its distinctive bulging cupola pushing into the Massachusetts skyline, surrounded by gorgeous views of the majestic Manuxet River on the south and captivating swampland on the west, the Gilman House Hotel is an Innsmouth landmark.

Built in 1750, this hotel is rich in Miskatonic Valley history, and is heralded as one of the Valley's most romantic getaways. By day, sail with the croaking, baying entities that lurk in the wharves, then come back to your room and bask in the many amenities that the hotel has to offer. Rest under the watchful eye of the Sleeping God, stroll through the boggy, vaporous central gardens, or unwind with your partner at the Gilman's House's renowned 4-star spa, famous for its sea salt scrubs and unique tentacle massage.

The Gilman House's central location puts it easy reach of Innsmouth's open confluence of streets, its bustling downtown area, and the wharves, and it is a hop, skip, and jump from the Innsmouth Colony for the Insane.

Banquet, convention, and ritual space available!

Musty, dilapidated furnishings, peeling paint, swamp gas, and decay.

Goodness me, first review! The whole last week I've been prowling the review boards hoping someone would write a review already, because I was waiting for my bottle to come in the mail, and wanted some inkling of what was awaiting me - but no. Oh well - then I'll do this service for any others out there who feel the same way

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this bottle. I am a huge Lovecraft nut and came to BPAL through a Lovecraft community where there was talk of the Picnic in Arkham line. Disappointingly, of the entire line, only Herbert West really worked on me, Azathoth only barely, and The Deep Ones only barely now that I've aged the imp three months. Everything else failed. I wanted a musty, dark, foreboding scent, and I like to hope that this is finally going to be it.

I do love Beth for making the Lovecraft Valentine's line though, because I can't get enough of Lovecraft-inspired oils and I love fun twists on Lovecraft's stories And the bottle designs are wonderful!

Anyway, enough of my rambling! Onto the review.

In the bottle - doesn't smell that awful, actually. A tad sour and there's some wetness to it, and I think I can smell a hint of the paint.

On wet - lighter than I thought it would be. It's hard to nail definite notes. Still wet, still a hint of the paintwork. There's dust, and the swamp gas is definitely there as well. Being one of the few lucky (or unfortunate, depending on your opinion) people to have smelled actual swamp gas, this is a good representation - misty, organic, wet and gloomy.

Drydown - I find it really curious that it's becoming more and more difficult to really pick out notes - it's so beautifully blended it's almost impossible. A hint of the sour note remains, but mostly it goes dusty - there might be some musk and amber there - and smells like taking a whiff of an old armchair at an antique store. Some of the paint smell remains behind as well, and it remains organic and green. I really like it, but I can see how some might not.

Hours later, the sour edge has dissipated and the wood notes are playing up. Very nice.

[edenssixthday]

The Gilman House Hotel - I wasn't too excited about this, and apparently others weren't either because in the decant group I ran, only one person signed up for this blend. I was surprised when I opened the bottle to find it smelled warm and woody. When I apply it to my skin, I definitely smell the wood notes, but they're quickly overpowered by a very green smell of must and decay, but it's not unpleasant. The longer it's on my skin, the more pleasant it becomes, and the more obvious it is how exquisitely the notes are blended. Immediately after drydown, it's fairly green, earthy, and organic, and also kind of dusty. A couple hours later, it's become a predominantly dry wood scent without much in the way of the wet and musty tones. This scent would have fit really well into the 2007 Haunted House series.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: It’s rich and green. The musty/mold thing is shockingly tastey. It’s weirdly sexy and fierce. Wet: it reminds me of vines and oranges, with something sweet and almost Iron phoenix like underneath. It’s almost floral, but not aggressively so. It morphs constantly, different notes taking turns being dominant. I think I’m going to like this one. Dry: It gets rather more peeling paint on the dry down, which is not ideal, but it does stay richly green and interesting, though it does go a bit Ocean aftershave.

[reynardine]

Full disclosure: I did not get this decant based on the notes. The Gilman House Hotel is a running joke in our house, due to my husband’s last name. So of course I had to try this one out.

 

In decant: Swamp gas and paint thinner

 

Wet: Getting dust with a perfumey smell. The same note that was in Storytime at Dark Delicacies. Strangely, it works with the swamp gas and paint thinner. However, it kills the scent for me, causing my eyes to water. Had the same problem with Storytime.

 

Drydown: Remarkably stable. The irritating elements calm down a bit, but it keeps one in mind of decay. Those may be the wood notes a previous poster mentioned.

 

It is beautifully blended and an exercise in scent storytelling.

 

This is what I imagine a haunted house would smell like. However, there is no way that I would be able to carry off wearing this scent. Some could, and more power to you.

 

 

[thekittenkat]

The Gilman House Hotel is quite the surprise. The scent description is probably putting off many who would otherwise like this oil. Much like Julia Stone from last year's Halloweenies, pay no attention to the scent listings, and just try this. It's a pleasant combination of many light florals and herbs, maybe some fresh spring green grass. It's what I would call a very green scent, without being in the least aquatic or like a traditional men's cologne. And anchoring everything is a skin musk that keeps all the other notes from being too fresh and too green. (Btw, no comparison to Julia Stone is meant; it's just that both scents have interesting scent descriptions that did not prepare me for how lovely both oils smelled in the bottle and on the skin.)

[voodoocatwoman]

I was a bit nervous about this one because of the description, but I should know by now that these kinds of descriptions don't reall have anything to do with the actual end product.

 

Wet, the Hotel is green. Stems and wet leaves. It dries to a lovely powdery floral. I thought I detected violets in the mix but I can't be sure. All I know is that it is soft and pretty, although it definitely has an aged feeling to it.

 

I love it.

[musichappens]

There is something in this blend that is tickling my nose.

 

From application to dry down, this blend makes me envision the forest floors of the Rain Forest: wet, dirty leaves and tree bark. At first I didn't like this at all and that's probably because I've never worn anything like it before. However, it's grown on me quite a bit and while I don't think I like it enough for an entire bottle, my decant will definitely be getting some lovin'.

Edited March 13, 2010 by musichappens

[angelicruin]

Musty, a little woody as well. Definitely picking up the decay. Despite this description, it's actually not that horrible smelling. Nothing I see myself wearing regularly, but it was kind of cool to try it.

[fairnymph]

Extremely pale nearly colourless yellow-gold oil. Strong and sharp - a little solventy (the paint, etc?) but mostly this is GREEN - like lots of crushed green stems, grass, leaves and vines - there's definitely a strong ivy note, a bit of grass, and some lighter/softer more dewy aquatic greenery, some clover and cucumber, maybe? Also something a little spicy (phlox? nasturtium?), and some daisy and maybe some other wildflowers. It's in the same vein of Passionate Shepherd and Garden Path With Chickens, especially. Apparently 'musty and dilapidated' means gorgeous greenery, bc the description/smell mismatch reminds me of my experience with Julia Stone (which I adore).

 

Softer, gentler, more aquatic (in a dewy, rain-on-leaves, very green way - not soapy, not a classic rain note and definitely not oceanic). I do get a bit of a murkiness that reminds me of Faeu Boulanger - the swamp gas note, presumably - which mars the blend a bit for me, but barely. This is still intensely stemmy, but it's a little sweeter - more cucumber - and while the spicy green-floral note and the wildflowers have held, the ivy which was so strong and bitter and practically leaping down my throat in the imp is much faded here. It's a far more blended scent now, very evocative of damp spring greenery, fresh and outdoorsy. The sweetness and the grass note here remind me of the Nameless City Drive-In Theatre, too. I am absolutely loving this, and it's blossomed on my skin gorgeously.

 

Now it's turned sharper again - or maybe woody?And it's become a lot more musty, really actually smelling like an old abandoned rotting house - well, not rotting, but close. It's still not an unpleasant scent, but I am not entirely enthused by this change. The ivy is really strong again and I get some soil, and a bit of that mustiness from Erik but much more strongly (and thus possibly unwearably) here. I also feel like I get a lot of the crushed stone note that I get from Sarah and Julia Stone, both of which this scent has a very similar vibe to, though this is more masculine. It has the greenery of Julia Stone and the sharpness of Sarah and the stoniness of both.

 

Final drydown is a bit softer again - this does faded considerably, but there's still a good bit of throw - it's much more about the stone and a dry, yet rounded sort of worn wood note (oak?) and the velvet curtains - really, it reminds me VERY much of how Erik smells in its earlier stages - with a lot of the crushed stone and muskiness of Sarah's drydown, though this trends towards masculine, it's reasonably unisex. I think some of the powder/dusty velvet could be due to violet, which is a slightly sweet, gentle Victorian note in this blend. A lot of the greenery and especially the fresher notes don't survive long, but ivy, cucumber, grass and what's probably some type of moss do - it's still an outdoorsy sent but more like - dried grass and withered ivy over crumbling, lichen-covered stone. I want a bottle for my future dream man. Great throw that fades to good throw and holds.

 

A very pleasant surprise though I should have guessed from Erik and Julia Stone not to be so dismissive. A sleeper hit, for sure!

Edited March 17, 2010 by fairnymph

[zankoku_zen]

Aquatic (in the rain way) and lots of green - I would say ivy, grass and maybe a touch of violet? I get something almost peppery, like green peppers in this, that makes me think of some other grass blends I've tried and on the drydown something almost musty appears.

 

Overall, very likeable in my book. But then again, I like grass blends.

[Schmoozy]

 

Swampy flora & greenery, with some aquatics and wood thrown in. It smells familiar, but I can't place it. (one of The Haunted House Weenie series). That being said, there isn't really anything special about the Gilman House Hotel.

[strahlend]

This scent is striking me as similar to The Steeple but with wood. Green, clean, kind of soapy... but with the sharper scent of wood that lays over the top. The pairing ends up nice enough, but I was expecting something less clean, so I'm kind of disappointed.

[Invidiana]

On me this came out exactly like a dusty, musty basement. It hits the nail on the head with the rotting wood alright, and it's a strong, manly rotting wood on me, seeing how my skin likes to amp many of BPAL's woods to high heaven if they're not doused in vanilla or fruit or caramel or something in that vein. I wouldn't be surprised if some moldy cedar was lurking in there. I have to say this would be interesting as a candle because I am strangely intrigued by the smell of haunted house, just not on myself and especially not when it veers towards uber-masculine territory.

[Little Bird]

I'm not quite sure what to say about this blend. It does give me an impression of rotting wood, especially at first. It's like a dank, dark, bitter wood smell. As it dries down, it starts to smell more green, clean, and soapy, but still with a dirty/bitter woods thing going for it. There's something very sharp and unpleasant about the whole thing as well.

 

The Gilman House Hotel isn't something that I really want to smell or smell like. It's just kinda all around unpleasant to me...

Edited April 5, 2010 by Little Bird

[aquazoo]

Dust and lime. Yeah, that's a musty old hotel, with the suggestion that someone tried cleaning up. It didn't work.

 

[rayvn1]

Goes on very much like The Steeple though there's something a little sharper in the aquatic scent for this one. Turns into an assertive but odd swamp gas, paint, and fungus blend. Outdoors-y almost. Very interesting!

[The Poison Queen]

I LOVE this!

 

In the bottle: Sharp and green with a touch of swampy goodness!

 

Wet: Swampy aquatic with just a tinge of that paint smell. Just gorgeous, even with the paint.

 

Dry: A soft swampy aquatic with a bit of floral underlying it. I LOVE this! Would definitely chase after a second bottle!

[Zii]

Musky, decaying plants. That is exactly what this smells like. It's very, very green on me like I was hoping, but there is this wonderful complicated, almost ozoney thing hovering around the edges of this scent. It isn't super aquatic on me, but rather more of a marsh dirt scent, with the decaying grasses, mud and just hint of water. A winner for sure!

[Lucchesa]

The Gilman House Hotel, which I received in a PIF, is far more pleasant than the notes would suggest. It's light and outdoorsy - imagine treading on an unfamiliar plant and getting that sharp green sap smell and some of the dirt underneath as well. It's also a little salty and aquatic, but I get nothing chemical or rotting. Unisex with decent wear length, just not in a scent family I wear much.

[VetchVesper]

Initial sniff. Interesting. Something vaguely evergreen/minty, verging on soap but not quite. There's something underneath that seems a tinge mildewy , like when you turn on an old air conditioning unit that's been off a while.

 

On my skin it stays gently soapy with a hint of sweetness. Ambergris I'm guessing? It's definitely aquatic, but it seems to be behaving itself on me. Gonna give it some time.

 

Hmmm... This teeters somewhere between smelling of evergreen cleaning products and verdant swampiness in the dry down. Oddly, I rather like it. It's cool and clean with out smelling generic, and there is soft, resinous sweetness just below the surface that makes me want to keep sniffing. It also does it's inspiration justice. At one point I definitely got a whiff of well cleaned motel room with a hint of stale air conditioner. It's rare that this kind of aquatic works on me, but I'm glad to have an imp of this.